The Big Book of Buttons: The Encyclopedia of Button History, Design, and Identification - Second Edition By Elizabeth Hughes and Marion Lester

The Big Book of Buttons is now even bigger. Now in two volumes with over 1100 pages, it contains a wealth of information on button history, design, and classification. More than 200 new plates and illustrations have been added to this already encyclopedic work that reflects not only of the world's favorite collecting hobbies, but also presents a rich vein of world history.

Button collecting has evolved steadily since the National Button Society was founded in 1938 and although it was originally considered just an inexpensive depression-era distraction it has grown to become highly competitive in local, regional, and national competitions. The research it has engendered is as thorough as that of an academic journal and is subject to the constant review of its peers. Yet it still retains its appeal t attract beginners. As with some other collection hobbies, buttons are a common part of the human experience and heritage. As the Introduction will show, buttons can help us trace our ancestors and show how they lived. A button can be a reflection of a fable or it can identify a previously unknown railroad. It provides many areas of speciality.

Since the publication of the first edition in 1981, a major change has occurred in the development of new technologies and materials to produce buttons, including laser carving, epoxy enamels, epoxy resin, fimo clay and dichroic glass. Vintage (1914 to about 1980) and modern buttons are now enthusiastically collected and the interest in these has spurred further interest in the earlier years and materials. 

Because so many references (in books, catalogs, and journal articles) have been made over the past 30 years to various plates and buttons in the Big Book of Buttons, all the new plates have been numbered with a letter designation (i.e. 25D, 35C, 114B). Thus, if the collector or researcher finds a reference to button 35 on place 142 in 1995 journal article, they will still find that button in the same place in the Second Edition. The original plate numbers have been retained.