About Ivo Haanstra

Ivo is a freelance journalist, living in Leiden, The Netherlands. He started collecting glass in 1985 and one of his first purchases was a sputum flask.

Now considered to be one of the world's leading authorities and historians on Art Glass, his book Glass Fact File A-Z published by Miller's is considered by collectors and historians to be the smallest, largest book on glass.

Glass Fact File A-Z is now one of the world's best selling books on glass.

The Book

As Ivo states:

What should have been a simple article for a glass magazine quickly turned into a fascinating account with unexpected angles, curious facts, strange pictures and jaw-dropping accounts.

The blue sputum flask is the symbol of an era where consumptives were no longer lamentably moribund, but patients who could be cured. The story is filled with hope, despair, cynicism, acceptance, medical progress and misunderstanding – all leading to a temporary end to the pandemic in the 1950s. Tuberculosis as a direct threat has disappeared from our collective memories – and so it can take us unawares all over again: new strains have emerged and pose an unprecedented challenge. This book will make you aware of a history you never knew – because it was never written.

Buy the book, read it, take plenty of rest and fresh air. It will do you good.

Book Mechanics

▶ 260×195mm medium-large format
▶ 85 pages in length
▶ Heavily illustrated: over 165 images and photos; at least one image per spread

Photos of original flasks
Vintage photos
Illustrations of original patents
Posters, stamps and other ephemera

▶ Quality silk-art paper
▶ Binding: either perfect bound, or case-bound
▶ Silk-laminated cover
▶ Price of £16 (equivalent €20, or US$25)

Sample Pages

Four pages are now posted here.

Launch: November 14th 2010

See the Book Launch page for more details.

25% discount on the day!

PDF Overview

Feel free to download a 4-page PDF of the book, which contains more details of the book.