The book, originally published in 1904, includes the marks used by factories, patterns, workmen, or decorators in America to the time of this book's original printing. The first attempt to describe the marks of American potters was made by Edwin Barber in his Pottery and Porcelain of the United States in 1893. In that book, less than 100 varieties, found principally in earlier wares, were described. Prior to that time, none of the manuals on potter's marks contained any reference to the United States.