By R.L. Wilson.
Published by Chartwell Books
142 West 36th Street, 4th Floor, Dept. TGM
New York, NY 10018
Available at Amazon.com
This elongated 394-page hardbound volume features the most color photographs of small arms this writer has ever had the privileged of reviewing. Even the end papers feature 21 firearms, etc, on tanned lion-skin backgrounds.
Following the title pages, plus descriptions of the endpaper firearms, a Foreword, and Introduction, this tome features eleven chapters, from Five Centuries of Deluxe Arms to Pursuing the Ultimate, all illustrated with color photographs. The final 54 pages are devoted to a lengthy Glossary, an Appendix of American Arms Engravers from Colonial Times to the Present, a Bibliography, plus Acknowledgments, Notes, Photographic Note, and Owner Credits, a note on the author, and an Index.
The majority of the photos are full page, with captions on the same page, or opposite. The amount of textual material is limited to events, explanations, and/or comments on an engraver or his work. Firearms are not the only engraved items
covered in this volume. Also shown are engraved swords, tomahawks, knives, flasks, and similar items.
The arms cover the gamete—engraved Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Marlin, Merwin & Hulbert, Spencer, Sharps, Springfield, Parker Brothers, Ithaca, Adolph, and many other arms and knife manufacturers products are illustrated, including a number of British arms by such firms as Holland & Holland. A good many of the arms are gold-plated or feature gold inlays. The arms done by Tiffany
(Chapter Nine), especially the grips, are in a class by themselves, and cannot be mistaken for any others; such arms can only be admired and gazed at in wonder.
This volume is a real gem. The quality of the photographs is superb and the number of items pictured is almost uncountable. They range in number from one item per full page, to a dozen items per full page, and up to three photos per page.)
This is a coffee table book to be enjoyed when time permits. It is a reference volume only in so far as using it as a source, or example of what you might want done when your cash reserve is great enough. —Larry Sterett
