A Short History of Glass

by Chloe Zerwick

Surveys the development of glass from ancient Egypt to the present, looks at glassmaking techniques, and discusses glass folklore

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Madison Gillen]

This review is for A Short History of Glass written by Chloe Zerwick and published by the Corning Museum of Glass. The book is as the title suggests, easy to read but also very interesting. From what I saw this book was published in 1980, so I wish that the book continued and had clearer more modern photos. However, it is still a book I’d recommend to anyone who has this niche interest

[Will]

The book is misnamed. It is actually a short history of glass stemware, with some mentions of glass art. The word ‘window’ appears only in reference to the stained variety, and the word ‘mirror’ only once. If your interest is in glass as a material or industry, probably better to skip this one.

[TJ]

The version I have of this book is called Innovations in Glass by the Glass Innovation Center at the Corning Museum of Glass. The edition I have is a great overview of how the advancements in glass over time happened and how that led into a communications breakthrough. It was very interesting, gave enough detail to be informative but not enough to make it boring. I loved reading this after my trip to the Corning Glass Museum, we had seen exhibits on most of the glass breakthroughs, and it was interesting to be able to take my time and get more information. A very interesting book with great illustrations and pictures.

[Patrick]

Great history of glass, covering 5500 years in under 100 pages! Published by the Corning Museum of Glass. The majority of the pictures are in black & white, unfortunately. Wish there were tutorials on how some of these pieces were created! Lovely book, simply lovely!

[Amanda Witt]

An interesting short little book, with great illustrations, some in black and white, to show what the various items/vessels once looked like.
Starts way back in pre-history, before Jesus time, and goes through the various ages of when glass came into being a product that was useful for the people.