Round Mountain Marbles

Books About Collecting and Playing Marbles

Books about collecting marbles are the mainstay of the hobby.  Most collectors want each and every one eventually--I own and love them all.  Each of these books has given its own unique and priceless contribution to our hobby.  I am working to make this a comprehensive list of books, and will add more information and better reviews as time permits.  Hover over, or click, the book title below to see if I have a link to an Amazon.com or other site listing for the book.  Amazon has more information about each book, including the publisher's description, and sometimes reader reviews.  You do not have to buy the book, even if you click the Amazon link.  I have a few books not listed here yet, because they are not widely available anymore.  I'll add them when I have a few moments, with or without links.

I have only listed the most recent edition of each book.  For many books, I have added a review or comment.  In most cases, I plan to add a more extensive review when I have time.  Many of the books have gone through several editions, as you can tell by noting the edition number below.  Amazon and other sources often list the older editions.  If you are looking for price history data, many of the older editions contain older prices.

BOOK LIST:

Barrett, Marilyn; Aggies, Immies, Shooters & Swirls: The Magical World of Marbles; Little, Brown & Co.; ( 2000)  RMM Review: A fun book, but not much help in identifying marbles.

Bavin, William; A Pocketbook of Marbles; Outline Press; (1994)

Baumann, Paul; Collecting Antique Marbles; Krause Publications; 4 edition (December 15, 2004)  RMM Review: Fabulous book, a great identification aid.

Baumann, Paul; Price Guide to Collecting Antique Marbles; Wallace-Homestead Book Co (June 1976) RMM Review: The best older price guide.

Block, Robert; Collecting Early Machine-Made Marbles: The M. F. Christensen & Son Company and Christensen Agate Company; Schiffer Publishing (June 2003)

Block, Robert; Marble Collectors Handbook; Schiffer Publishing (July 2005) RMM Review: The best recent price guide.

Block, Robert - Marbles: Identification and Price Guide, 4 Rev Exp edition; Schiffer Publishing (2002)

Block, Robert; Marbles Illustrated; Schiffer Publishing; 3Rev Ed edition (October 1999)

Block, Robert; Pictorial Price Guide of Marbles; Schiffer Publishing (August 30, 2002)

Block, Mark; Contemporary Marbles and Related Art Glass; Schiffer Publishing (January 2001) RMM Review: Respected book in the contemporary art marble world.

Block, Mark; The Encyclopedia of Modern Marbles, Spheres, & Orbs; Schiffer Publishing (August 30, 2005)

Block, Stanley; Antique Glass End-Of-Day Marbles; Schiffer Publishing (February 2002)  RMM Review: Fabulous coffee table book

Block, Stanley; Antique Glass Swirl Marbles; Schiffer Publishing (August 30, 2001) RMM Review: Fabulous coffee table book

Block, Stanley - Marble Mainia - 1998 - Schiffer Publishing RMM Review: Fabulous coffee table book

Block, Stanley and Payne, Edwin M.; Sulphide Marbles; Schiffer Publishing (July 2001) RMM Review: Fabulous coffee table book

Boy Scouts of America; Cub Scout Sports Marbles; Boy Scouts of America (June 1985) RMM Review: Great book on playing; shows up on Amazon, used

Carskadden, Jeff and Gartley, Richard; Chinas Hand Painted Marbles of the Late 19th Century; Muskingum Valley Archaeological (July 1990) RMM Review: Wonderful book

Castle, Larry and Peterson, Marlow; Collectible Machine - Made Marbles; Utah Marble Connection (August 1989)

Castle, Larry and Peterson, Marlow; Marbles: The Guide to Machine Made Marbles; Utah Marble Connection; 2nd edition (June 1995)

Castle, Larry and Peterson, Marlow; Marbles: The Guide To Cat's-Eyes Marbles; Utah Marble Connection, Inc (1998); Contact to purchase directly: 3387 Polk Ave., Ogden, UT, United States; (801)393-8131; RMM Review: Wonderful little book, THE cat's-eye book, and a must-have for any cat's-eye collector

Chevat, Richie; The Marble Book (Includes Marbles Classic Games); Workman Publishing Company (January 4, 1996) RMM Review: Perfect book for children, includes actual playing marbles (probably Marble King), a marble bag, and a small book detailing lots of regional marble games

Ely, Bill – The sulphide marble: A Handbook; Bill Ely (1985)

Ferretti, Fred - The Great American Marble Book; Workman Pub Co (December 1973)

Gartley, Richard; Colonial period and early 19th century children's toy marbles: History and identifications for the archaeologist and collector; Muskingum Valley Archaeological Survey (1998)

Grist, Everett; Antique and Collectible Marbles; Collector Books; 3 edition (November 1991)  RMM Review: A must have book

Grist, Everett - Everett Grist's Big Book of Marbles: A Comprehensive Identification and Value Guide For Both Antique and Machine-Made Marbles; Collector Books; 3 edition (February 2006) RMM Review:  Fabulous book, but not a small size

Grist, Everett; Everett Grist's Machine-Made and Contemporary Marbles; Collector Books; 2 edition (April 1995)

Ingram, Clara; The Collectors Encyclopedia of Antique Marbles; Collector books (1972)

Randall, Mark; Marbles as Historical Artifacts; Marble Collectors Society of America (1979)

Runyon, Cathy; Knuckles Down! A Guide to Marble Play; (1985). Right Brain Publishing 4th edition (1999) RMM Review: Great book for kids, by a terrific expert

Six, Dean and Metzler, Susie, and Johnson, Michael; American Machine-Made Marbles; Schiffer Publishing (August 30, 2006) RMM Review: A must have book for every collector

Six, Dean and Metzler, Susie, and Johnson, Michael; Popular American Marbles; Schiffer Publishing (November 4, 2006) RMM Review: A must have book for every collector

Webb, Dennis; Randall, Mark E. - Greenberg's Guide to Marbles; Kalmbach Pub Co; 2 edition (November 1994) RMM Review:  Love this book

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Steph's Study Hall Book List: One very good resource for those looking for reference material on the subject of marbles is a group of posts on MarbleConnection.invisionzone.com (the forum).  This appears to have the entire Al Rasmus list, which was posted by Al.  Al is a forum moderator at LandofMarbles.com, another great forum, and a well known expert on marbles.

White Game Marbles

Marble Identification

An initial question in the mind of a collector looking at a marble is, “Who made this?”  Color, quality, size, and design often point to one manufacturer or another, and inspire names for marbles.  Marble manufacturers often name marbles themselves.

The earliest marbles were made from plain or dyed clay.  The first modern marbles were made by hand, most notably in Germany from glass or ceramics.  Eventually, marble making machines were invented and used by United States companies located in Ohio, Illinois, and West Virginia. A few U.S. companies still produce marbles today.  Marbles were and are produced in other countries--some of my favorite marbles are those made by machine in Germany. 

Suggestions:

1.  Read all the books you can find on the subject of marble collecting.

I recommend that you start with the latest Block ID Guide: Marble Collectors Handbook by Robert S. Block (2005), because of the way it is organized, and because of the expertise of the author.  The handbook is organized by type and manufacturer.  It includes pictures of many sought-after marbles, along with descriptions of types and historical information about their manufacturer and distribution.  It also includes ranges of prices realized at Block auctions, which will give you an idea of value, though the range in most cases is quite wide.

I have a list of other books, some of which are virtually on par with the guide described above (in fact some would say better) at this link:  Books on Marble Collecting  The list includes comments or reviews to help you figure out which you should consider, depending upon your needs.

2.  Go to Marble Shows (see the list in the sidebar) where you can see great selections of marbles close-up. You will meet both new and experienced collectors with whom you can share information.                                                                         

Find out what your new collector friends especially like, and how they identify them. Make notes as you learn, including contact details for those who have helped you.

3.  Visit the marble discussion forums listed and linked in the side-bar.  They are great fun and very helpful.  You can ask for recommendations there, such as the names of experts or knowledgeable collectors in a specific area of interest, such as "Akro."

• Join all of the forums. 
• Introduce yourself in each one. 
• Read through the archives (find the beginning and browse), scanning the topics to see what looks interesting.  Pay attention to the number of posts on each topic, and check out the topics with replies. 
• Also try searching within each forum.  Look for the "search" box.  Enter one or more keywords describing what you need information about, such as "Akro."  This will bring up a list of messages that contain the keyword(s} you entered.  You can then click on each message to read it, using your "back" button to return to the list of messages when you are finished reading.  After using search for a while, you will find it to be a goldmine of information and ideas about marble identification.
• Take pictures of your favorites, along with your mystery marbles, to share in the forums.  You can scan photographs.  In fact, you can scan marbles--put them on a scanner bed and use a cloth to cover them instead of the scanner cover.  Scanners work remarkably well.  If you can, obtain a digital camera, one with a macro capability that will allow you to focus your camera within a couple of inches, to take pictures of individual marbles that fill the frame.  Look for the minimum focal length. 

Each forum has a unique procedure for posting images.  For some, you will need to link to a picture that you have uploaded to a picture hosting site or your own FTP site.  Once you have your image uploaded, you will be able to enter the image address (http://... whatever.jpg).  Other forums let you add a picture from your computer directly into your message.  Learn by trial and error.  And, do not dispair if you cannot figure it out.  A great many others couldn't either.  Just post a question about how to include images--someone will chime in and give you a hand.

Participate as often as you can in the forum(s) you find most interesting.  If you have expertise, share it!

1999 Ozark Marble Show - NWAOnline

Collectors tout nostalgic hobby at Northwest Arkansas marble show 

Flip Putthoff, The Morning News

At $6,500 for his most expensive marble, the glass orbs of children’s games aren’t kid stuff to collectors like Bill Cokenower.

He drove from Illinois to Northwest Arkansas to sell and show his collection Saturday with 34 other aficionados at the Ozark Marble Show.

Other marbles at the event cost as little as a dime, and a feast of color for the eyes was available at no charge to the steady stream of browsers who attended the show at the Springdale Holiday Inn.

Taunya Kopke of Fayetteville, who organized the show, said, to her knowledge, the event was the first of its kind for the region.

“Marbles are fun, and everybody needs a little fun,” said Kopke, who guessed her collection contains 30,000 marbles.

“The nearest marble show is in Tulsa,” she continued. “It’s hard to find marbles in this area, so a couple of other collectors and I got the idea to have it.”

Marble collector Sam Davisson of Sedalia, Mo., wore a leather top hat and a tie-dyed T-shirt while he hawked marbles at his booth. One table held hundreds of mass-produced marbles he sold for a few cents each. But the ones he is most proud of are the marbles he made himself.

“Machines spit out 3,000 to 4,000 marbles an hour. These are handmade,” he said, gesturing toward another table with marbles as big as softballs. “I spit these out at about 2,000 to 3,000 per year.”

A glass-blower by trade, the marbles Davisson makes range in price from $8 to $250.

So what determines the value of a marble?

“Eye appeal is number one,” Kopke said.

Marbles that are old, rare and in mint condition can bring high dollar at marble shows, she added.

Kopke got into collecting when she found some old marbles while walking along the shore of Beaver Lake when the water was low.

“I used to play marbles as a kid. I’d given my marbles to my brother and he lost them the first day,” she said.

When she found the marbles along the shore, she kept them on her desk and found herself mesmerized by the colorful glass balls.

“They just worked on me,” she said. “I bought a jar of marbles at a flea market and I was sifting through them when my husband came home. He told me had a jar of marbles in the closet.”

Kopke said she used to play marbles when she was a kid. Now she wouldn’t think of playing with her collection and risk diminishing its value.

Playing marbles may not be as popular nowadays as collecting the colorful globes, but Kopke said national and international marble tournaments are held that have pages of official rules. And people still make up their own marble games, she said.

Jeff Hale of Joplin wasn’t interested in selling any of the marbles on his table. They were for display only. He said his exhibit had at least one representation of every type of marble ever made.

Collecting marbles “is a rapidly growing hobby that is somewhat new,” Hale said.

“Think back years ago. What did we have? We had comic books, we had baseball cards and we had marbles,” Hale said. “Somewhere along the line, collectors started scarfing up all the baseball cards and comic books. But for some reason they forgot about marbles.”

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Playing Marbles

Though not all marble collectors played marbles as children, for many of us, the game was of great importance. I learned to play at recess in elementary school, in Flint, Michigan, with a few marbles given to me by friends. We played for keeps.

We followed a code of ethics passed on by children.  If you lost all your player marbles, someone would donate a few so you could keep playing.  We also hated to let you put your prized favorites into the ring. Better to give you a few plain ones, and give you a chance to come back.

On the other hand, if anyone had a good marble and didn't value it, it was a prime target! Marbles was simple. You looked in the ring for something you wanted, and you tried hard to knock it out of the ring with your shooter, which was hopefully just a little bigger than player marbles.

Disputes were resolved by kids themselves, calmly most of the time. However, yelling or fighting did occasionally erupt. If that happened, the game was suspended, often indefinitely—and you grabbed your marbles and got out of the way!

And the ring?  A spot of ground without grass. In the second grade, one simple ring with a diameter of few feet would do. Older kids added a second, larger ring to make you move back away from the edge to shoot.  The day after a rain was perfect for maintaining rings, for patting them out and re-drawing lines.

Most of us who played the game as children became collectors of a sort.  We held onto our favorites as long as we could.  Some managed to hold onto their prized  winnings into adulthood.  Others set out later in life to replace what they lost.  The smile of a collector, former player or not, looking a marble for sale or trade at a show, is a match for the smile of a child, looking at a newly won marble on a playground.  Pure delight.