Ben Rapaport, a Virginia resident, retired U.S. Army career officer, and currently working as a systems integrator for a high-tech defense firm, has been collecting antique pipes for 40 years. Although his collection includes examples from around the globe, he has a special fondness for pipes, cheroot holders, and cigarette holders of meerschaum made in the last half of the 19th century to early in the 20th century. He is the author of four books on collecting tobacciana and has co-authored several other works on related tobacciana subjects. He was initiated into the Pipe Smoker's Hall of Fame in 1973, elected as the U.S. founding member of the International Academy of the Pipe in 1985, and inducted as a ConfrÅ re Pipier of the Confr‚rie des MaÅ'tres Pipiers de Saint-Claude in 1991. He regularly writes for art journals and tobacco trade magazines about the lure and lore of tobacco collectibles. He believes that this latest written contribution to the collecting world will visibly

Dr. Sarunas Peckus, member of the International Academy of the Pipe and the Confrérie de Jean Nicot, has been collecting antique pipes and tobacciana for over 30 years, has lectured on their history at various venues, and received the Director’s Award for “outstanding educational exhibit” at the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club 2009 convention. Ben Rapaport, known globally as a tobacco pipe historian, is also a member of the International Academy of the Pipe, the Confrérie des Maîtres Pipiers de Saint-Claude, France, and recipient of “Doctor of Pipes” achievement award. He contributes regularly to Pipes & Tobaccos magazine and occasionally to South Florida Opulence magazine.

"While the history, manufacture and use of clay, meerschaum and briar pipes have been thoroughly documented, the authors have now crafted a chronicle about porcelain tobacco pipes... For a pipe smoker, non smoker,. pipe collector or someone who appreciates antique and vintage porcelain objects, this is a fascinating read." - David Aldous-Cook, Antiques & Collectors Trader Sept 2015