Glassware Bakewell, Pears & Co. 1868

The catalog reprint shown below costs $50.00, tax and regular shipping included. It is a 2004 REPRINT of an 1868 Bakewell, Pears &Co Glass Ware catalogue. The catalog is hard bound, 8 1/2" by 5 1/2" , consisting of a 5 page forward, 9 page introduction and then the actual catalog reprint consisting of 21 pages of prices and 28 pages of pictures of the actual glass items. The book is in "as new" condition. There is no slip cover but there is a reproduction of the catalog cover on the reprint cover and gold stamping on the spine.

I know of only two Bakewell Pears catalogs that have survived to today. One is undated and was reprinted in 1977 with an introduction by Lowell Innes. This is the other.

The introduction to this reprint was written by Arlene Palmer who is an established expert on Pittsburgh glass and the author of Artistry And Innovation In Pittsburgh Glass, 1808-1882: From Bakewell & Ensell To Bakewell, Pears & Co.

The price list is very interesting in that it gives greater detail than collectors have ever had as to the different types and sizes of pieces offered in 1868. Under a heading like Decanters: 2 Ring Globe Glass Stopper, 1 Ring Rodney Bar Mounted Corks one sees both in Pint and Quart. The picture pages of the catalogue are drawings similar to the pages found in the undated catalogue that have appeared in many glass books such as Ruth Webb Lee's 1931 Early American Pressed Glass on pages 79-84.