More Collectible Bells: Classic to Contemporay (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Bells
Review: This is a beautifully produced book with an unrivalled series of 620 stunning color pictures of bells. The illustrations are superbly printed (in China) and look as if they have been cleaned up with a computer so that there are no irritating features in the background. But the text is disappointing both in style and content. The reader will not learn a great deal about bells from the brief accounts that introduce each section and, in many of the captions, there is nothing about the country of origin or the use of the illustrated bell. Few of the bells shown were made to be used - many are modern decorative bells. Because of this, there is not much of interest for collectors of church, temple or animal bells. As to be expected, the emphasis is on bells of America with hardly anything on bells of Europe, Africa and Asia. There is a good index but a poor bibliography. Almost all classical books on bells are out of print and none is as well illustrated as this one. However, bell collectors interested in the manufacture and history of all kinds of bells should try to get hold of a copy of 'Bells and Man' by Percival Price, published in 1983 by Oxford University Press. Regrettably, only 1000 copies were printed and it went out of print almost immediately. American collectors should look for 'The Collector's Book of Bells' by L. Elsinore Springer published in 1972 by Crown Publishers Inc, New York. This is also out of print. The illustrations in these two books are in black and white and far from the quality of Donna Baker's pictiures. But the texts and captions are full of information. Readers of French have another option of a book that is still available. It is 'Cloches de France et d'ailleurs' by Jean-Pierre Rama published in 1993 by Pierre Zech Editeur, Paris. It has beautiful illustrations and a good text but, as the title suggests, it's mainly about French bells.