Much ado about leather-bound Shakespeare book
Q: This is a photo of a small leather-bound book titled "The Globe Edition: The Works of William Shakespeare." The book is about 7 inches high with gilt lettering on the spine, gilt on the edges of all 1,075 pages and text arranged in double columns. The spine has 7 raised bands. The title is in the second band. The rest have a gold fleur-de-lis motif. It was edited by William George Clark and William Aldis Wright and published by MacMillan and Co. in London in 1867. Despite a small amount of foxing on some of the pages, the book is in very good condition, and there are no inscriptions.
What can you tell me about my book and its history?
A: William Shakespeare wrote many of his plays and sonnets from 1585 to 1613. The Globe Edition was targeting a broad audience and they published several editions.
Your 1867 edition would probably have a value of $50 to $125.
Q: I have enclosed the mark that is on a set of dishes I inherited years ago. The set is a service for eight and includes dinner plates, salad dishes, cereal bowls, cups, saucers, several serving pieces, a salt shaker and a pepper shaker. It was a wedding gift for my grandparents when they married in 1949. Originally, there were more pieces, but some have been broken or lost over the years. Each dish was decorated with a hand-painted yellow and brown plaid pattern.
Anything you can tell me about the maker and value, if any, will be greatly appreciated.
A: Vernon Kilns made your Vernonware dinnerware. The factory was in business from in 1931 to 1958 in Vernon, California. "Organdie" is the name of the pattern and was made from the 1940s to the 1950s. Vernon Kilns art director Gale Turnbull created the Organdie design. He was a native New Yorker who studied art in Paris and eventually traveled to California. Vernon Kilns produced a plethora of matching pieces and accessories that included mixing bowls, covered butter dishes, divided serving bowls, individual casserole dishes, covered casseroles, water pitchers and tumblers. Vernonware was also available in two other plaid patterns: Homespun, which was decorated with light green, dark green and rust plaid designs, and Gingham, a pattern decorated with green and rust.
Your circa-1948 service for eight set of dinnerware, including the serving pieces, would probably be worth $175 to $275.
• Address your questions to Anne McCollam, P.O. Box 247, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Items of a general interest will be answered in this column. Due to the volume of inquiries, she cannot answer individual letters.
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