With a connoisseur's instinct Ernesto Wolf built an unusually comprehensive collection of Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval glasses which are here published for the first time. Some 230 objects trace the formation of the great Roman glass industry and follow its growth into early medieval times. Written in non-technical language and readily accessible to the non professional, five chapters arranged in loose chronological order investigate the art history and cultural context of the glass vessels and objects. The emphasis is on the relationship between blown glass vessels made in the western part of the Roman empire, focusing on Italy and the northwestern provinces, and in the Eastern Mediterranean, focusing on Syro-Palestinian workshops. An extensive glossary explains the how when and where of the most salient characteristics of vessels blown in different areas of the Roman and Byzantine empires. Lavishly illustrated with color photographs and drawings, the lively text makes for a rare publication: a scholarly monograph that can hold its own on the best dressed coffee tables. The author: E. Marianne Stern, author of numerous publications in the fields of classical archaeology and ancient glass. 1976-1982 Associate Professor for Classical Archaeology at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden. 1986-1992 Guest Curator of Roman Glass at The Toledo Museum of Art. She is currently an independent scholar and National Lecturer of the Archaeological Institute of America. Her main hobby, glass blowing, is dangerously near becoming a second profession.