[Rarebooks] FS: Antique Bennington Pottery -1926, Limited ed. Inscribed

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

with a nice inscription by Spargo-

TITLE: "The Potters and Potteries of Bennington"

By John Spargo
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston: 1926. Limited to 800 copies

DISCUSSION: "The Potters and Potteries of Bennington." is an important and
respected study of the two 19th century Bennington potteries and their
wares, featuring 8 color and 32 black and white plates, and text
illustrations of marks.

In this, his magnum opus on the Bennington potteries, Spargo discusses the
Norton and Fenton potteries at length, and also includes chapters on
Parian wares, glazes, and other Bennington potters. Spargo's emphasis is
on the fancier wares, although the utilitarian stonewares are also
described.

Although he wrote many years ago, Spargo was a careful and skilled
researcher thoroughly involved in his work, and this remains an important
reference, especially as Barret's later book on Bennington contains so
many pitfalls for the unwary. Spargo would go on to write several other
books on ceramics, including "Early American Pottery and China", and "The
A.B.C. of Bennington Pottery Wares", and served as Director-Curator of the
Bennington Historical Museum. He also wrote books on Vermont's covered
bridges, the Bennington Battle Monument, and Anthony Haswell, the
Revolutionary printer and balladeer. [Strong 449] [Weidner A236]

Born in Cornwall, England, Spargo earned his early living cutting granite
while he took extension course at Oxford and Cambridge. He moved to New
York in 1901 and became a leader of the American Socialist Party. He
resigned from the Party during the First World War because of its antiwar
policy, and then formed the American Alliance for Labor and Democracy with
Samuel Gompers. A prolific writer, his most influential book was "The
Bitter Cry of the Children", a 1906 expose of the scandalous use of child
labor in coal mining.

After World War I Spargo's politics continued to evolve, and he later
became an advocate of free-market capitalism. He moved to Vermont for
health reasons in 1909, and he naturally became interested in early
Vermont history and industry. This led to a study of the history and wares
of the Bennington potteries.

As he notes in his preface, "many of my personal friends have been
surprised to find me interested in 'old cracked teapots and dishes'." But
he was always intrigued by antique china, and points out that the hobby of
china collecting has a long and storied history, having been practiced by
George Washington, Samuel Johnson, and Horace Walpole.

Further, as an adopted Vermonter who quickly grew to love the state and
its heritage, his "interest in the history of the pottery industry at
Bennington was part and parcel of my interest in the history of the
foundation of the Commonwealth itself".

Well, there you are. No further explanations needed.

DESCRIPTION: Hardcover. 8.5"x11", 270 pages, plus 8 color and 36 b/w plates.

CONDITION: The covers are somewhat soiled and worn with the tips bumped
and frayed (see photo at the top). There is an offsetting shadow from an
old inserted piece of paper on the table of contents, but the contents are
otherwise quite clean.

This copy is inscribed by Spargo-

"Like fishing, in collecting the
best pieces are those we just
failed to land!
              John Spargo".

A nice and unique copy.

PRICE: $250.00

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