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Bob C. Stevens, The Collector's Book of Snuff Bottles. New York & Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1976.
Quarto, 30.5 x 23 cm, hard cover, slipcase, blue cloth, 312 pages, colour plates in the pagination.
Lamination on the slipcase a little rippled in places. Otherwise, in fine, clean condition.
A magnificent, beautiful, detailed, and scholarly reference work - indispensable for collectors in the field.
In these days of deepening interest in snuff bottles, many of us are reaching the point where we know too much, perhaps, about a few aspects of bottles we own and not enough about the subject as a whole. Although the relationship of the arts to snuff bottles has been rather well explained, the relationship of the sciences is much in need of attention. How, then, can a person learn more about all these many aspects concerned with the arts and sciences of snuff bottles? This is a problem that especially plagues the collector who is just beginning to acquire his treasures. Sometimes experienced collectors are troubled by it too. There is no short and easy answer, for the whole subject of stuff bottles is very complex indeed.
Although a number of publications have dealt with rather specialised matters related to snuff bottles, no major work attempting to discuss all aspects of the subject has appeared for many years. Many articles have been published in books and magazines, however, and some of these have been standard texts. They should be required reading for the collector, although several of them are as difficult to obtain as rare bottles. In my continuous research I have referred to these various sources on innumerable occasions. Too often plagued by remembered references and forgotten sources of information, I have longed to bring together in one book the information that heretofore has been scattered about in so many places.
This book is, in part, a consequence of that longing. I have borrowed liberally and of necessity from various sources on the difficult subjects related to snuff bottles, and I have attempted to correlate their views in the context of my own views. The omission of bibliographic citations and footnotes throughout the text is intentional, for I do not want to burden the reader with numerous and extensive intrusions. To make up for the lack of footnotes, however, I have appended an extensive bibliography that is as complete as possible.
Keywords: Antiques. Antique collecting. Jade. Glass.