Collectibles Books

This book is found in the printrooms of most galleries and print collectors as it is a precise and concisely written text which explains the complex processes of printmaking. It clarifies the sometimes baffling differences between printing families and the creative techniques involved in making a print such as the subtle visual difference between an etching and an engraving. The book is illustrated throughout to assist the reader to identify printing techniques, characteristics and attribution marks used in Old Master prints through to those made in contemporary times. This reference text would appeal to anyone fascinated by prints and provides a new vocabulary for those who want to know more about the interesting visual variations possible in the world of the print.

I almost said "for the beginning print lover," but even the pros might want occasional reminders about obscure processes.

This book displays an incredible number of processes and variations. Even within etching, there is standard intaglio process, relief etching, intaglio so deep it's amost relief, spit-biting or open-biting - well, a very long list. This gives an exacting look at the marks specific to each process, and gives good diagnostic descriptions. A special strength in this book is the differential diagnoses, the questions to ask that help distinguish two very similar kinds of marks. Every point made in the text is illustrated real samples, and that makes for a heck of a lot of illustrations.

I have almost no quibbles with this text. There are just a few minor points that Gascoigne could have brought out more clearly. First is that Japanese woodcuts are under-represented. It's a rich tradition with a number of distinguishing features: gradations of ink hand-placed on a block, occasional use of mica for luster, and occasional use of un-inked "blind" impressions to impress texture into the paper. Second is a mark that I think is unique to drypoint: the line is often asymmetric, crisp on one side and blurred on the other, capturing the asymmetry of the drypoint burr. The split drypoint line is more famous but, in my experience, less common. I've seen it only in the most aggressively worked drypoints, such as some by Picasso. Third is a feature of some dust-ground aquatints: that the white marks can sometimes form a connected mesh around the black dots, where a spirit ground always has a black ocean dotted with white islands. I know these are minor points, and I hope you see how few there are.

I'm a process nut. It's not the only way I enjoy prints, and not the way everyone enjoys them. For me, though, it really adds something to know how the maker's hand created each mark that I see. This isn't strictly a process book, and only accidentally a book of process history. It's a book about how a print looks, and seeing even more in the finest part of its looks. In the end, that's really the best reason to love a print.

//wiredweird

PS: A little while ago, I was given a very nice color print. It was done in mezzotint style, using burnishers to work from dark to light. Instead of a rocker-made ground, though, it had an aquatint ground. Color came from inking au poupee, dabbed on the plate. The giver was quite surprised that I read its story so precisely. Read this book, and you'll know just what I saw.

Now in an updated and expanded second edition, How To Identify Prints: A Complete Guide To Manual And Mechanical Processes From Woodcut To Inkjet is a superb reference and self-teaching tool for discerning between manual prints, process prints, and screenprints/non-prints, whether the print in question is monochrome or color, and whether it is relief, intaglio, or planographic. 272 illustrations, 40 of which are in color, highlight the meticulous attention to detail in this excellent manual, which also covers essential aspects of printing history and the craft of printmaking. This new addition is revised with insights concerning how increasingly sophisticated yet inexpensive cheap printing processes such as quality inkjet and laser prints affect the process of identifying and evaluating printed images. A "must-read" for anyone collecting authentic prints or pursuing a career involving the identification of prints.

Back in print and updated in a new paperback edition is Bambar Gascoigne's classic How To Identify Prints, first published in 1986 and enjoying ongoing acclaim as an essential resource for any involved in identifying prints, whether they be woodcuts, lithos, or etchings. Some ninety techniques - manual and mechanical alike - are described to round out an accompanying history of prints. A lasting, classic work essential to any art library and many a general library reference collection.

I have not been to a ballgame yet but when I do, i will bring this book with me. It is a great guide with tips on how to get a baseball(get to the game early, etc.) I am glad that there is someone from New York who agrees with me about the kid who reached onto the field in Yankee stadium. Recommended for any baseball fans. END

We snagged a baseball within 24 hours after the book arrived, at Shea Stadium, from reliever Armando Benitez. Never thought it would be possible!!

My ten year old grandson is a baseball nut. His greatest dream is to snag a ball at a major league baseball game. I gave Zack Hample's HOW TO SNAG MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLS to him and he can't wait for the season to start so that he can put into practice what this so smart book teaches him to do.

This book will put a major league baseball in your hands. I stumbled on some of the tips Zack explains in trying to get a ball myself. But Zack outlines many more - most common sense - but easy to overlook unless you have the single-minded devotion to major league baseball acquisition that characterizes Zack. This is a book for all little boys and girls, even those over ten (or forty) years of age, whose passion is to hold their own major league baseball.

Covers a variety of ways used, to catch trout. The book surprized me with some new information I didn't know before.

I am veary happy with this book. It makes it ez to find fish and no what bates work at what time. A must for the person that does not no it all

This book is excellent. It has everything about trout and how to catch them.

Encyclopedias, dictionaries and other miscellaneous tomes on salmonids have been written to attain the precision and photographic beauty of this one book: "Trout." It's easy to read without sacrificing the scientific.

You have seen pictures of trout and other salmonids before, but never with as much beauty and accuracy as in this book. The subsurface photography captures trout in their natural enviornment--with their jaws agape-- milliseconds before gorging on a small baitfish or hitting a Muddler Minnow. Fisherman will definitely find such photographs worth twice the retail price alone.

The information on each species is concise. Bar graphs detail the average length and weight of each species per year of growth. North American maps detail where each species can be found. For each species, table quality, world record, salmonid's diet, preferred water quality (including temp. and clarity), common hybrids, and more are detailed.

The books are hard bound and make for an attractive library or coffee table in addition to their priceless photographs.

Even though the expected date of arrival was 5 or 6 weeks ahead, it was shipped less than one week after the request and it arrived to Europe (from US) next week. So the total waiting time was 2 weeks instead of the 5 or 6 weeks it anticipated. I'm happy with he conditions the book arrived, so it was my first purchase in Amazon and I am definetely satisfied.

I just finished reading an old edition, whihc is late 80's and it's incredible, I can't wait to get this new edition. If you like aerodynamics and are interested in space re-entry vehicles, for sure you should have this book in your personal library.

While this description refers to an out of print edition by McGraw-Hill, the book has been republished by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) with the ISBN 156347459X.

This book in conjunction with Anderson's "Modern Compressible Flow with Historical Perspective" will give you and excellent fundamental background in high temp gas dynamics. I think the third section alone of this book (which introduces stastical mechanics, kinetic theory, chemically reacting flows, equilibrium and nonequilibrium flows) is worth the price.

I bought this book for my 7 year old granddaughter who is interested in history, but I enjoyed reading it myself!

Presented in a lively question and answer fashion, this volume satisfies curiosities that both children and adults frequently have about life in the colonial capital of Virginia.

Family, work, food, government, fashion, and more are all presented in an easily understandable and fascinating manner. Well done!

I'm teaching Early American History to Japanese adults who have an "elementary" level of English and virtually no experience in studying American history. The "If You Lived in ....." books targeted for US elementary school children is ideal for college students in Japan. Just the title causes discussion. eg. Why do you spell Willimasburg with ..burg but then spell Pittsburgh with "h"?

One of my favorite books growing up was a companion book in this series, called If You Lived in Colonial Times. The illustrations in all of these books is the best! Detailed drawings show what clothes the adults and kids would be wearing. Each page answers a different question like, "What happened when a child misbehaves?" Kids can learn a lot from these books. I plan to collect all of them for my children.

This book tells what it would be like if you lived in Colonial Williamsburg. Some pages even have little rhymes that go with the topics. This poem is about what women and girls wore:
"Little Polly Flinders
Sat among the cinders
Warming her pretty little toes.
Her mother came and caught her
And whipped her little daughter,
For spoiling her nice new clothes."

I recommend that you read it because it's a really interesting book and it tells about really interesting topics. I really enjoyed it.
Sarah in Nebraska

Jock Elliott captures and relates all of the building blocks that went into making our Christmas holiday what it is--in terms of the way in which we celebrate.

As an ad man, he's got a unique perspective.

Fascinating reading.

This book is such an amazing find! It tells the whole celebration of the Christmas holiday, from it's pre-Christian pagan celebrations, through the 20th century. Particularly interesting is how it became a Christian Holiday a few hundred years after the birth of Christ. But the book also covers how Santa Claus came to be, the history of the Christmas Tree, carols, and a pretty extensive article on Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol.'
The author, Jock Elliott, is probably the foremost collector of Christmas memorabelia, and through many color photos has shared some of his extensive collection with us. The man even has his letters to Santa from the 1920's! But, most impressive of all (to me!) is his 'A Christmas Carol' collection. He has a copy of the original first edition from 1843, as well as the original newspaper advertisement for the book from that same year! And, yes, Mr. Elliott shares this with us, too.
I've compared his history of the holiday with other books I own and I feel I can safely say that Mr. Elliott has done his research. His writing style is very entertaining and easy to follow, so the younger set can enjoy this book, too.
All in all, this is one of the most entertaining books I've read on the Christmas holiday. I guess if I had one complaint it would be for Mr. Elliott to maybe add a bit about the Reason for the Season - Jesus Christ.
Very highly recommended.

Saw this book when it was listed with a book I wanted to buy about Christmas and the history of our American traditions. It is a beautiful book with lots of pictures- not alot of written information. Still find it interesting and informative.

Almost all Americans celebrate Christmas but so few of us really know its deep-rooted and ancient origins as well as the origins of so many of the traditions we hold so dear.

In his wonderful book called, Jock Elliott has charted all of this story (and more) with care and good cheer. He reminds us of how recent the Christmas "tradition" is, and how ancient. He tells us, for example, that the Christmas tree is basically a product of the second half of the American 19th century, and can be traced to England. The British royal family - themselves imports from Germany - first pitched such trees in their palatial homes. But the trees, and the rituals of winter celebrations, could themselves be traced all the way back to pagan times and the celebrations of the winter solstice.

We learn about the men who defined Santa claus Including Clement Moore who wrote the "Night Before Christmas", and Thomas nast. Nast was the greatest political cartoonist of the 19th century, perhaps of any American century. During the holiday season of 1862-63, Nast put visual flesh on the poetic bones provided by Moore. In the Jan. 3, 1863, issue of Harper's Weekly, he showed Santa Claus cheering up the battered Union troops. He's wearing striped pants and a shirt spangled with stars. Nast would do a year-end drawing of Santa Claus for each of the following 25 years.

From giving gifts to misletoe, Elliots great book fills us in on the origins of Everything Christmas. Highly Recommended

Jade (Fred Ward Gem Book)The pictures in this book are magnificent and show jade--and jade carving at its best! In fact, it is difficult to take your eyes off the pictures long enough to read the text. Readable, not pedantic--the book definitely shows the carvers skill and how the jade speaks to them about what to carve. This book truly shows the one stone that responds to a person's "chi." If you don't believe me, get the book--then buy some really good--not dyed or infused--jade and wear it next to your skin. See . . . I told you.

So far it is a good read,for I have not finished it as of yet

There are not too many books on Jade, so I'm glad I found this one. It was pretty informative and had very nice photographs illustrating the author's points. It's worth it if you're in the jewelry business and want to know more about jade, and it's good for any jade collector. I found the information to be accurate.

Like all of the Fred Ward Gem Books Series, this is an instant classic. It features National Geographic quality photos, no surprise since Ward has photographed/authored a number of articles for that magazine. My favorite section deals with the jade from Meso-America, used by the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilizations. But it also contains much on Burmese and Chinese jade. This is simply an outstanding book. Buy it.

Co-written by expert antiques dealers Joe Keller and David Ross, Jadite: An Identification And Price Guide informatively examines and showcases Jadeite dinnerware from the 1930s to the mid 1970s. Gorgeous full color photographs are combined with a comprehensively researched price guide to make for a marvelous compendium of Jadite works. Highly enjoyable for armchair connoisseurs of practical art and devoted collectors alike, Jadite is exhaustive, authoritative, "user friendly", and enthusiastically recommended.

I LOVE MY JADITE BOOK, IT'S VERY INFORMATIVE AND EASY TO USE TO IDENTIFY AND PRICE ANTIQUE PIECES. I COULDN'T FIND THIS BOOK ANYWHERE EXCEPT AT AMAZON.

This book has awesome photography with accurate color and well conceived layouts. It is well organized and easy to use as a reference and pricing guide. I would highly recommend this book to both the novice collector and the seasoned veteran.

One of the things I hate about price guides is the pricing. So many authors price items by what they have and what they want to have. If they have it, it's worth a fortune. If they want to have it, it's not worth anything. The reason for this is simple. If they want to sell something they have the price has been established and they'll ask the price in their book. It they don't have it and want it they price it low so they can buy it inexpensively. Keller and Ross don't do that. They are out there shopping, doing shows, going to auctions and their prices are generally right on the mark. That's a tremendous help to both collectors and dealers. The other great thing about the book is the photos. There are lots of them so it makes it easy to identify the pieces you have or are looking to buy. I like the organization by category which makes it easy to look up itemsIf you're a collector or a dealer this book is well worth the price.

This book is the best Japanese reference book you can own! It identifies swords, dirks, tassels, belt buckles, civilian swords, and pretty much anything else you can think of. This book is a must have for any Japanese sword collector! In fact this book itself is very hard to find and is skyrocking in value. Whatever you have to pay for this book it is worth it, I know I made up for the price with the first purchase I made.

Excellent book for the new or advanced collector. lots of good photos never published info. Clear and concise info on anything you may find at estate sales flea markets or antique shops

This book is very comprehensive and has more information than most books of a similar topic. Great reference material as well as some nice closeup details of rare swords. A MUST HAVE item for anybody that wants to collect Military swords and such. Information of the type included within this book will assist newcomers to buy swords with confidence. Well worth $50 price!!

This is an excellent reference for anyone interested in Japanese swords. The authors have made not only a great handbook, but also one that is easily readable. It is an excellent buying guide in terms of identification, authentication, and evaluation. It also provides great information on sword knots, sword belts, and hangers as well as collecting tips and period photos. Don't go to a show without it! It gives you a knowledge advantage over 90% of the folks selling Japanese military swords. Easily pays for itself with your first treasure find.

This book had exactly what I was looking for. Many beautiful designs of animals from simple to really extravagant. I highly recommend this book to anyone in the jewelry business or who has an interest in gems.

This is a wonderful resource for high end, modern animal jewelry pieces. These are not designs you will find at your local jewelers, and it is probably of limited use to crafts people, but as eye candy it can't be beat.

While brief mention is made of historical pieces, this is really a book about Victorian jewelry to the present. It is a shame that there is not more information about the wonderful animal jewelry of antiquity, but perhaps that will come in another volume.

If you are interested in contemporary and 19th-20th century jewelry design, this book is a steal at the Amazon price.

I FIRST SAW THIS BOOK @ MY LOCAL LIBRARY & BOUGHT IT THE SAME DAY. FULL OF ORIGINAL & MASTERFULLY CRAFTED JEWELRY THIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO APPRECIATES ORIGINALITY & ARTISTRY IN JEWELRY DESIGN. I WOULD HAVE PAID MORE FOR IT!

This book is crammed with page after page after page of the most breathtaking animal jewelry by the world's elite designers, such as Verdura. It is amazing to me that the book, printed on high quality paper, retails [at a low price]. The authors have compiled a comprehensive review of jewelry history and photos and if you are a fan of whimsical but elegant design, you'll love this book.