Big Book Horde!

Got a few books in, gifts for my birthday.


A Book of Ornamental Glazing Quarries: Collected and Arranged from Ancient Examples
Sir Augustus Franks
5/5
AWESOME book. I was expecting mostly text, hopefully a few pictures. I was VERY pleasantly surprised to find out the book is approximately 30 pages of text and several hundred pages of full-sized quarries, ready to be traced. If you have an interest in painted quarries, get this book. The only way it could have been improved would be better information on each quarry (most just indicate the church of residence)

Stained Glass Tours In Spain And Flanders
Charles Sherrill
1/5
This was not what I was expecting. It seems like Spanish glass is not well documented, though I understand Painton Cowen is working on it. This book was a lot like a travelogue or journal, detailing a tour group through Spain. There were a few half-useful bits of information to be pulled out, but was not really relevant to my interests.

Italian Stained Glass Windows
Giuseppe Marchini
3/5... though I want to give it 5!
This is a beautiful book. It is a little light on text, but it does have good information. The bulk of my copy are "plates" featuring color photos that appear to have been glued onto their pages at publication. I'm not sure why that would have been done! There are also a number of beautiful pictures done on transparency, to hold up to a light. It is a beautiful way to display stained glass pictures.

Essays in the History of the York School of Glass Painting
John A Knowles
4/5
Honestly I've just opened this book so far, but I'm very excited and pleased. The book features a wealth of information on the "context" of stained glass in York. Prices, quality, design influencers and influencees. There are also plenty of direct illustrations of design elements. I was interested in this book because of my work on Circa 1200 at Pennsic with House Yew Bend, but it's great for anyone else who likes the context of glasswork as well as actual technique. Not a 5 because it's a bit of a niche, and not essential for technique, etc. but well worth it for anyone wanting more context!