Book: New Hampshire Silver (1710-1896) by Parsons

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This book is one of the 350 plus books, exhibition and auction catalogs that I will be offering here over the next couple of weeks or however long it take to complete the task. All of these items are from my own personal collection which I have spent the last 40 years accumulating. You will find a great mix of antique related material covering a broad area. Some are relatively common while others are really quite rare but I will allow you to judge the value in this current market. Thanks and good luck. I must note that I am getting complaints from some that are missing the book they wanted. The purpose of "Buy it Now" is to give you the prospective buyer an opportunity to buy the item with out bidding. I do apologize for not explaining this earlier. I have long said that if you can identify just 1 item from reference material or catalogs then the publication has paid for itself.This soft cover book is called " New Hampshire Silver by Charles Parsons " It has 141 pages, is modestly illustrated, and was printed in 1983. I can not stress hard enough the importance and value of this volume (on biblofind the best used copy is nearly $500) the worst is nearly $150) . Do not be fooled by the number of pages or the fact it is a soft cover. This book is the most in depth study of NH silver that I ever saw in my 44 years as an antique dealer (retired a few short years ago). I simply can not fathom any NH or maybe any New England investor, dealer or collector, of period silver, not wanting a copy of this as well as many others outside this region. It has charts and tabulations of production as well as a clear description of the various structure elements of spoons that I have not seen in any silver book by any author (The author Stephen G. C. Ensko first privately published 1927 revised and publicly published in 1939 and 1948 is the closest book I know of but still can not, in my opinion, hold a candle to this level of information). As an example of spoon tabulation it identifies the length of the bowl, width of the bowl, width of handle, depth of the bowl, weight in grams, the drop of the bowl (style), drop of handle, the projection (handle to bowl joint shape, the author identifies 10 different joints: broad, large oval, thin tapered, double oval, small oval, wide tapered, roulette, long,, point arch incised and pointed arch and shows examples) the angle of the handle bend,, the mark (all of this and more in chart form). Then goes so far as to confirm all of this information up by revealing the source from which the author drew his information in each tabulation case. In addition there are actual photos of maker marks, many are extermely rare. As well Parsons goes on to identifying the 10 pre-Revolutionary War silversmiths in Portsmouth to which there are no known examples of their work. Consider that most authors refer to only known examples (why I am not sure). Discover and correctly identify with assured conviction just 1 piece of an unknown example or a rare maker and you will reap the benifits of your time and investment. Daniel Greenbourough (1685-1746) is the earliest known NH maker and a sugar box made by him is in the Metropolitin Musuem of Art (illustrated). Also the church pieces made by William Whittimore (1710-1775) (also illustrated) are very highly prized. These are just 2 examples of extremely valuable silver pieces by makers that do not readily slide off the tounge but their pieces are probably still out there and are really investment quality by anyones reputable standards. Because I purchased this book new, I must admit the wear is all mine. I really depended upon this reference when perfoming appraisals, purchases or sales. Over the last 25 plus years it has been a great resource a great number of times and is NOT a price guide. Shipping discounts for multiple purchases is available, (applies to U.S. destination, international shipping is quoted upon request). Please understand that all books are shipped via USPS media mail and could take up to 8 business days to arrive. Thank you very much and be... read more

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