Antique and Collectible Thimbles and Accessories by Averil Mathis (1986, Hardcover)

This book, by the late Averil Mathis, was the first to have large, full-color, photographs of a wide variety of thimbles. Thimble pictures are in categories by the material of which they are made, and maker's marks are attributed to their maker. It does not provide in depth information about the thimbles or their makers. The only major error in the book is the attribution of the star mark on silver thimble to Brogan. Although that company did use a star mark, they are not know to have made thimbles. In addition, all the thimbles with that mark have been traced back to Waite Thresher, Providence, RI, during the years 1860-1912. After that the W-T mark was a star with a thimble inside it, that was used until they sold their dies to Simons Brox. of Philadelphia in 1927. With the advent of eBay, nearly all price guides were rendered useless, but it does provide some help comparing thimble values. This book is out of print. Kit

This book provides color photographs of Gold, Silver, Brass, Ivory, Pewter, China, Advertising thimbles. Although interesting, the author does not provide much information about the thimbles (i.e. for sterling thimbles, she will tell you if a thimble is sterling and who made it if it has a maker's mark). It does not however, include any information on when the thimble was made, nor is it in any order other (i.e. by maker) than the material the thimble was made of. If you are looking for a particular gold thimble, it is a matter of trial and error going picture-by-picture looking for one that matches yours. For the most part the photographs are of good quality. It is an interesting book to review and although not as informative as I would like, it makes a good reference source for thimble collectors especially if you can pick up a used copy in good condiiton.

I collect thimble and just try to find as much information about a thimble as Ii can. It is a very good book.