Reviews (11)

A Great Gift
I have received this book as a gift and have given it as a gift.It is wonderful!You can look at it for hours and still pick it up again and again.Also, you find that there are many more illusionists other than Escher.

Wow.
This book is a wonderful overview of a lot of interesting artistic styles and mind-blowing techniques.Of course, you can buy more complete editions about the specific artists within this book, but I haven't seen such a variety of of artists and images put together in such a great way before.This was a great purchase, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in any of the artists within it.

Masters of Deception
This is an excellent resource. Anyone interested in visual illusion and the artists involved in creating it will thoroughly enjoy this book. It is difficult to get a chance to look at it, let alone read it, because someone else is always picking it up and becoming enthralled with it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    4. History - Contemporary (1945- )    5. History - Modern (Late 19th Century to 1945)    6. Optical illusions in art    7. Art / General    8. Art Forms, Treatments & Subjects    9. Puzzles & quizzes    10. STUDY NOTES - SparkNotes   

Reviews (2)

I recommend you the last edition of World Coins
An excellent book as allways, recommended for people who collect, and/or sells/buy World Coins, A lot of improved images and list of prices. I would say this book is the STATE OF THE ART in World Coins catalog.
No price changes....
Here we go again...You might think that with the rise in the price of metals this year we would expect to see overall price evaluations in this latest edition of World Coins (The answer is NO, Krause Publishing figures that a re-designed cover qualifies as a 'new' addition). Save yourself some coin and purchase a used 32nd edition, which is basically identical except that with the 2006 ed. you also get coin listings of 2001 and up! You will now have to purchase another catalog for 'updated' 2001 and up coin pricing...Lazy and a rip. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiques    2. Antiques & Collectibles    3. Antiques / Collectibles    4. Antiques/Collectibles    5. Coins, Currency & Medals    6. Numismatics    7. Reference - Price Guides    8. Coins, banknotes, medals, seals, numismatics    9. Reference works   

Reviews (5)

A Beautiful book of New York History and Architecture
An exquisite book! There are stories about each apartment house and how it came to be. I found the two architects, Candela and Carpenter, to be very interesting characters. The homes they designed are ahead of their time. The floor plans are fascinating. The book also shows, by the floor plans, how people lived and what their needs were. The authors even quote costs of building and tell of the people who lived there. If you like real estate you will find this fascinating.

Grand New York
Let me first say that I loved the period black and white photos of the buildings, I also appreciated the fact that all of the buildings mentioned came with requisite photos, that is a must in book of this sort.I really didn't know that much about these buildings nor the architects so this book gave me a real education, I came away more knowledged and very impressed. The attention to detail the architects employed in these buildings is amazing and the fact that so many are still extant is a tribute to the artistry and talent that went into designing and building them and obviously contempory wealthy apartment seekers appreciate these attributes or else we all know these buildings would have been pulled down long ago, just like so many of the Gilded Age mansions they replaced.This publishing house puts out such finely crafted books and this one does not disappoint, I highly recommend it.

Andrew Alpern's Labor of Love
Candela and Carpenter were two of New York's most noted architects of the inter-war era, specializing in luxury apartment buildings. Architectural historian Andrew Alpern has assembled a reference text of their buildings, organized in geographic sequence. In this book, a typical building has two pages dedicated to it. One page consists of a floor plan, and the facing page has a photo or rendering of the exterior, combined with a one-to-six sentence description. Also, there are several brief essays at the beginning of the book.Read more

Subjects:  1. (James Edwin R.),    2. 1890-1953    3. Apartment houses    4. Architecture    5. Candela, Rosario,    6. Carpenter, J. E. R    7. Catalogs    8. Domestic    9. Individual Architect    10. Interior architecture    11. New York    12. New York (State)    13. Planning   

Reviews (1)

The book I was waiting for
I was surprised when I bought the last 2007 World Coins, cause it only includes 1901 to 2000 coins and the title was a litle confusing. But NOW I can say that the waiting time is justified.
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Subjects:  1. Antiques    2. Antiques & Collectibles    3. Antiques / Collectibles    4. Antiques/Collectibles    5. Coins, Currency & Medals    6. Numismatics    7. Reference - Price Guides    8. Coins, banknotes, medals, seals, numismatics    9. Reference works   

Subjects:  1. Antiques    2. Antiques & Collectibles    3. Antiques / Collectibles    4. Antiques/Collectibles    5. Coins, Currency & Medals    6. General    7. Numismatics    8. Reference - Price Guides    9. Coins, banknotes, medals, seals, numismatics    10. c 1600 to c 1700   

Reviews (12)

comprehensive pattern compilation/hallmarks lack
Maybe if there was some way to put all of these people in one room and force them to print one reference book for sterling flatware, then MAYBE, just MAYBE, it wouild finally be complete. While this reference is comprehensive with its coverage of patterns and companies, its hallmark references for getting to that comopany are lackluster, but aA for effort!

My review on Flatware Book
This is an excellent book. I buy and sell sterling flatware and wish I had had this book years ago. The author does a superb job. The illustrations are great. I highly recommend this book!

Shines like Polished Sterling
Superb resource book, very well written and laid out.Pictures are excellent.It was so easy to use that my nine (9) year old nephew identified several obscure patterns by himself.
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Subjects:  1. Antiques    2. Antiques & Collectibles    3. Antiques & Collectibles / Silver    4. Catalogs    5. Collecting    6. Collectors and collecting    7. Reference / Catalogs    8. Silver    9. Silver flatware    10. Silverware    11. United States    12. Patterns   

Reviews (8)

Getting Off to a Good Start and More
This is a publication of note. Highly informative for the beginner or seasoned collector there is a certain lure for these magnificent looking coins and abundant information on them. I will have to admit that I was certainly intrigued by this publication and spent several hours rummaging through the information contain herein. I have collected coins on and off for years and this was a good place to start and jump back in to that rewarding and enriching hobby.
Great Gift
My dad is an avid coin collector and loved this Catalog, could also be reviewed as the "Coin Collector's Bible".

WORTH ITs WEIGHT
This is a good book. Do you collect this era? If so, go for it. The photos are outstanding. This is a quality puplication. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiques    2. Antiques & Collectibles    3. Antiques / Collectibles    4. Antiques/Collectibles    5. Coins, Currency & Medals    6. Numismatics    7. Coins, banknotes, medals, seals, numismatics    8. Reference works    9. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Best books    2. Bibliographies & Indexes    3. Catalogs    4. Fiction    5. Indexes    6. Reference    7. United States   

Reviews (1)

Superior Art Exhibit Catalog
I recently attended the Societe Anonyme Exhibition at the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angles. The accompanying catalog is outstanding both in terms of the essay material and manyphotographs. I have a large collection of museum art catalogs and this one rates at the top. For anyone interested in the history of an important era in early Twentieth Century American modern art this monograph is a wonderful place to start. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century Art    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Art Gallery    5. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    6. Connecticut    7. Exhibition Catalogs    8. Exhibitions    9. History - Modern (Late 19th Century to 1945)    10. Modernism (Art)    11. New Haven    12. Yale University.    13. Art / General    14. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    15. USA   

Reviews (16)

Great Companion Volume
Alan Lee has, til recently, been living much in the shadow of Brian Froud, his co-illustrator of Faeries. Lee's more "realistic" depictions of fantasy tend to have taken second fiddle to Froud's more "free form" and "metaphysical" musings. And, while Lee has been a substantial contributor to genre films for ages (Erik the Viking comes to mind), and has contributed to other books of his art (Castles, and the Mabinogion, come to mind), it's taken Tolkien's films to break him out of his shell. In this work, Lee basically takes us along through the filming in a sort of set diary, showing us the graphic evolution of the artwork that ultimately made it to celluloid. While some of the artwork can be found in his illustrations of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (a must have edition, in my opinion), there's a surprising amount of new material in here, and fans of the Ring (movie) trilogy will find his commentaries of high interest.

wonderful book
I'd recommend this book for anyone who likes arts, or at least The Lord of the Rings. The pencil artworks are fantastic, mostly very detailed; there are also a few paints in the book, you can see their pencil sketches, too, each of these painted pictures cover a full page.
Illustration as Art from One of the Giants!
Alan Lee is a celebrated artist who has elected to limit his endeavors to the world of myths and fantasy (his illustrations for 'The Iliad' are state of the art).With the publication of this fine book his place in the pantheon of illustrator artists is secure.
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Subjects:  1. (John Ronald Reuel),    2. 1892-1973.    3. Art    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    5. Design    6. Design - General    7. Fantasy    8. Film & Video - Guides & Reviews    9. Graphic Arts - General    10. Illustrations    11. Lee, Alan    12. Lord of the rings    13. Notebooks, sketchbooks, etc    14. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    15. Tolkien, J. R. R.    16. Fiction / Fantasy / Epic   

Subjects:  1. Catalogs    2. Grammar    3. Reference    4. Rhetoric    5. Writing Skills    6. English    7. Reference / Writing Skills    8. Writing & editing guides   

Editorial Review

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the future began. The future of fashion, that is. Of course, it wasn't quite so long ago (it was the 1970s), and it wasn't quite so far away (it was Milan, Italy). Right there and then, the world witnessed the birth of the sports coat. This one jacket spawned the beginnings of casual dress and semi-androgynous fashion. This may not seem so radical now, but think about what came before. Look back to the Read more

Reviews (1)

Comprehensive Historical Reference
This is not a typical fashion tome.The authors have traced the historical influences of Mr. Armani as well as validlly documenting his contribution to history (both in terms of fashion and in sociological influence).The photographs are well chosen and show the broad scope of his work.The detailed description accompanying the photographs of the actual museum exhibts are informative and succinct.One unfortunate choice was to include blurbs by celebrities.These comments offer nothing in the way of understanding Mr. Armani's work and are unnecessary.That minor annoyance withstanding, this volume is a valuable addition to any library. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    5. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - Museum    6. Costume design    7. Crafts & Hobbies    8. Exhibitions    9. Fashion    10. History    11. Italy    12. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - Exhibition Catalogs   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Art, Buddhist    4. Art, Japanese    5. Asian    6. Buddhism - General    7. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    8. Exhibition Catalogs    9. Exhibitions    10. Japan    11. Nara-shi    12. To 1600   

Reviews (1)

A BALANCED PORTRAIT
DORA LIVES is a posthumous biography on Miki Dora, a pioneering surfer from the 1950s and 1960s, and on page 23, it says this about artistic temperament:
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    3. Historical - General    4. Photo Techniques    5. Photography    6. Sports - General    7. Water Sports    8. Photography & Photographs   

Reviews (2)

The stuff that dreams were made of...
In the brief introduction to this book the editor states, "If there ever was a "Golden Age" of Western Civilization this was surely it. In the following pages one can see both the reflection of yesterday and the seeds of the future, for few things in our culture are able to capture the sense of the times as are the trivial artifacts we give to our children to play with." Well, these were the playthings that the richest nation in human history gave to its children in the Golden Age between 1951 and 1969. The entire world offered their finest toys to America- but none were finer than those made by our own manufacturers (Marx, Ideal, Mattel, Remco, Kenner, Lionel, Gilbert...)
Wonderful But a Bit Pricey
The Big Toy Box at Sears is a compilation from the awesome Sears Wishbook catalogs of the 1950's and 60's covering boys toys.It is one heckuva a trip down memory lane with cap guns, foto-electric football, GI Joe, slot cars and more.
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Subjects:  1. Antiques & Collectibles    2. Antiques & Collectibles / Toys    3. Catalogs    4. Reference    5. Reference / Catalogs    6. Sears, Roebuck and Company    7. Toys   

Reviews (4)

A must-have for tobacco card enthuiasts!!
This comprehensive and superbly organized work is richly supplemented with numerous color and B/W photographs.A brief and informative history about various tobacco products/inserts and manufactures is provided.The book is organized principally into two units:N-series for 19th century cards (N1-N694) and T-series for 20th century cards (T1-T177).Each entry includes a brief description of the set and card appearance (front and back).The overwhelming majority of entries include an actual size photograph of a representative card (front and back) and a list of all cards in the set.Comments pertaining to card variations and prices are useful.The edge of each page is labeled with the set number to aid with rapid location of descriptions and card images.The work is peppered throughout with short vignettes and essays (published previously in various trade journals) by Dr. Terry Mitchell about specific sets or card themes.Although this is a soft cover book, the pages are printed on high grade gloss stock paper that tolerates repeated handling.Suprisingly, the book is neither overwhelming or boorish in its presentation.The brief descriptions and inclusion of images for virtually every set are effective strategies and make the book exceptionally user-friendly.No other work to date has done such a masterful job at capturing the variety of subjects, visual appeal, and historical allure of tobacco cards.This book is a must-have item for novice collectors and enthusiasts.

Beautifully done; Notcomplete for all collectors
A beautifully executed publication, however as a collector of Victorian Trade Cards, I was greatly dissapointed NOT to find ANY of the cards in my collection listed.I would have expected at least ONE to have beenreferred to, but the items in the book are mostly geared to the collectorof tobacco insert cards.If this is your thing, this is your book.Forgetit if you are more geared to Tradecard collecting

Informative Book about the History of Tobacco Cards
The book is great historical lesson.Reading about the history of the Tobacco cards has been very informative. The writers have dedicated many hours to thorough research of this topic. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advertising    2. Advertising cards    3. Antiques & Collectibles    4. Antiques / Collectibles    5. Antiques/Collectibles    6. Catalogs    7. Popular Culture    8. Reference - Price Guides    9. Tobacco    10. Tobacco-Related    11. United States    12. Antiques & collectables: books, manuscripts, ephemera & printed matter   

Reviews (3)

Big and Beautiful
This book is the companion to a multi-year exhibition of (mostly) paintings at Davis Museum at Wellesley College. Most of the works are from the Renaissance, with a smattering of Medieval images and some recent. There are a series of essays included, most of which will not be electrifying to any beginning bible studies student. In fact, the lack of biblical scholarship in the discussion of Mary is quite startling.
Clear, assessible, and rich
I truly enjoyed this tour through Wellesley's collection of Marian art.
An excellent overview
For me the real beauty of this book was not the illustrated catalogue of images in the Wellesley College collection, it was the excellent essay by Melissa Katz.Robert Orsi's essay was superb as usual, but rather short, and the other essays are so short (2 pages each) as to be almost unmentionable.Katz on the other hand takes her readers on a historical tour of Marian imagery that is also thematically related to the hours of her devotion.In this way, her essay is not only an overview of Marian imagery, but it is also an overview of the history of the Roman Catholic church, an overview of Marian devotional practices, and the social forces in Europe which shaped these two phenomena.My only criticism of her essay, which might be more accurately a criticism of the Wellesley College collection, is that there is very little information on Marian imagery and devotion outside of Europe. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Blessed Virgin, Saint    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - Museum    5. Davis Museum and Cultural Center    6. Exhibitions    7. Individual Artist    8. Mary,    9. Massachusetts    10. Subjects & Themes - Religious    11. Wellesley    12. Art & Architecture | History    13. Art / Religious    14. Exhibition catalogues and specific collections    15. Religious subjects depicted in art    16. Saints & hagiography   

Reviews (2)

A wonderful book
I just want to begin this review by saying that this book is a need for any architect's library.The book Frank Gehry, Architect, provides a wealth of knowledge about the architect as well as the structures that he has created over time. Most pages in this book (and there are many) contain full color pictures, sketches, or descriptions about the structure and the architect.This book spans from Gehry's earliest projects to project underdevelopment.Projects range from structures to furniture, and even to art (sculpture like stuff). An aspect that I like most about this book is seeing Gehry develop his ideas and hone his craft. I should also add that this book also contains several models that were created for structures.I think this is essential because it allows beginning architects a chance to see effective model building techniques as well as different ways to convey a feeling which is essential for effective communication with a client.Overall, I would highly recommend this book for all architects and students.

AMAZING
a very interesting look into the life and times of Frank Gehry. Anyone ineterested in architecture or interested in increasing their knowledge of architecture and architecture's past must read this. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Postmodern    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    5. Exhibitions    6. Individual Architect    7. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - Exhibition Catalogs    8. U.S. Architecture - General   

Reviews (3)

No review
I bought it as a gift, didn't take out of plastic cover thus I could not rate it.

Overwhelming...Spectacular!!!!
I went to the Guggenheim yesterday to see the show Russia! It was amazing and the response was overwhelming...lines around the block all day. The show was as good as any that I've ever seen...and I have been to the Hermitage, Russian Museum,The Met, Louvre, Prado etc...this show was spectacular! Now, come and see it for yourself. It closes on January 11th, 2006 and if you cannot get here to see it PLEASE buy this book! It's a steal at $47.25...in fact buy both books! This sells for $75.00 at the show and believe me, is well worth it! I am a fan of Socialist Realism and the work of Nesterov, Surikov, Vasnetsov (His Knight at the Crossroads is a work of genius!)and of course Repin. They are all here and the works are printed beautifully and give you a perfect feel for the exhibition. Russia is a land of superb artwork, in many forms. Primarily painting here yet buy this book and you will not be dissapointed......superb, superb and superb! All responsible for this exhibition deserve the highest praise...this is what is best in world culture......Peace and Slovim Godim!(Happy New Year!)

Beautiful art for enjoyment of all
Everyone should see the great Russian art in this collection.It shows the soul of a great country. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    4. European    5. History - General    6. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - Exhibition Catalogs    7. European history: from c 1900 -    8. Russia   

Subjects:  1. Antiques & Collectibles / Dolls    2. Antiques & Collectibles / Reference    3. Antiques & Collectibles / Toys    4. Reference / Catalogs    5. Antiques & Collectibles    6. Catalogs    7. Doll furniture    8. Dolls    9. Dolls' houses    10. Miniatures    11. Reference    12. Toys