12 Excellent Reference Books for Collecting Vintage Costume Jewellery in the UK

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You have a thirst for knowledge and want to know more about the vintage costume jewellery in your collection. But which book to buy if you are living in the UK?

There are hundreds of reference books to choose from and most have been written in the US by authors who have a collection based in the US. How specific is that to us in the UK?

So here's a brief guide of 12 books to give a good over view of knowledge from Victorian through to the eighties and beyond. Actually there are more than 12 books here, because some authors have written more than one book that is useful.

This guide should cover general unsigned pieces and some signed pieces of jewellery. However there are no specific books ever written for the majority of the mass produced signed costume jewellery made by UK companies or made for the UK market apart from Wilson and Butler.

1. Costume Jewellery: A Collectors Guide by Caroline Behr (Miller's) (ISBN 1-84000-373-1)

A good place to start with a general over view and time line from Victorian, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts, 1950s, Czech, Austrian and some designers. Easy to read and has good photographs. Hand bag size and ideal to read on the train

2. Vintage Costume Jewellery: A Passion for fabulous Fakes by Carol Tanenbaum (ISBN 1-85149-511-8)

A must to buy and has the time line with expanded information. Includes Art Nouveau, Birmingham silver, machine, intro to Bakelite and plastic and a glossary. Loads of good photographs but none of the backs (a must for identification but rarely included in any book)

3. Secrets To Collecting Jewelry: How to BUY MORE for less! by Leigh Leshner (ISBN 0-89689-180-1)

Again a time line and over view through history but an absolute gem of a book because it has shows the backs and mechanism or findings that are essential to dating jewellery. This book looks at style and materials with specific photographs. Prom jewellery, art plastic, retro, manufacturing methods, Scandinavian, cameos. Mostly brief information but a very good visual guide. US book with $ price guide (2005). Another fabulous book to read on the bus or train as fits into your bag.

4. Jewels and Jewellery Clare Phillips (V & A) (ISBN 978-1-85177-535-4) or Jewellery: The Decorative Arts Library edited by Janet Swarbrick (ISBN 1-902328-13-2)

Could not decide which of these UK books was the most informative. So have I have included both

Jewels and Jewellery contains materials, a chronology of styles and manufacturing and distribution. Photographs of museum and pieces. Includes silver filigree, Berlin Iron, pearls, glass and enamel. Faith jewellery, cut steel, mourning and love jewellery not just jet or bog oak. Lalique, Ashbee, Liberty Cymric, Wilson, Gaskins and a time line pre Victorian to the 2000s.

Jewellery is a visual celebration of the world's great jewellery making techniques. From the ancient world until 1989. Full of information and photographs with more specific references to Jewellery in the UK.

5. Popular Jewelry of the '60s, '70s & '80s by Roseann Ettinger (ISBN 0-7643-2470-5)

Three decades of jewellery showing fashion and political trends that influenced the designs. US book with $ price guide (2006) The majority of vintage jewellery found is from this period and so makes this book invaluable to read. Well illustrated with pieces that are recognizable here in the UK. Including Mod jewellery, eastern influence, Pop Art, novelty, revival pieces, love beads, Art Metal, jade, plastic, wood and pave. The author has produced other reference books on other decades which are well worth investing in.

6. Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry by Leigh Leshner (ISBN 0-87349-954-9)

Bakelite is rare to find in jewellery in such quantities and variety as in the States. It is useful to recognize and see the variety of designs plastic has been used or with other materials. Celluloid, Lucite, thermoset, thermoplastic, laminated, reverse carved are more commonly found here in the UK and easily over looked. This book does make you look at plastic accessories in a whole new light. Does not contain enough information on galalith, the early plastic type that is more common in the UK. For this read books on Jakob Bengel.

7. Collecting Costume Jewelry 303: The flip side Exploring costume jewelry from the back by Julia C Carroll. (ISBN 978-1-57432-626-0)

This is the book that gets to the basics must have knowledge of vintage costume jewellery. The different components including the stones and cabochons that can be invaluable in dating and hardware clues that can be missed. Cameos, rhinestones, signed jewellery and photographs of the signatures, art glass, pin backs and so much more. I look at this book and always find something that I have not noticed before. One of my most valuable books in terms of knowledge. Also has a section of designers including Jonette Jewelry Co (JJ) that are not always found in other books. US book with $ price guides (2010)

Julia Carroll has produced other books including Costume Jewelry 101 and 202 in this serious. Both books are well worth having for reference as well.

8. Baubles, Buttons and Beads: The Heritage of Bohemia by Sibelle Jargstorf (ISBN 0-88740-467-7)

This is another gem of a book; as we had an abundance of vintage jewellery imported into this country from Bohemia up until the Second World War and then in smaller quantities after. Still available to find and collect but prices are rising. Sections on buttons, filigree, glass beads, plastic and glass cameos, 1930s, enamel and more importantly the history. After reading this book it has helped me date and identify cameos, filigree brooches and brightly coloured rhinestone jewellery of the 1920s and 30s. Hand finished and machine made dress clips and the different finishes used.

Sibylle Jargstorf has produced other books on beads and glass that are invaluable.

9. Cameos: A Pocket Guide by Monica Lynn Clements and Patricia Rosser Clements (ISBN 0-7643-1728-8)

Although there are many books on cameos, this small packet guide is full of cameos in materials other than shell. Shell is the most collected cameo jewellery type but for me it did not have an appeal. I wanted to know more about the glass, plastic, metal and gemstone cameos that I was finding. How to identify the materials used and when were they made. This book has an abundance of photographs covering a huge amount of cameos in these materials and more importantly recognizable for the UK market. US book with $ price guide (2003) For more in depth information on cameo jewellery then obtain any of the editions of Cameos: Old and New by Anna M Miller.

10. Victorian Jewellery by Margaret Flowers (No ISBN)

Not a book on vintage but antique jewellery that is now out of print but still available in several editions. First published in 1951 but well worth reading. Insight into the Victorian influences and seen in revival pieces. Birmingham's role in mass produced jewellery. This book is often sited in later books as being influential. Has the Victorian period in 3 parts and each section has the most used motifs of that period. Did make me laugh at the sheer snobbish attitude of the author at times but well worth reading. Few photographs and mostly in black and white that are not that clear.

11. Scottish Jewellery: A Victorian Passion by Diana Scarisbrick

Scottish jewellery is found in abundance in the UK. From the mid nineteenth century with the rise in popularity, had factories in Scotland and England churning out designs and pieces in the thousands. This continued into the late twentieth century mostly in Birmingham. This book is a good introduction. Not as in depth as could have been and do not expect information on vintage Scottish souvenir jewellery from Miracle, The Ward Brothers, Exquisite or Hollywood. Pages of photographs of agate and silver brooches and bracelets. But complicated by the photo guide at the end of the book. A good starter book to recognize Scottish motifs.

12. Warman's Jewelry: Fine & Costume Jewelry 4Th Edition by Kathy Flood (ISBN 1-4402-0801-8)

This is the 4Th edition of the Warman's Jewelry Identification and Price Guide. So 3 other books to obtain and read. In this edition two centuries are covered with pearls, figural, cameos, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and plastic. The difference between Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian jewellery. Again page after page of jewellery photographs. Good mix of fresh antique, vintage and modern jewellery. A mix of world wide designs hat I found applicable to the UK. US book with $ price guide (2010)

This is just a brief reference of general books for vintage jewellery that will change as more books come onto the market or I discover out of print books. Then there are more specific books on Bengal, Avon, Sarah Coventry, Egyptian Revival jewellery, Haskell, D & E, Wilson & Butler and so many more to read

Even with this amount of information I still feel that I have just skimmed the surface. As said previously there is a lack of information on jewellery from Ciro Pearls, Sphinx, Exquisite, Miracle, Hollywood, Thomas Le Mott and many other companies that mass produced jewellery in this country in the twentieth century, which is now very collectible world wide.

Sue Weaver Jewels and Finery
Part Owned of Jewels and Finery. Novice vintage costume jeweler and passionate about UK mass produced jewellery pre 1980s.
More information is available on our website below

http://www.jewelsandfinery.co.uk/

And follow my blog at http://blog.jewelsandfinery.co.uk/ for regular updates on dating and identifying second hand jewellery.

Reference Books

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Education, in today's scenario has become a necessity of life. No matter what field you are into, you need to have thorough knowledge of your work. In order to stay ahead from other, you should have profound knowledge. For that, Reference books can become your guide. Reference books contain facts, figures, biographical information, or other such information, so as to make it a valuable tool for answering reference questions. It's a book meant for consulting when reliable information is required. You can get reference books for numerous topics. These may include catalogs, concordances, dictionaries, directories, discographies and bibliographies, encyclopedias, glossaries, handbooks, indexes, manuals, research guides, union lists, yearbooks, etc.

One of the important reference books is Dictionary. It's a wonderful reference book having collection of words listed alphabetically in any particular language, with all possible description, pronunciations, synonyms, antonyms, related and contrasted words. It can also be used for language translation. For example, English to Spanish or Spanish to English and many more. Some of noteworthy features of a Dictionary are:

(1) It is been primed for some or the other purposes;
(2) It holds the data that has been chosen for the idea of fulfilling those functions; and
(3) Is designed to ascertain associations between the data so as to meet the requirements of user.

Another useful reference book is Thesaurus. It is a reference book containing synonyms and at times antonyms too. Thesauruses are mainly intended to draw distinction between analogous words and helps in choosing accurately the most appropriate word. All the entries in Thesaurus are arranged alphabetically and structured properly so that existing relationships between perceptions are made clear.

Encyclopedia is another resourceful reference book. It contains information on almost all the twigs of topics. Encyclopedias cover each of the subjects in the form of articles, which are typically ordered alphabetically by article name. The purpose of having an encyclopedia is to gather information dispersed all around the sphere; to bring forward its facts to us and convey it to those who will come after us. General encyclopedias are mostly a guide on "how to do" topics of various things, along with an entrenched dictionary. Apart from that there are lots of other encyclopedias available which cover numerous topics on different cultures and ethnic which nationalized perceptions.

You can get a wide range of Informative reference books on http://www.office-supplies.us.com/ at the most reasonable prices. They are the National wide Distributor of all General office supplies, printer paper, labels, printer supplies and custom printing, teaching supplies and lot more.

Jaishree

A Canadian Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker

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If you have room for just one writer's reference beside your computer monitor or writing area, make it Diana Hacker's A Canadian Writer's Reference. This handbook answers all the questions of grammar, style, and format that come up while you are writing. Now in its third edition, A Canadian Writer's Reference stays up to date and grows with the times: the newest edition includes advice on the production of electronic documents and web site design as well as instructions for properly citing an electronic source in several citation systems.

A number of special features make this writer's reference particularly easy to use. A sturdy plastic coil binding makes it easy to open the book to any page and have it remain open on the desk while you work. It is easy to flip from page to page and from section to section. It's easy to find things as well: a main menu inside the front cover divides the book up into twelve sections - four under "Composition/Style," four under "Correctness," and the remainder under "Research/Basic Grammar." Within the text, these sections are easily located with index style tabs, and within each section there's a more detailed menu of the section contents. At the back of the book, writers find all of the section menus together in a single detailed menu inside the back cover as well as an index.

Special features of Diana Hacker's writer's reference include detailed instructions for using the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), and The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) styles of documentation. There is a whole section written for speakers of English as a second language (ESL), and text boxes throughout the book highlighting ESL issues. Other text boxes contain quick checklists, examples to illustrate a point, or cautions about common problems with electronic grammar checkers.

A new feature for the third edition of A Canadian Writer's Reference is a companion website that greatly expands the content of the book for writers connected to the internet. Throughout the book, On the Web text boxes provide information about the web site content and how it can be integrated with material in the book. Web site content is particularly useful for students, who will find many practice exercises there.

Anyone searching for a comprehensive writer's handbook should consider A Canadian Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker. This invaluable book clearly describes the correct approach to problems with English composition, grammar, documentation and other writing pitfalls. While it is endlessly useful to all English speaking writers it is particularly valuable to students and those grappling with ESL issues. Earlier editions are still relevant; however, the most current edition provides the best value.

Hacker, Diana. A Canadian Writer's Reference 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004

ISBN: 0-312-41683-0

Rosemary Drisdelle is a freelance writer with a particular interest in science and health writing for a general audience. She is the author of "Birds" for Suite101.com, and is available for writing projects on a contract basis. Contact Attica Freelance Writers.

Physics Reference Book For the Scientist - Book Review

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Most Americans have a pretty good understanding of physics. After all, we all understand gravity, and we know what happens when we turn on the stove and boil water. We also know when we go around the corner too fast in our car everything leans to one side. And most young men have played baseball at sometime in their life so they have a pretty good idea of force, power, kinetic energy, and object's trajectory. All this is "physics" of course.

Still, what if you are a scientist and you understand all that but you need to know or all there is to know, all the mathematical formulations and exactly how everything affects everything else in a scientific way? If these are things that you need to know, then perhaps I can recommend a very good book to you. This is a book that I have in my personal library and I use quite often when coming up with new concepts, innovations, or inventions. The name of the book he has;

"Physics for Scientists" by Randall K. Knight.

This is a reference book for Scientists on the realm of physics. It helps scientists so they don't make any mistakes when they're conceiving a new idea or pushing the limits of thought with new concepts. It's a very excellent book and it makes a nice addition to the library for a graduate physics student or someone that has been studying physics all their live and has some revolutionary new ideas.

The book is fully illustrated, and it is very good. I recommend it to anyone that is involved in the scientific fields, even rocket scientists. I hope you will please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes information is power.

Reference Books Reviewed: Associated Press Stylebook

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When you write, you likely find yourself wrestling with questions. I certainly do, everything from the proper form of abbreviations to the placement of apostrophes. Ideally, you want to get past those questions quickly, so you can focus on the message, not the writing.

Among the tools that helps us answer questions quickly and consistently are stylebooks: those manuals that recommend certain styles or usage. They come in a number of flavors and you may wish to have all of them on hand. But, more importantly, select one and use its recommendations consistently.

This week we look at the Associated Press Stylebook, a useful and frequently-cited reference work for writers.

As the title suggests, it comes from the people at the Associated Press (AP) wireservice, and serves journalists and mass-media writers. By way contrast, the Chicago Manual of Style (to cite another important reference book) serves academics and others who write formally, as well as book writers, editors, and publishers.

The AP Stylebook emphasizes usage of commonly cited names, events, and language. For example, under the listing for assassin, it explains the proper use of three similar concepts: 'assassin,' 'killer,' and 'murderer' (in case you were wondering, the AP book defines an assassin as a politically motivated killer, a killer as anyone who kills with any motive, and a murderer as a killer who has been convicted in a court of law).

Since journalists must contend with the pressure of deadlines, this book is laid out like a dictionary, with the entries in alphabetical order. Each entry is brief and deals with issues that journalists would face in everyday writing.

Many entries provide a standard for capitalization, spelling, use of abbreviations, and other useful information. Rules for grammar can be found under headings such as 'Possessives'.

Incidentally, many other news organizations, in the U.S. and other countries, have their own style guides. In Canada, for example, there's the Canadian Press stylebook. So, if you're writing for a particular wire-service or news organization, check to see if they have their own style guide.

The Associated Press Stylebook comes in two flavors: 'The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law,' and 'The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Law.' The latter is as readily available as the former. Check your bookstore for details.

Robert F. Abbott offers three free chapters from his book, A Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results at http://www.managersguide.com/free-sample.html He also offers free subscriptions to Abbott?s Communication Letter, a free newsletter that helps you enhance your career through improved business communication, at http://www.abbottletter.com/

The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference (Book Review)

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As a long time devotee of Oxford publications, there is one small reference book I carry with me whenever I travel. This book, "The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference," fits neatly into a carry-on bag or a medium-sized purse. For so small a size, the aid this book can give to writers is tremendous.

These words in the prologue "A helpful way to think of this book is as a literary Swiss Army Knife" are very true, because so much is neatly arranged in this 368 page paperback. Just a quick look at the chapter headings is enough proof of this book's usefulness.

The book has nineteen chapters:

1 Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Usage guides

2. A List of the Most Commonly Used Foreign Words and Phrases

3. 100 Tricky Usage Problems and Pitfalls Explained

4. 100 Rare Fifty-Cent Words and Their Meanings

5. 125 Synonym Studies

6. Proofreader's Marks and What They Mean

7. Common Citation Styles

8. A List of Clich?s to Avoid

9. A List of Common Rhetorical Devices, Poetic Meters, and Forms

10. A Quick Guide to All the Plays of Shakespeare

11. A Timeline of Great Works of Literature in English

12. Biblical Quotes, Characters, and Books of the Bible

13. Major Mythological Characters

14. A List of Great Print Resources

15. A List of Writers' Advocacy Organizations

16. How to Copyright Your Work

17. A common-Sense Guide to Manuscript Formats

18.Great Websites for Writers

19. Forms of Address for Letter Writing

The few introductory paragraphs or one or two pages at the beginning of each chapter make some enjoyable reading on their own.

I found every part of the book to be indispensable, but synonym studies can be very useful to novice writers who may not have grasped the nuances in the meanings of some words. For example, on page 173, the differences between the words "get, acquire, attain, gain, obtain, procure, secure" are succinctly explained.

In the "Quick Guide to Shakespeare" after a two-page introduction to Shakespeare, each play's title, date, and theme are given, as well as one or two famous quotations and a list of characters. It is not an in-depth study of Shakespeare by any means, but it is a quick reference one can glance at when the heavier tomes are not within reach.

The Bible Quotations are given as book, chapter, and verse, after a few paragraphs that point to the importance of the Bible as the reference source by the most famous writers.

Published by Berkley with ISBN: 0425206890, "The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference" is also easy on the wallet. Listed to be sold for $6.99 in the bookstores, from online it can be bought new for about four dollars.

Whether a student, a novice or an experienced writer, or a person who has an interest in the language arts, "The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference" is a valuable book.

Joy Cagil is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers. Her education is in linguistics.

Keep Up With Your MBA Friend - Reference Book Review

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There is a lot of knowledge that goes into the MBA programs at the top business schools in the United States. After all, it takes nearly 4 years to complete and there is a massive amount of studying that must be done to get that degree. What if I told you that you can get a pocket dictionary like encyclopedia of all the information in an MBA program all in one book?

It's true, and I happen to have a copy of it. The name of the book is;

"The Vest Pocket MBA," by Jae K. Shim Ph.D., Joel G Siegal Ph.D., and Abraham J. Simon Ph.D. CPA.

In this book there is information on advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations, packaging, factories, manufacturing, assembly lines, human resources, management, statistics, accounting, regulations, compliance, risk management, business planning, distribution, and everything else under the sun that you could possibly think of. If you've ever read a Cliff Notes, or picked up one of those college course note fold outs, then you are beginning to get the idea of what this book is all about.

It's packed with information, all of which is easy to look up either by the table of contents or the index section. If you were an idiot savant and picked up this book, and paged through it, you would basically know everything there is to know to get an MBA. There are even case studies in this book. No, you would not have the experience of a seasoned corporate executive, but you would know exactly what they are thinking, and how they go about the planning process.

As an entrepreneur, who does not have an MBA, I have spent many hours with this book studying all the ins and outs to help improve my business. But it also has helped me talk to my friend who is an MBA using all his terminology, buzzwords and business jargon. If you are a small business owner of any type I recommend you have this book on your library shelves at home. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in a solid reference library.