Why it matters

Nineteenth-century manufacturers' catalogues are among the best surviving visual records of everyday American material culture, showing objects at full size and in variety that museum collections rarely preserve. This one, printed at Reading in 1883 for a substantial Pennsylvania hardware maker, reaches past builders' hardware into domestic goods — lamps, inkstands and toy savings banks — which broadens its interest well beyond the architectural-hardware audience.

Why we're looking

An original 1883 American hardware catalogue in publisher's cloth with wood engravings throughout, at US$285.06, sits below the asking prices of the closest originals we could find — a recased 1869 Sargent & Co. hardware catalogue at US$625 and an 1890 marine hardware catalogue at US$475 — though neither is the same firm or title, so the comparison is directional rather than exact. No other copy of this specific 1883 Penn Hardware catalogue turned up for sale, so like-for-like relative value remains unconfirmed.

Watch out for

The seller's own description notes worn spine tips and, importantly, that postage may cost considerably more than AbeBooks quotes — worth settling before ordering, since a quarto catalogue shipped from Tasmania is heavy. Trade catalogues of this kind were frequently issued with separately printed price lists tipped or laid in: the copy digitized by the Antique Doorknob Collectors of America includes two 8-page price lists (No. 4, April 1, 1884, and No. 3, January 1, 1884), and their collation reads viii, [1], 142pp against this listing's x, 143pp, so it is worth asking the seller whether any price-list inserts are present. Completeness of the illustrated leaves is not addressed beyond 'a rather good copy.'