Vintage White Linens by Marsha L. Manchester (1997, Hardcover)

Covering such a broad subject matter can be risky with text often becoming bland and overly generalized. Not so in this book by Marsha Manchester which provides a succint but interesting information about a variety of vintage household textiles from fine lace tablecloths to embroidered flatware envelopes. A wonderful reference for those 'I bought this and its pretty, but I have no idea what it is' pieces that collector's often find. It has been an invaluable resource in helping me build the vocabularly necessary to make my vintage linen auction listings accurate. It is arranged alphabetically, making it easy to use and, despite the fact that it was published in 1997, I still find the pricing guides to be reliable. I particularly like the emphasis on lace pieces which can often be difficult to name or describe unless you are an expert on the subject.