"Keith Middlemas traces the fascinating development of colored glass in Europe from the height of the Roman Empire to the epoch of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, showing how the glassmaking art survived the fall of Rome, was preserved in France and in the vernacular tradition of the Rhineland and was brought to a peak in the sixteenth century by Venetian craftsmen in the Facon de Venise. Individual chapters cover the growth of fine glassmaking in Germany, Spain, France, and the Netherlands and the sections on the early nineteenth century and on Art Nouveau are particularly detailed and are of special interest to American collectors. The 96 pages of superb full color illustrations show in great detail how European glass manufacture developed from the fifteenth to the twentieth century. Like its highly successful presdecessor, Colored Glass, a companion study of English glass, this book is an essential addition to the collector's library." -- Inside flap