Finger Rings: From Ancient to Modern (Ashmolean Handbooks)

Rating:
Summary: A Bitter Disappointment
Review: Diana Scarisbrick & Martin Henig's book turned out to be a complete disappointment to me. I do not own any other books of either author but if this is any indication of what to expect from them on the subject of finger rings then I won't be buying any more of their books. I am a novice collector of ancient rings (mostly roman) and was hoping to find a brief history of roman rings and their symbolism. Given the wide variety of types to be collected (bronze votive types with their various numbers of dots that are supposed to invoke the help or guidance of either male or female dieties as an example) are not mentioned. A background of the various styles of rings and their symbolism would have been useful but all that appeared for the romans in their book was 1/2 page explaining 3 rings whose photos appeared on the facing page. I understand that the book was just supposed to cover a smattering of finger rings throughout human history but what you get in this book is brevity right down to the skull and bones of the subject. Any elaboration on ring styles and a background of their symbolism of the various eras would have made the book interesting. Having said this however, if pretty color photographs (there are very few per historical era that is covered) that are supported with very little historical information is your cup of tea then this may be the book for you. If the authors have some expertise in this field of finger rings and their history it would be nice if they would share it with their readers next time in some future book by elaborating in more detail. Attempts by other authors to cover this subject seem to deal mostly with the gemstones found on the rings and cover the gold and silver types. Bronze rings of the common man do not seem to be covered much in any book. In many ways the bronze rings would be of more interest in shedding light on the beliefs and aspirations of the common man on whose backs those empires were made. I predict that if there is a knowledgeable author out there who puts out a book on the subject of ancient finger rings and includes numerous photographs of the various styles that exist for each culture along with detailed explanations for them (so far as is known) the book will sell and will make alot of money. To date, there is no such book as far as I know.