THE BUTTON SAMPLER

A subject that seems to have an increasing number of adherents, if one can judge by the people who hang around the booths where buttons are shown at antique shows. This small book shows the whys and wherefores. It links the subject of old buttons to historic fashions and costumes, to political, sports and historic interests, to the many specialties that have developed among collectors. Here are some salient warnings about fakes and reproductions. Some suggestions of sources of investigation. Of kinds of buttons, classifications, of fine points of constructions, decoration, detail. What to look for and why. The illustrations -- 67 plates, some of them illustrating a dozen or so individual buttons, make this field of collecting alluring, no matter how hardened you think you are. The authors are students, collectors, and authorities in the field.