Uli
Dewey Ferguson attempted the first serious work trying to bring the Case story to the written page. Organized knife collecting was just beginning in the United States. The copy of the book you have was one of his first editions. My 1969 edition has an orange cover and is titled Handbook Romance of Knife Collecting. The edition I spoke of in my earlier post was a larger book 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches with a white cover titled Pictorial Price Guide Romance of Collecting Case/XX Knives with a copyright date of 1972. I acquired my copy in 1973.
Speaking to your question is it interesting, to a 16 year old Georgia boy it was like heroin. I could not get enough. Today it's still the first reference book I reach for when I need one, The prices quoted in it now seem ridiculous but the photos of the basic patterns are solid (Case has a very detailed system for identifying knives by the pattern number and have had for years). Books with more information have been written about Case knives, some by very old friends but this is my favorite. Hang on to your 1969 edition not many around anymore.