This is the second book you should buy if you have any interest in collecting classic American cast iron goods. Collectors call this the "Red Book". The first book, "The Book of Griswold & Wagner", is called the "Blue Book", although it looks kind of turquoise to me, and is by the same authors. This edition, with a copyright of 2001, is getting a little out of date for catalog values, but still is a good indicator of relative value. It covers Wagner, Griswold, Martin, Lodge, Vollrath, and Excelsior. There is little duplication between the Red and Blue books, but together they are just a treasure chest of good clear photogrpahs and information that is not available anywhere else. The author is active in the major collecting societies and solicits information, including photographs and corrections, as each edition is prepared. (As an aside, it's hard to comprehend how someone could be critical of a book full of pictures and descriptions of collectable iron.)

It is really unfair to be critical of the catalogs values in such a work. They are useful in determining relative value and rarity, but the current marketplace must looked at to get the best indicators of value.

Unlike steve (ca) review, this book is considered the second book that all cast iron collectors must have. While some discrepancy on some values in the book may be present, values on most items are completely accurate. It is unfortunate that the other review destroys the credibility of this fine book. The "RED" book is the most complete and accurate book on the market for Wagner Ware collectors. This book and the "BLUE" book should be in every serious cast iron collector's resource library.

Both this book and the "blue" book mislead readers by listing "price values" that are blatently low,-on the very uncommon items listed, even though the pricing errors were brought to both author's attention years ago. Many revisions later, they remain for the most part unchanged.
Shame on them.

If you like collections of photos, this book is great ... Hollow.