Most helpful reference book?

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:26 pm

Being a newbie to the knife world I'm wondering what reference book you find to be the most useful.

I currently have a Blades Guide To Knives and Their Values, but I find it to be a little generic.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

philco · Post by **philco** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:32 pm

I have that same book and have found it useful for some things. The listing of manufacturers has been very helpful to me, and I've gotten a lot of good general knife info from that book.

I think you'll find that no one book will likely give you all the knife knowledge you are seeking. Not only will you have a knife collection, but very likely a knife book collection as well in time.

What sort of knives are you primarily interested in? That makes a big difference in which book would be most useful to you.

Phil

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:55 pm

Ahhhhhhh, now comes the book slope. I see.

I'm primarily interested in vintage knives......60's, 70's, 80's.

Thanks for the help Phil!

Scott

rangerbluedog · Post by **rangerbluedog** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:20 pm

I like PRICE GUIDE TO KNIVES AND THEIR VALUES, by Houston Price. Best general reference I think.

Elvis · Post by **Elvis** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:26 pm

Any particular brand?

philco · Post by **philco** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:07 am

I would suggest anyone with an interest in vintage knives get a copy of Goin's Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings. I use it very frequently and have learned a lot from it.

just in case · Post by **just in case** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:52 am

Dito RangerBlueDog.

Knife Nut · Post by **Knife Nut** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:05 pm

Another good book to consider is "The Standard Knife Collector's Guide", by Ritchie and Stewart.

Paul

mumblypeg · Post by **mumblypeg** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:30 pm

TripleF - It is a slippery slope.

Like Phil said, you'll have a book collection before long.

rangerbluedog · Post by **rangerbluedog** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:49 pm

print out mumbly's picture and get one of each. He's got all the standards covered it appears!

wv trapper I · Post by **wv trapper I** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:35 pm

TF,
One thing for sure you can't have to much reference material, and if you are collecting vintage knives you and get your tail feathers set on fire real quick. There is a wealth of knowledge here and most will share that with you. Welcome

Joe

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 10:32 pm

Certain books, or certain editions of books, cover different knife companies.
For example; Jim Sargent's books “American Premium Guide to Pocket Knives & Razors” has a chapter on Schrade and Schrade Walden in the first 2 editions of these books. Those two companies are not covered again in any of the subsequent editions published since then.

Don’t make the mistake I did of assuming just you have one edition of a series, or the latest edition, that you have all the info that writer had published in that series. ’Tain’t necessarily so!

Even though “Blade’s Guide to Knives & their Values” is based on Bernard Levine’s book; “Levine’s Guide to Knives & their Values,” the two works are vastly different in content.
Levine’s Guide vol. 4, (printed about 1997), has info not included in Blade’s Guide. On the other hand, Blade is publishing a new edition annually, I believe, to they will have information about company closures (like Schrade, Camillus, United, etc) that had not occurred when LG4 was published. If I am looking for information on an older company I go first to Levine before I go to Blade. Too often I have found much of the meat found in Levine has been eliminated in the Blade books.

Books by C. Huston Price are usually very informative.

If I had to choose only two books out of my knife library, (about 70 volumes), I would choose the two volumes I use on a daily basis:
“Goins’ Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings,” & “Levine’s Guide to Knives & their Values”, vol. 4.
Hardly a day goes by when I do not consult one or both of those books.

To be a well-informed knife collector, I find I must become an old knife book collector.
Some days I spend more time looking for an out of print knife book than I spend looking for old knives.

JoeBob441 · Post by **JoeBob441** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:55 am

Now if you could only get these books on a CD then you would really have a useful tool. Searching them for a particular piece of information can be mind numbing. If they had em on a CD you could just search.

The search engine on this site will also give you a lot of information.

Joe

wv trapper I · Post by **wv trapper I** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:00 am

Great information Orvet, JoeBob I bought Sargents last book 7th edition and it has a CD with it, very helpful.

Joe

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:15 am

More things are appearing on CD recently, which is helpful, but I think the e-book is the technology to watch.
I was talking to a bookseller (specializing in knife related books) at the OKCA show last weekend. They were telling me that many books are not being reprinted, but are being sold for Kindle, iPad and other apps.

Being an old fashioned guy, I like to feel the paper as I turn the pages, or smell the musty odor of a long forgotten volume of knife history.
I don’t know about this e-book thing,…..if I fold over the corner to mark my place, won’t it break my iPad?

rangerbluedog · Post by **rangerbluedog** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:53 pm

lol Dale!
I tried using a bookmark, but it kept falling out!

Jacknifeben · Post by **Jacknifeben** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:03 pm

If you are collecting Cattaraugus knives ROMANCE OF COLLECTING by Mrs Dewey Ferguson is a real help. It is from 1978 so don't use the price guide. Kind of makes me feel good because I was buying knives back then.

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:58 am

rangerbluedog wrote:I like PRICE GUIDE TO KNIVES AND THEIR VALUES, by Houston Price. Best general reference I think.

Just bought it on the Bay!

Thanks

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:24 pm

Johnnie Fain had lots of books that I sold in the Johnnie Fain auctions over the last 2 years.
If you check out the auctions in the Knife Forums Auctions: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 0&start=30
You well see many of the books he had. You will have to sort through several pages of those auctions, but I must have sold 40+ books that belonged to him. Reading those auctions will give you a good idea of the books he had in an excellent knife library.

Johnnie was known as the answer man here on AAPK. If Johnnie didn't know the answer, he had the books and knew where to find the answer.

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:41 pm

Thanks Dale. Hoping I can contribute some day! Right now I'm running on enthusiasm and infatuatuion.

WVDAVE · Post by **WVDAVE** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:31 pm

Where could someone get a copy of “Levine’s Guide to Knives & their Values”, vol. 4.?

Thanks,

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:47 am

WVDAVE wrote:Where could someone get a copy of “Levine’s Guide to Knives & their Values”, vol. 4.?

Thanks,

Dave,
Watch ebay & Amazon and set up a search in Amazon.
It has been out of print for years. I think it was printed in 1997.
There is a copy of the 5th edition, which is still not as good, on Amazon now.
I have a 3rd edition as well, and while not the same as the 4th, it is still good.
It has a lot of the same info.

I am looking for a 2nd edition to complete my collection of all four editions of Levine's Guide.

Miller Bro's · Post by **Miller Bro's** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:57 pm

The fourth edition brings big money when they turn up for sale

WVDAVE · Post by **WVDAVE** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:34 am

Didn't find a vol. 4 yet, but I did order American Premium Guide to Knives and Razors Identification and Value Guide, 7th Edition By Jim Sargent, Blade's Guide to Knives & Their Values, Official Price Guide to Collector Knives By C. Houston Price and Mark D. Zalesky, and Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop CD By Wayne Goddard. I think I got a good start on things.

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:04 am

Miller Bro`s wrote:The fourth edition brings big money when they turn up for sale

You ain't wrong!!

I bought my copy in 2006 at the OKCA show. The bookseller mentioned he had 2 copies. I bought one for $35. He said if I went up to Bernard's table that Bernard would sign it for me. When I got to Bernard’s table he was talking to another fellow. Bernard asked if he could help me. I said the fellow who sold me the book said he would sign it for me. Bernard said “sure.” As he was signing it the other fellow asked where I got it. I pointed to a table at the rear of the auditorium. Then he said, “I would sure like to find a copy of that. How much did it cost you?” I said “$35.” The guy took off on a dead run to the bookseller’s table. Bernard said, “Wow, that is a good price. You got a deal.”

I knew it was a good deal at the time because I knew a guy in a store with a copy. He had refused $100 for his dog-eared copy of LG4, (that is missing the cover), on numerous occasions. I almost bought both copies, but I was saving money to buy knives.

I have not seen many for sale since then, but I think I did hear, second hand, of someone selling a copy for $85.

I thought I would attach a pic of the cover so you would know what it looks like.
Good luck finding one.

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