The Magic & The Mystery - Expanded and Revised Second Edition

Glen & Stephen Thistlewood

Since the first edition of this book was published, an entire major section (Part Three) has been totally re-written and expanded, making a new "book within a book". Fascinating newly discovered facts are revealed for forty glass makers who produced Carnival outside the USA. Many mysteries are uncovered and puzzles now solved. Fresh information regarding the manufacture of Carnival Glass in Poland, France and Brazil plus for the first time, actual designers are named and examined in depth. The authors’ discoveries of yet more Carnival makers in Czechoslovakia, Germany and England overturns much old thinking and brings fresh knowledge to the magical world of Carnival. All values have been revised and information on Classic Carnival updated where pertinent throughout.

Book Reviews

Brian Pitman,  President of the International Carnival Glass Association (ICGA) and co-founder of Woodsland World Wide Carnival Glass Club (wwwcga).

In 1999, Glen and Stephen Thistlewood completely re-defined the carnival glass reference book when they released "Carnival Glass: The Magic and the Mystery".  That book featured brilliant photographs, hard data and a real personality that showed the love for the glass they so deftly featured.  This display of amazing writing skill and choice photographic selections carried through in the release of their next two books ("A Century of Carnival Glass" and "The Art of Carnival Glass"), also featuring carnival.  But now, the Thistlewoods revisit their original masterpiece a decade later, and once again reinvent the genre.

"Carnival Glass: The Magic and the Mystery 2nd Edition" is, for lack of a better word, awesome.  Most second editions are simple updates, with a few new facts and figures and an updated price list.  This book, on the other hand, feels completely new.  The first two sections, "Essentials" and "Pattern Themes", have seen updates to reflect new information uncovered over the past ten years.  That alone is worth the price of admission.  The third section of the book, "Carnival Echoes Around the World", is absolutely and completely rewritten from scratch.

In the past decade, Glen and Stephen have made contact with enthusiasts, researchers and, in some cases, even the descendants of carnival glass producers throughout the world, looking for new information, discoveries and insight into carnival glass production.  That hunger for knowledge pays off tremendously in this new section, with literally hundreds of new facts and revelations about 40+ carnival glass manufacturers outside the USA.  The amount of new information in "Echoes" is exciting, refreshing and will make your head spin (not to mention question what you thought you knew about carnival glass around the world). If you don’t purchase this book, jam packed with all of this new information and knowledge, then you really are missing out!

Joan Doty,  an internationally acknowledged authority on Carnival Glass vases, especially swung vases.

Glen and Steve’s new second edition of Carnival Glass: The Magic and the Mystery is a stunningly gorgeous book! If you are fortunate enough to have a copy of their beautiful out-of-print first edition of The Magic and the Mystery, you may think that you don’t need this new second edition. Wrong! In addition to a slightly larger font, the whole third section, on non-US glass, has been completely redone. With spectacular new photographs and the incredible amount of fascinating new material that Glen and Steve have unearthed over the last ten years, it is a must-have for collectors. The revelations and formerly “unknown” patterns that are identified are astounding. But the book is so much more. Just opening it and seeing the gorgeous end-papers signals that you are in for a marvelous treat. And it only gets better from there. In flipping through, which is always irresistible, with amazing sights on every page, even non-collectors will be mesmerized.

If you’re also looking for the ultimate coffee-table book for your non-collector friends—this is it!

Marcus Newhall,  a world authority on Sklo Union glass (Czechoslovakian) production, and  author of the much heralded book "Sklo Union Art before Industry: 20th Century Czech Pressed Glass.

Carnival glass only became of interest to me, a couple of years ago, when Glen Thistlewood and I started to exchange messages regarding European pressed glass manufacturers. Whilst I was aware of some glass, for example many examples in the author’s Network Special “Czechoslovakian Carnival”, nothing quite prepared me for the second edition of “Carnival Glass: The Magic and Mystery”. This lavishly illustrated tome, many images supplied by Stephen Thistlewood, is a mouth-watering treat, a panoply of iridescence.

The major part of the book covers American carnival production, both in terms of the manufacturers and the motifs used. Both naturalistic patterning and pseudo-cut designs lend themselves particularly well to the process of hot stannous salts iridising, and in this book, there are images which simply crackle with fire and light. I found the authors’ use of black and white photographs of the producers adds value, being able to see what the major movers and shakers looked like. The inclusion of many contemporary adverts, where one can see both catalogue images, side-by-side with the actual article, often with original prices, means that the reader gets a real feel for the period.

The last third of the book is particularly intriguing. The result of much new ground-breaking research, this section highlights how developed European carnival was, in the early part of the 20th century. What is especially interesting is the research carried out, which reveals the migration of men, ideas, designs and moulds, both across the Atlantic, and also within Europe itself. This history is as important as the items themselves. The authors have to be applauded for the number of previously unknown producers of iridised glass, which are now identified.

As the French locally would say, “Chapeau”, this is an amazing piece of work, and I will doff my cap too. This book is absolutely essential, a “must have”, and a very rewarding read - THE guide to the world of Carnival Glass.