Bidspirit auction | 1972. Wyler, Seymour B. The

1972. Wyler, Seymour B. The Book of Old Silver. Crown Publishers, Inc. Twenty-fifth Printing (DJ) - A single hardcover volume entitled The Book of Old Silver: English, American, Foreign by Seymour B. Wyler. This comprehensive reference work focuses on the history and identification of silver and Sheffield plate, featuring a guide to more than 20,000 hallmarks. The title page identifies the publisher as Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, and notes the work is profusely illustrated. The copyright page indicates an original copyright of 1937 and specifies this copy is the Twenty-fifth Printing, issued in April 1972. The volume is bound in dark publisher's cloth and is accompanied by a pictorial dust jacket which lists a price of $6.95 on the front flap. The interior contains numerous black and white photographic plates showing various silver objects including a Dublin tea set (1718), an Edinburgh sugar bowl (1784), an old Sheffield soup tureen (c. 1790), and a covered cup by Fred Kandler (1778). Extensive tables of hallmarks and makers' marks are organized by region, including sections for Dundee, Perth, Youghal, Galway, Belfast, American silversmiths, and various European countries. The back of the dust jacket features advertisements for other titles in the Crown Collector's Library. The dust jacket shows significant wear, particularly at the top edge of the spine where there is heavy chipping, paper loss, and multiple closed tears (photo 1, 3, and 4). The plastic protective sleeve is wrinkled and shows signs of age (photo 3). The top edge of the text block has a small, rectangular white adhesive label and some light foxing or spotting (photo 4). The interior pages and plates appear generally clean with some expected toning to the paper edges consistent with age (photo 10 and 11). The binding remains intact, though the dust jacket is fragile at the hinges and edges (photo 5 and 13).