So easily overlooked, so often taken for granted, beer-bottle labels are nevertheless more than brightly coloured pieces of paper, and beer mats and coasters certainly more than pieces of absorbent material. They are objects of historical fascination, artistic worth and even humorous value. Not only are they historical records of the breweries they advertise, they also tell us about the changing tastes in beer throughout the world.

Commemorative mats and labels have been issued to celebrate particular occasions, from coronations and jubilees to beer festivals and sporting events. Often beautifully executed pieces of design, they are mementoes of varying fashions and times and reflect the humour of the bar-room. Their appeal as collectors items lies in this, and in the fact that anyone, at any time, can become a collector at very littie cost.

This book traces the development of these modest but essential items: labels from the first paper once on botties in the eighteenth
century to the elaborate foil and art paper labels on high quality brews today, and mats from the first clumsy wood pulp efforts replacing earlier porcelain coasters' to the beautifully designed mats now produced the world over.

The authors are both experts in their field: Brian Pipe is secretary of the British Beermat Collectors Society and Keith Osborne is secretary of the Labologists Society. Drawing largely on their own vast collections, they have produced a truly international guide which is lavishly ilustrated. But this is not only a historical survey of the mats, coasters and labels of the world. It is also a handbook for the new collector, with much valuable information on how to collect, and how, having acquired a collection, to preserve it and display it to the best advantage.

Following Hamlyn's earlier and highly successful International Book of Beer Can Collecting, the International Book of Beer Labels, Mats and Coasters is the complete guide to one of today's fastest growing hobbies. Over 1400 in black and white and over 400 in colour!