A practical guide to collecting antique firearms with a method rather than on instinct. The book starts with how to read a piece: maker's marks and proof marks, serial numbers and what they actually tell you, proof testing, and how a barrel and a stock are dated. It explains the difference between ignition systems — matchlock, wheellock, flintlock, percussion — because that is the first thing that places a gun in time and in price. It teaches how to spot reassembled pieces, replaced barrel...

A practical guide to Chinese jade and antiques for people who want a method rather than instinct. The book starts with telling real jade apart: the difference between jadeite and nephrite, the checks you can make without instruments — heft, sound, coolness, hardness — and the ones that genuinely need a laboratory. It explains why colour alone says very little, and what actually drives value: translucency, evenness, absence of fractures, quality of the carving. It covers the treatments the ...

Enjoy this anthology of Neo-Gothic fiction inspired by the imagination of Edgar Allan Poe.  Winner of the Paris Book Festival Award – Best anthology of the yearNominated for a Bram Stoker Award – Superior Achievement in an Anthology"Make sure your belt is done up good and tight when you read nEvermore!. It's very embarrassing to have your...

A practical guide to recognising, valuing and caring for art glass with a method. The book starts from technique — filigrana, lattimo, murrine, sommerso, incalmo, aventurine — because the working of the glass is what reveals the hand of a furnace and the period of a piece. It explains how to examine an object: the pontil mark on the base, the bubbles, the wall thickness, the behaviour of colour and what the metal oxides say, from cobalt blue to iron greens. It teaches how to separate a Ven...

A practical guide to collecting whisky and fine spirits with a method rather than on instinct. The book starts with how to read a bottle: what the label actually claims, bottling codes, fill level, the state of the capsule and cork, and why an original box changes the value. It explains what separates a single malt from a blend, what an age statement and its absence really mean, and how cask type, peating and cask strength affect both taste and price. It teaches how to spot fakes — reprint...

Tobacco pipes reward collectors who learn to read materials, makers, and age. This guide explains how briar grain and density affect both smoking quality and value, how meerschaum acquires its prized patina, and what hallmarks and stampings reveal about a pipe's origin and era. Readers work through grading criteria for bowl condition, stem integrity, and finish, then apply seasoning and storage principles that protect long-term collectibility. Whether you are evaluating a estate-sale find ...

A practical guide for anyone entering the world of antique cartography and period prints with a method. The book explains how to read a sheet: the printing technique, the watermark, the quality of the paper, the plate mark, original colouring as opposed to colour added later. It teaches how to tell a first edition from a late restrike and from a modern reproduction, how to grade condition, and how much folds, restoration and trimmed margins really weigh on value. It covers rarity and how p...

A complete, practical guide to collecting euro coins - volume 1, written for beginners and for collectors who want to sharpen their skills. Learn how to identify the year, mint and mintage of each issue, assess authenticity and condition, use catalogues and collector's tools, and understand how market value is formed. A clear path covering the history and features of euro coins, cataloguing, advanced authentication, rarity, fakes and preservation, with practical advice on buying and sellin...

An original collection of personal essays blending food writing and memoir, and exploring subjects ranging from Cher's canapes in the film Mermaids, to the way in which food can become a language we use to communicate things that are too difficult to say, via a history of cookbooks that have their foundations in grieving and loss, and one writer's experience of the six kitchens she's made her own over the years. Funny, astute and thought provoking, In the Kitchen explores the importance of...

A complete, practical guide to collecting Royal Mint coins, written for beginners and for collectors who want to sharpen their skills. Learn how to identify the issues of the British mint, assess authenticity and condition, use catalogues and collector's tools, and understand how market value is formed. A clear path covering the history of the Royal Mint, identification with basic tools, advanced valuation, authentication, rarity, fakes and preservation, with practical advice on buying and...

A complete, practical guide to collecting masonic objects, written for beginners and for collectors who want to sharpen their skills. Learn how to identify the types, symbols, degrees and functions of each piece, assess authenticity and condition, use catalogues and collector's tools, and understand how market value is formed. A clear path covering the main families of objects, authenticity and provenance, the market and buying strategies, cataloguing and a long-term vision, with practical...

A complete, practical guide to collecting phone cards, written for beginners and for collectors who want to sharpen their skills. Learn how to identify the issue, print run, series and condition of each card, assess authenticity and condition, use catalogues and collector's tools, and understand how market value is formed. A clear path covering the history and types of phone cards, archiving and classification, using catalogues, comparing markets, rarity, fakes and preservation, with pract...