Old Glass and How to Collect It

Old Glass and How to Collect It by J. S. Lewis. Book Includes a list of the latest important pieces sold from well-known collections and one hundred and sixty-nine illustrated specimens. INTRODUCTORY - THE origin of glass is lost in antiquity. Pliny, indeed, ascribes its discovery io certain Plmnician mariners who, being shipwrecked upon a sandy shore, used a block of the natron which formed their cargo to support a pot which they were putting over an improvised fire. The heat fused the sand with the natron, and lo the glass was discovered in the ashes. Since, however, Plinys authority was Rllmour, and since, also, such a phenonenon is a physical impossibility-for no bonfire could produce a temperature at which sand would fuse-it is possible that Rumour in Plinys day had a no greater reputation for reliability than in the twentieth century. But the story, if not true, is at least well invented and serves to show at how early an age in the worlds history glass was known... Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are now republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.