ASTBURY, WHIELDON, AND RALPH WOOD FIGURES AND TOBY JUCS. By
Captain R. K. Price. With an Introduction by Frank Fallener. (John Lane. £5 5s.) The phrase "a valuable and sumptuous volume" that immediately comes to the mind in connexion with this book is, like most such phrases, worn to weakness. It happens in this case to be eminently true. The collector or dealer who is at all concerned with Staffordshire ware must find this elaborate catalogue of Captain Price's collection full of material for careful study. The average cultured man cannot fail to take delight in its excellent illustrations, although, perhaps, he may grow weary of their profusion. Little attention is paid in the short letterpress to the aesthetic qualities of the ware. It is the usual disadvantage of collectors that they are, at bottom, simply collectors. At least, they rarely allow their artistic appreciation to come out in their books and we indulge the vile suspicion that cigarette cards, if they were rarer and more expensive, would serve their purpose. However, in issuing this catalogue Captain Price shows a true benevolence towards the collecting confraternity.
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