This book is a source of information on inkwells from antiquity to the classical Georgian and Victorian periods. The author considers the book an introduction for beginners but the contents and illustrations should interest most collectors. It includes personal opinions on classification, style, design and function as well as some tips on how to improve as a collector.
The book starts with the variety of materials used to make inkwells such as wood, glass, porcelain and metal and then turns to the variety of mechanisms applied to inkwells The latter includes pumps. siphons, snails, travellers, novelty wells and the book ends with some ravishing standishes. The book is only 44 pages and but contains the key examples plus some of the most desireable and and unusual. As the author points out one could pad a guide out with pages and pages of examples but each section is purposely focussed on the essential for a beginner collector and is a practical guide not a mass of assembled images