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Antique Clocks Identification and Price Guide: A Book Review

© Barbara Bell

The opportunity to review a book about antique clocks was irresistible, especially as it is one of the new "e-books" published on CD and the Internet. This one, called Antique Clocks Identification and Price Guide CD-ROM and Internet Resource by Jeff Savage, ISA, and Ryan Polite, is published by e-Collectica Publishing of Sevastopol, CA. It was particularly interesting to me as my home is now graced by several antique clocks about which I know very little.

Mr. Savage is a veteran antiques dealer, and Mr. Polite is an Information Technologist. Together, they have put together a useful and informative price guide which utilizes the resources of the Internet in perhaps its most interactive and dynamic fashion. Rather than try to duplicate the information scattered all over the globe (surely an impossible task), this "book" links to the databases and resources on the 'Net allowing the reader to go directly to the source. Providing these links saves the reader much time and energy, as well as saving many trees otherwise devoted to the paper required for a traditional book.

The e-book is divided into traditional chapters, however, and these include "A Brief History of Clocks", "How Much is Your Clock Worth", and so on. A glossary of terms is particularly helpful, as well as an index of values for 4,000 clocks, including pictures. There is also an index of wood types, and manufacturers/clockmakers.

There are some serious drawbacks which make this e-book somewhat difficult to use, however. The advantage of being able to click on a link and be taken directly to an original source must be weighed against the inconsistent quality of those sources. The authors are unable to edit those sources, of course. Nonetheless, it is disconcerting to go to the source for "Chauncey Jerome" (a major 19th century American clockmaker) and find an amateur website full of typos and grammatical errors. Surely a more professional resource could have been found?

My other major complaint about the format of this e-book is that it utilized Netscape 4.7's browser, while my current browser is Netscape 6.0. This was an inconvenience to me, and might be to most Netscape users who have upgraded their systems. One must also download Adobe Acrobat if one does not already have it, because the entire content of the Price Guide appears as a PDF file.

Nonetheless, I felt that this e-book serves a purpose for the serious collector of antique clocks as well as the generalist who perhaps needs to identify only one or two clocks a year. It's not difficult to navigate the e-book, and it will save you time in doing your research.

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