| Standard catalog of firearms is fine grade research tool |
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2010 Standard Catalog of Firearms: The Collector’s Price & Reference Guide, 20th Edition by Dan Shideler, Gun Digest Books, 2009. Softcover, 1,504 pages, black-and-white photos, values, with CD. List price: $39.99.
One test for any price guide is how quickly one can find the information being sought. With more than 7,500 photos and 110,000 prices of famous and obscure firearms made around the world from 1836 to present, this hefty book looks a bit intimidating.
Yet, I found exactly what I wanted in less than a minute.
That’s a testament to the simplicity of the format used in this reference book.
While many price guides are nothing more than a pairing of objects and values, this work provides solid, useful information, with details about the weapons, including manufacturers, dates, sizes, weights and ammunition used.
New to this edition is a Value Tracker feature, providing historical pricing trends for select firearms. For the Colt Python double-action revolver, 34 sales are highlighted, with prices from $805 to $3,738 at auctions between 1904 and 1909. Other additions include a “sleepers” icon, identifying models undergoing or likely to undergo an upward shift in value.
Articles included in the book examine Commando Arms, Harrington & Richardson and Smith & Wesson. There’s also a 16-page color section on vintage pepperboxes.
Finally, the 2010 Standard Catalog of Firearms comes with a searchable CD containing all 1,504 pages in the printed edition.
Cartier and America by Martin Chapman, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and DelMonico Books, 2009. Hardcover with dust jacket, 176 pages, color photos, no values. List price: $34.95.
Published in association with the San Francisco exhibit by the same name, Cartier and America marks the centennial anniversary of Cartier in the United States.
More than just cataloging the items in the exhibit, whether of French or American origin, the book tells the story of the Cartier family and its jewelry business. It’s a narration of privilege and glamour through the years, illustrated with extraordinary items — not only jewelry, but also clocks, frames and cases.
Equally intriguing are the few vintage photographs included, as well as images of and stories about Cartier’s clientele, from East Coast business tycoons to West Coast movie stars. This coffee table book holds a certain fascination and a definite shine.
Juliana Jewelry Reference, DeLizza & Elster by Ann Pitman, Collector Books, 2010. Hardcover, 320 pages, color photos, values. List price: $29.95.
A product of DeLizza and Elster jewelry company, which was in business from 1947 to 1990, Juliana jewelry has gained a strong following with collectors. Among them is author Ann Pitman, whose goal in writing this book, in part, was “to make the perfect D&E reference book, to help collectors learn about this jewelry and how to identify the unmarked pieces for themselves.”
In that manner, this book doubles as a picture price guide and an identification guide, showing hundreds of pieces of jewelry.
Determining what’s Juliana and what’s not, however, can be a task.
The photography in Juliana Jewelry Reference offers considerable help in the identification process. In addition to the obvious, showing the front of a piece of costume jewelry, Pitman often pairs those images with photos of the clasp, hook and back of an item.
Likewise with clampers, or hinged cuff bracelets, the sides and the back of the piece may be illustrated, in addition to the front.
Readers will also find illustrations of varying colors used in jewelry sets. And, when known, dates are added to the information about the jewelry.
This is the type of information collectors want – the type of book they can use to identify a piece they own or one they’ll likely add to their collection.
The following books are updated editions.
Appraising Personal Property: Principles and Methodology, 3rd Edition by David J. Maloney Jr., Appraisers Press, 2010. Softcover, 550 pages, black-and-white photos, no values. List price: $68.85 from www.AppraisalCourseAssociates.com
Described as “a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of personal property appraising,” this third edition updates David J. Maloney’s previous work. Vital to this edition is information based on changes to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP).
The book also features a new 70-page mini USPAP course, a plain-English guide to USPAP and updated sample appraisals.
Serving as both a course book and reference guide for personal property appraising, this work clearly gives users tools they need to do the job. |
| 2/17/2010 |
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