Hardcover, clear laminate finish on the cover, entitled "Lietuvos Ordinai, Medaliaii ir Ženkleliai 1918-1940" (Orders, Medals and Badges of Lithuania 1918-1940) by Algimantas Astikas, copyrighted by the author in 1993, published at Vilnius in 1993, reviewed by Stasys Pinkus, stories by Edmundas Rimša, edited by Viktoras Žemaitis and Ona Deveikienė, the line drawings of the awards by Alfonsas Žvilius, ISBN 5-417-00373-5. The book comprises official orders, medals, medals of honour and badges of the independent Lithuania (1918-1940), with descriptions of the 40 awards and over 450 badges accompanying the illustrations, the text in Lithuanian. It begins with an Introduction written by the author which "reveals the way of collecting the written material, along with information of awardings and diversity of the decorations". He also mentions the bearers of the highest ranks of orders, defines the order of awards and ranks a person could be awarded, along with when to wear the various decorations. It is followed by a Brief History of Phaleristics (AKA Faleristics, an auxiliary science of history and numismatics which studies orders, fraternities, and award items, such as medals, ribbons, and other decorations), explaining the Distribution System, the Distribution Principal and the Description Structure. Chapter I on Orders and Medals begins on page 44 and is preceded by 32 pages incorporating 26 colour plates. Chapter II on Badges begins on page 110 and deals with those badges issued to military regimental units, for shooting proficiency, to firemen and other awards issued by assorted institutions. It also includes miniature badges that were issued by schools, for sports, shooting, church and religious themes, aviation and other organizations. It concludes with five pages of text in English: a brief Summary on page 392 and a section entitled Titles of Orders, Medals and Badges in the Inset, p. 393-396, with accompanying key references for the various awards illustrated in the 26 color plates, but without descriptions as per the body of the book. It is followed by a List of Literature in Lithuanian. The book contains 400 pages of text printed in black, complemented by finely detailed line illustrations of the awards in blue ink, plus 32 pages incorporating 26 colour plates inserted between pages 32 and 33, on a white paper stock, measuring 165 mm (w) x 228 mm (h) x 27 mm (d). It exhibits pinching on the lower corner on the back cover, light scuffing on the laminate finish, along with a slight weakness in the binding at the spine, however, the pages contained within remain unaffected. Better than very fine.
Footnote: The author, Algimantas Astikas, was a noted cultural worker, collector of orders, medals and badges of the independent Lithuania, with a strong interest in history and bonistics (the study of the collecting of paper money and banknotes).