New Martinsville Glass is a puzzler. Glass authors can’t agree on how to handle their wares. Is it depression glass? Is it elegant glass? Gene Florence includes Radiance and Moondrops in his depression glass books while Debbie Coe has both in her elegant glass book.
Aside from this book, New Martinsville Glass, 1900-1944 by Measell, Miller and Miller, no one seems to do much with New Martinsville etched patterns. Once we get beyond Prelude the other etched designs are unexplored territory.
I believe part of the problem is that there aren’t many books on New Martinsville, and this one is not all that great. There are pictures of the patterns and several pages of colored plates, but the quality of the catalog page reproductions is poor.
The poor printing quality is more of a problem with the etched designs than the pressed pieces. You can see enough to be able to identify most pieces though. The colored plates are fun too.
The best part of the book is the background information on the company and how it moved from the older EAPG to the more modern etched and fanciful pressed designs. That is interesting and presented very well.
Overall I recommend this book with reservations in lieu of one with better quality pictures of etched designs.