The Antique Bowie Knife Book

Bill Adams. THE ANTIQUE BOWIE KNIFE BOOK. Museum Publishing Company, Conyers, GA, U.S.A., 1990. ISBN: 0962604402

Current Selling Prices
$600-$1200 /£300-£600

COLLECTABLES
552 page knife book that was issued in 1100 copies and apparently sold out on publication. Definitive and darn scarce. Fancy knives- some have highly-decorated hilts, silver and jeweled decoration, and ivory, fine wood, horn or mother-of-pearl grips. Some had memorable labels engraved on them like "Texas Ranger Knife," "Arkansas Toothpick," "Patriot's Self Defender," "Death to Abolition," "Death to Traitors," "Americans Never Surrender," "Rio Grande Camp Knife," and "I'm A Real Ripper." 90% of Bowie knives were made in Sheffield (not a lot of people know that.). A bloody good business until the rise of the Colt revolver. Idle question:Did David Bowie take his name from the knife?

VALUE? Some chaps hold out for $1600 but it can show up at less than half that, with nasty exlib copies a little less. At present there is a fine copy at $400 om ABE that will probably sell unless the knife market is in shambles. The market in this book is indeed a little 'soft' as all copies except this have been sitting there since Summer '06. The $400 may be listed by one of those odd dealers who is actually trying to sell the book. $400 can come in handy especially if the book came in unremarked.

STOP PRESS. The above was written in January 2007. The book seems to be still very much desired with the cheapest an ex lib copy at $550 ('usual library markings, otherwise clean and in very good shape...') and the most expensive at $2000 a copy with no real description -('may have price sticker on cover and very minor shelfwear...). These catchall descriptions save time and on $20 academic books are just about acceptable but for $2000 one expects a little desk work. Maybe the seller was a lawyer when he had a real job.

A decent copy is now at least $800, possibly less for an eagle-eyed Ebayer. A guy with a copy at $1000 which appears to be one of a 100 (from the edition of 1100 copies) states '...with a history steeped in legend, the Bowie is the most famous of American knives. This book shows some of the finest Bowies extant, ranging from the knives of the backwoodsmen to showpieces made for the 19th century expositions and presented by royalty.' I assume from this that the knives were either given to royalty or given by them...anyway the book is alive and well and the $400 fine one at ABE has gone.

George White. English Lantern Clocks.1989

George White. ENGLISH LANTERN CLOCKS. Antique Collector's Club, UK, 1989. ISBN 0907462332

Current Selling Prices
$1000-$2000 /£500-£1000

ANTIQUES/ CLOCKS / COLLECTABLES
Highly sought after reference work that defines this collecting area. If you collect Lantern clocks or deal in them you have to have this book. 70 punters waiting at ABE, 30 at Alibris and a small queue outside my shop. Some Antique Collector's Club monographs command fat sums when they go out of print but ATC have been known to issue much better updated editions that severely deflate the price of the originals, so caveat emptor, noli tangere and quid pro quo. BTW a lantern clock is nothing like a grandfather clock, check out our pic...you see them on the mantelpieces of nice homes in the home counties. A good one is very expensive as they are often very old (they were the earliest type of domestic clock in Britain)--forgeries abound. The Wikiman tells us:

'... other names used to indicate these clocks are "Cromwellian Clocks" or "Bedpost Clocks". Even "Sheep head Clock" is a fashionable term used for a certain type of lantern clock that has an extremely large chapter ring covering almost the entire front of the clock...'

VALUE? One on web late 2006 at 950 quid ($1800) and another as a Buy it Now on ebay at $2000. Neither chap can give any indication of condition so one assumes what the French call 'moyen' i.e. mediocre. Not impossible to find, as every seller claims, just bloody expensive. Auction catalogue. Couple of decent copies at ABE at £550 and £675. STOP PRESS, Amazon are taking pre orders for a reprint at £70. Has Sir George White now asked for as reprint...? Collapse of stout parties, Schadenfreude etc., The reprint was scheduled for Spring 2007 and is now Jan 08 --one seller reckons it will never happen ('long promised') - but he is trying to sell his stroppily priced o/p copy. There is one on Amazon Canada (something of a gathering place for ultra overchargers) at a carpet biting £3500. Watch this space..this is a book wanted for the information in it, so a later revised edition will mortally wound all earlier editions. [ W/Q **** ]

The Big Book of Buttons

Elizabeth Hughes & Marion Lester.THE BIG BOOK OF BUTTONS. Boyertown Publishing Co., USA 1981. ISBN 0962904600

Current Selling Prices
$350-$750 / £200-£400

COLLECTABLES
The bible of American button identification. 800+ pages. Reprinted in 1991 and again in 1993 but hard to find, like many definitive collectables books. Copiously illustrated in colour and black and white throughout. Hard to tell whether button collecting is waxing or waning. Seems to be reasonably strong with much interest on ebay in the vintage sewing section and a few major button dealers and even a promised news sheet called 'The Daily Button'. Doesn't seem to need a jacket.

VALUE? No copies available for less than $500 but not worth a lot more than that, the claim that 'for years now button collectors have been trying to get their hands on this book!' is used by a chap asking $1200 for his. He obviously belongs to that old school of seller who believes that if a book is wanted the price should be so high that nobody can buy it. A not uncommon but mystifying and mildly annoying ploy. Schadenfreude = the elated feeling one gets when a foolishly overpriced book is reprinted in a better, enlarged edition at a tenth of the price. Sadly it's not going to happen this time. A copy just sold at Ebay with 32 bids taking it to $309. The seller barked:

Presented for auction is this MUST HAVE book for anyone who collects buttons. This book is in great shape and has hardly been opened. FILLED with lots of photos of buttons and descriptions and history of the various types of buttons. This book is due to go for reprint sometime in 2008 with up-to-date button values, but the retail price will be around $500. This is your chance to own this book at a more realistic price. This would also be a great gift for the collector or enthusiast. Why not place your bid now?

Possibly button collecting is a cut throat world, full of collectors who would betray a lifetime's friendship for the chance of a rare bakelite fancy. Not unlike the bookplate world.

Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture

Nathan Harsh & C. Tracey Parks Williams. THE ART AND MYSTERY OF TENNESSEE FURNITURE THROUGH 1850. Tennessee Historical Society, 1988.

Current Selling Prices
$550-$800 /£280-£400 ISBN 0961596627

COLLECTABLES
Collectors and dealers book for the venerable Tennessee antiquer. Probably essential if you are dealing in it. 345 pages, copiously illustrated in colour and black and white throughout. The Amazon person has it thus :-

This pioneering study has been meticulously assembled through extensive fieldwork throughout Tennessee. Lifestyles of Tennesseans prior to 1850 ranged from mountain cabins to plantation mansions and the furnishings were designed to accommodate either setting. Here is a variety of desks, bookcases, and secretaries; sideboards, presses, cupboards, dressers, wardrobes, bureaus and bedsteads; sugar chests and cellarets; candlestands and shaving stands and washstands; cradles, bed steps, chairs, benches, sofas, and tables in dozens of sizes, uses, and names. Featuring many pieces from private collections never before documented, "The Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture" chronicles the originality of design and decoration, the choices of woods, and the simplicity and sophistication that signifies "made in Tennessee." The authors consider sources of labor, location of shops, volume of production, and marketing techniques. Just as important, the authors have conducted exhaustive research into the identities of Tennessee artisans and the furniture industry, and the book includes a checklist of 1,400 furniture makers working in Tennessee prior to 1850. This will be the definitive study for years to come.

Could find no pics of the book or even a definitive piece of Tennessee furniture so, because I must have a pic, have got Linda Thompson (song writer, former Miss Tennessee, former "Hee Haw" gal, but best known as Elvis' LAST girlfriend) up there. Not entirley sure what a "Hee Haw" girl is or does. I guess dating Elvis is the American equivalent of dating Prince Charles... [ W/Q *** ]

VALUE? Originally sold at the Tennessee State Museum, another ed came out in the same year from University Publishing Association. Google reveals a Tennessee dealer saying it is essential in the field and worth $700 and for a while there were no copies available; at present 2 on Amazon at $600 and $1200 (money goes to a charity) ABE has an egregious relister with one at $2000 . $600 to $700 should be enough, every time a dealer dies or goes bust one will pop up.

The Bayonet Book. John & Peter White Watts, 1975.

John & Peter White Watts. THE BAYONET BOOK. Privately Printed by the Authors, UK 1975. ISBN 0950457302

Current Selling Prices
$350-$750 / £200-£400

COLLECTABLES / MILITARY
What it says on the tin. Guide to all bayonets of all countries of all times. Art book size. 504 pages with an index. 1052 plates in black and white.




VALUE? 4 copies were on ABE in mid 2006 at $500-600, now there are 2 at similar prices. meanwhile at Amazon 2 copies have also sold with an arrant relister sitting on Biblio at an unhinged $1200 and a BIN on Ebay as we speak at $475. Looks like a $400 minimum book and thanks to ebay lister for this fine pic. The ebay one should go although I have never met or chatted with a bayonet collector. Perhaps it's a hereditary thing, like 'this family has always collected bayonets.' Collecting is a mysterious and wonderful thing.
Want level 25-50 Highish