A Field Guide to Carnival Glass by David Doty (1998, Paperback)

I`M HAPPY WITH DAVID`S field guide,BUT FOUND MUCH MORE INFORMATION ON HIS "FREE WEB SITE" BOOKS ARE NICE TO TAKE TO GLASS AUCTIONS ,BUT KNOWLEDGE IS MONEY, THAT I FOUND ON HIS WEBSITE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE. I FELL anyone that`s intoCARNIVAL GLASS ,SHOULD HAVE DAVID DOTY`S BOOK, WOULD LIKE TO GET A UPDATED ONE MYSELF.
THANK YOU, Bob Hancock.

This wonderful guide is sometimes sold used on E-Bay as a "Rare Book" -- so buyers should take note that a new, 2008 edition of Doty's guide is available at his website for $20. (Just click on "carnival resources" at Ddoty.com.)

Whether you choose to buy Doty's field guide new or used, it's well worth the money -- nothing in the field equals it. Like his website, on which all carnival glass dealers have come to rely, the book is staggering in its depth and detail: you get the sense that if Doty had focused his passion and intelligence on rocketry instead of carnival glass, we might all be vacationing on the moon by now. The guide is amazingly compact (6" x 9"), which makes it just what it's supposed to be -- a field guide, easily carried around at an auction or estate sale.


ABOUT THE 1998 GUIDE SPECIFICALLY:

Doty's field guide is a hefty 384 pages long in its 1998 edition, with 700+ photographs. It won't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Doty's website that his original 1998 field guide is well-organized -- the book makes it easy to locate any pattern quickly. The guide's single drawback is that most of the photographs are in black and white and not large; they lack the high resolution and detail of pictures on his website. The book does, however, contain a 30-page middle section in color. This section includes subsections on how carnival glass is shaped; distinguishing the various shapes of carnival glass; iridescence; color; Peacock-and-Urn patterns; and recommendations for inexpensive and expensive tumbler collections. The field guide's section on color is especially helpful: it's 17 pages long, and explores variations in amethyst, marigold, aqua, red and opalescent shades (among others), offering advice and details available nowhere else. Notably, in addition to providing information on American companies, the book includes many examples of non-American glass; it also sports special sections on lettered carnival, vases, decorated carnival, hatpins, lamps & shades, and contemporary carnival.

The 1998 field guide's value estimates accompanying every piece are of course out-of-date, tending generally to serve as testaments to the devaluation of carnival glass in the last decade, but the pricing information still provides a useful guide to the comparative value and rarity of pieces. The guide is also far more specific than Doty's website in noting (for every piece) the scarcity or availability of respective colors in various shapes.


THE GUIDE VERSUS THE WEBSITE:

In the balance, is it worth it to buy this guide if you can use Doty's website? Well, sometimes it's a little hard to tote a computer around, and you need something that you can carry in one hand! And personally, I can't imagine a carnival glass seller or aficionado not having the guide; it's become such a cornerstone of carnival glass history.


PUBLICATION DETAILS:

The 1998 first edition of this book was published by The Glass Press, Inc., dba Antique Publications, Marietta Ohio; 375 pages / 700+ photographs total. The 2008 second edition is published by PageWorks, Mt. Pleasant South Carolina; 190 pages.]


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