Glass Beads from Europe: With Value Guide (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

Rating:
Summary: Very comprehensive and informative
Review: I really devoured this book. The photographs show all the important types of older European beads beautifully, and the text was well researched and written.

I was pleasantly surprised by maps explaining the whereabouts of the beadmakers, having lived in Germany.

This book was written from a highly refined and educated passion.

Rating:
Summary: A well-meant, but flawed attempt.
Review: Ms. Jargstorf's 3rd book on bead research is her most ambitious, and most provocative. She is on the most solid ground when discussing the beads of Germany and Central Europe. Her discussion of ancient beads is problematical, as very few of these are pictured to relate to the text. She offers a great many ideas and theories, but presents very little substantiation. Some of her ideas are just silly, or misinterpretations of history. The photographs are variable in quality and reproduction, are not numbered, and often do not enhance the text. The "Value Guide" is given in British Pounds Sterling, and is therefore not very useful. The most interesting beads are merely said to be "rare"--and no value given. As such, this section is almost pointless. I recommend this book, but only if the reader remembers that it has serious flaws, and is spurred to do some cross-referencing to other sources of information.