In 1976, David Pressland, a prominent London veterinary surgeon, released a book so fastidiously researched and superbly photographed that to this day it remains unchallenged as the finest text ever written in its field. But you won't find within the book either a treatise on canine rabies or suggestions on how to perform laser surgery on a cat's fractured paw. As its title would imply, The Art of the Tin Toy has nothing at all to do with animals, unless you count the wind-up tinplate variety. Dr David Pressland may well know the ins and outs of man's best friend, but he prefers to confine his writing to the topic of antique toys, and this he does very well.

Several years ago, Pressland decided his knowledge had increased sufficiently from two decades of visiting fabled collections and intensely researching the history of manufactured toys that a second volume of The Art of the Tin Toy should be written. Once immersed in the project, however, he realized the new book, ultimately titled Pressland's Great Book of Tin Toys, would be taking a different course. Rather than adhering to his original idea of revisiting the toys pictured in The Art and updating them with information gained from his travels and independent study, Pressland opted to focus on completely different pieces - spectacular, ultra-rare examples from the most quietly prestigious private collections on three continents. An emphasis was placed on documenting and photographing only those toys that had never before appeared in print, a strength that cannot be overestimated in the context of a retail book market already glutted with titles pertaining to "old toys."

Only one page, for instance, was allocated to Lehmann toys, which, although undeniably charming and sought after on today's market, are still, for the most part, readily available. Pressland set his sights higher, in his words, on the creme de la creme: "Marklin, Gunthermann, Carette and little known German manufacturers such as Buchner, who designed incredibly well-detailed toys, but about whom nothing is known."

Pressland is overly modest in his assessment that the finished product, presently available by mail order only, "attempts to give a flavor of the amazing diversity of tin toy manufacture over the past 150 years, while at the same time, standing on its own."

Officially launched by Golden Age Editions last September at Christie's South Kensington, Pressland's Great Book of Tin Toys has now been released in the United States, with a total of only 2,000 signed, hand-numbered copies available worldwide. (An additional 1,500 copies have been printed in German). A handsome coffee-table sized book with rigid outer-slip casing, it is a first class production, containing 336 pages and 634 deluxe color plates.

Centered on its hard cover is the visual bonus of a lithographed tin bas relief plate depicting the actual box art from a 1907 Spear & Co. penny toy set. This costly aesthetic touch, in line with the unapologetically extravagant overtone felt throughout the book, marks the end of an era, in the opinion of the publisher's US partner, Steven Pincus of Pincushion Press. "From a publishing standpoint, it is possible that this book will be the last of its kind. The economics of doing an uncompromisingly comprehensive and splendid overview of a smallish collectible category are quite difficult, requiring large measures of capital and tender loving care. In this case, like the subject it celebrates, the book is likely to be a collectible object in its own right."

As one would expect of such a fine quality item, it is expensive - $225 plus shipping. Yet those familiar with the detail and meaty content of Pressland's two previous efforts (Pressland also wrote The Book of Penny Toys) do not flinch at such a price, arguing that, with his books, you get what you pay for.

From the beginning, the author had a skeletal vision of what the book's underlying theme would be, but he felt the text could not properly take shape until the photos had been selected. Fortunately, the author's reputation and prominence in the field of antique toys afforded him the cachet required to virtually "move into" the homes where the most exceptional collections reside. Accompanied by ace British photographer Mark Williams and with a critical eye on the budget, Pressland travelled to collections in which the greatest number of suitable toys would be found - most notably, those of Tom and Lori Sage, the well-known tin toy dealers from Allentown, Penn.; Hasso Wien in Germany; and dealer/collector John Haley in the United Kingdom. In Paris, the home of Pressland's friend and fellow collector Gilles Herve was transformed into a studio to which a number of Parisian collectors willingly brought their most precious toys to be photographed. The bulk of the toys depicted in the book came from several dozen other sources, including Pressland's own considerable collection.

Pressland's Great Book, divided into three chronological sections, takes the reader on a century-long journey that begins during the Victorian era, when toys reflected society in a literal sense. It ends in the 1960s, with battery operated playthings spawned by Space Age fantasy.

The earliest period covered is the Nineteenth Century, a time when toys closely emulated life's daily activities. For the most part, it concentrates on various forms of transportation, from the horse drawn omnibuses used by common folk to the elegant carriages and hansom cabs associated with upper class.

A prime example of fine toy making from this period is an open carriage drawn by four white horses that transports carefully hand painted figures of Napoleon III and Princess Eugenie (Plates 18-19). Made by the aforementioned German manufacturer Buchner, the carriage exhibits features typical of the company's work: wooden hubs with rolled zinc spokes and rims, wooden lights, hand-finished paint and delicate suspension. This is a toy that, like so many other privately held pieces, probably never would have seen daylight had Pressland not known of its existence and chosen to include it in the book.

Another example of a toy that might never have been shared with the public is the remarkable 1870s floor train (Plates 151-153) made up of a live steam locomotive made by either Ernst Plank or Schoenner and carriages designed by Lutz. What makes this train so important is that it originally belonged to Britain's Royal family and was played with by the young Princes Albert, Victor and George. One of the cars replicates Queen Victoria's personal saloon and is decorated with gold finials and a separately cast crown. In 1892 the set was given to a member of the Royal Household.

During the Victorian era, wars were fought at sea. With the help of a child's imagination, nautical toys reenacted heroic battles on a smaller scale, and Pressland managed to locate a number of superb examples from the period. Of all the boats he has included, the author favors an 1890s boat made by Schoenner named "La Plata" (Plates 85-87). Asked to describe its strong points, Pressland commented, "It is one of the most remarkable tin toy boats ever made. It is extremely heavy and features twin vertical boilers driving twin oscillating cylinders and, in turn, a single propeller. What it lacks in sheer beauty is amply compensated for in its fascinating technical features (eg, miniature oars on lifeboats, railings of hand-twisted metal, etc.). This was a largely hand-built toy and would have been produced in very limited numbers."

The second section of Pressland's Great Book of Tin Toys covers the time frame commencing at the turn of the century and ending with the outbreak of World War II, an event that sounded the death knell for tin toymaking as it existed.

It could be stated, probably without argument, that the early Twentieth Century was typified by an obsession, both in America and Europe, with the automobile. In documenting the various stages of four-wheeled progress that culminated in a completely horseless society, Pressland selected several dozen examples of toys whose styling and features he felt most accurately chronicled this social and industrial evolution.

Turning back the clock to the roots of automobilia, Plate 169 depicts a very early Gunthermann clockwork vis-a-vis, hand painted rather than lithographed and with its driver's body made of zinc � a tipoff that the toy is "first generation." Several very unusual Bing cars are shown (Plates 186-188), with the author's notation that he has never before seen them "in the flesh", as well as an unusual 1905 Marklin steam car (Plates 227-232) that fires and drives internally though a single fixed cylinder. Score extra points on the rarity scale for all of the above.

One of the great joys of leafing through this heavyweight of a book is in studying the photographic setups. Pressland, self-admittedly, is a sucker for miniature lead figures, streetlights, furniture and train accessories such as kiosks and ticket vending machines. "I'm always, always buying bits and pieces to add to my showcases at home," he remarked, "and I thoroughly enjoyed incorporating them into the scenes we designed for the photo shoots. You can amuse yourself watching for particular figures to turn up in subsequent photos as different characters. For instance, in one picture, there is a man pumping petrol, and later on that same figure appears as a butler."

The final and smallest section of Pressland's Great Book of Tin Toys deals with the best of post-war toys. Why Pressland would include this period in his book intrigued this writer, since there seems to be such a disparity between the quality of toys produced during the so-called "Golden Age" and those made after 1940. Pressland was prepared for the question. "I truly think some of the greatest toys ever made came out after the war. To me, Atomic Robot Man (Plate 616) is a wonderful toy. It reminds me of turn of the century Martin toys. And in cars, the Chrysler Imperial (Plates 608-610) made by Asahi Toy Company in 1962 is equivalent to an old Carette in that it is totally evocative of the period."

There can be no question that Pressland's Great Book of Tin Toys will become a classic. In a field awash with reference books that are heavy on pictorial, usually repeating what has already been depicted in other publications, toy collectors parting with $30 to $40 for a book are frequently left wondering, "Where's the beef?" With this book, David Pressland dishes up with the answer, and there's no feeling hungry an hour after you've read it.

Pressland's Great Book of Tin Toys is available for $225 plus $12.95 shipping from Pincushion Press, telephone 800/734-8188. All major credit cards accepted.