Collecting Books

Armen Vartian knows more about collectibles than any attorney in the world. Whenever we have a legal question, we always call Armen.

this is a great book for the first time collector of the original soft sculpture cabbage patch kids very informative.

Last evening I spent very happily reading in _Lewis and Clark's Green World: The Expedition and Its Plants_ by A. Scott Earle and James L. Reveal; Farcountry Press (May 2003). It is truly an excellent book, relaxed yet very informed, and assumes an interested and educated reader with a real interest in plants, without any stuffiness, and excellent photos.

Among dozens of Lewis and Clark books this is in or near the top ten, which is very refined company indeed. And so well done it will be very satisfying for anyone interested in native plants of the western United States.

Stuart Wier, Lewis and Clark historian, Boulder Colorado

If you have ever wondered what makes a collector a collector, you will be interested in reading this book. Victor and Sally Ganz were New York collectors who began collecting early in the 1940's with the purchase of Pablo Picasso's "The Dream" -- which they obtained for the princely sum of $7,000. Although the book does not reveal this fact, after their death the same painting fetched the staggering sum of $44 million dollars at a Christies auction, part of the largest single-owner sale ever held (over $200 million was realized). This book, while not telling you how to do the same, chronicles the collecting life of this self-effacing New York couple. It contains essays by famed Picasso writer John Richardson, and by other noted art historians such as Leo Steinberg and David Sylvester, plus some tributes by several artists the Ganzes collected. The book includes an interview with the late renowned gallery owner and dealer Leo Castelli. All of the essays are beautifully illustrated in full-color. This is not only a great coffee-table book but one which will educate you as well.

This book provides great information for anyone interested in collecting Lilliput Lane cottages - I find it exceptionally helpful when bidding on ebay.

The nice, lock-in feature prevents your coins from falling out of the folder, while holding them in a nice layout. The only drawback is you cannot see the reverse of the coins when they're in the folder.

Pefect little compendium. Wonderful illustrations and photographs. If love history and fashion this is a must.

i adore this book it is my number one book in my coffee table collection. Beautiful photos with inspiring designs and ideas. pleasent typesetting and a clean design to it which makes it a pleasure to read. im an interior / furniture designer and this book is like my idea bible!
would recommend it to anybody with an interest in interoir architecture or even somebody with good taste.
xoxo >>minki

What were the collecting habits and passions of a grand fifteenth century Italian ruler named de'Medici?

This year one volume answers that question and outshines all others on the subject of de'Medici collecting. Lorenzo de'Medici, Collector of Antiquities is that single work. A vast and painstakingly researched volume by Laurie Fusco and Gino Corti, it covers Lorenzo de'Medici's passions as a collector of objects from antiquity and the post-antiquity period, like no other before it.

This groundbreaking work details de'Medici as an important patron of the arts in fifteenth century Florence. The monograph is one any serious collector of the period and of antiquities must have in their library. I call it a groundbreaking work yet it is much more than that, it is the first detailed and highly documented account of a great man of power and wealth satisfying his desires for collecting and preserving history. The volume contains a range broken down as follows: 1. The first period of collecting: 1465 1483; 2. The second period of collecting and Lorenzo's sources: 1484 1492; 3. Behavior in the art market; 4. The objects collected; 5. Contemplating the objects; 6. The image of Lorenzo as a collector and antiquarian; 7. The fate of Lorenzo's collection following the French invasion of Florence in 1494; 8. Lorenzo in the context of collecting.

This out of the ordinary art book is a significant and wise investment. All educated Italian art collectors, collectors of antiquities, as well as serious book collectors of the period and subject matter will find it not only educational but also a reference tool of collecting habits because for the first time Lorenzo de'Medici's collecting activities are under the microscope. Fusco and Corti meticulously document in 173 previously unknown letters (included in this work) and reveal for the first time via those letters how such a grand ruler of the day thought and acquired personal objects. We also learn for the first time that Lorenzo de'Medici had a preference for intimate items - small objects: coins, hard stone vases, and gems. Fusco and Corti's incredible work reveals how such objects were studied, displayed, selected, and valued by de'Medici and other collectors during this period.

By the time Louis Comfort Tiffany died in 1933, the once world renouned artist was well on his way to obscurity. In 1954, Robert Koch, then a graduate student studying architecture at Yale University came across Tiffany's work. This introduction spawned a life long immersion in the artistry of Louis C. Tiffany. As a university professor of art history, Robert Koch's influence can be found in the revival of interest in the turn of the 20th century movements known as Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau. His most important contribution, however, has been in repopularizing Tiffany for later generations. Today, many volumes of uneven quality on Tiffany have been published. Most are simply picture books that dazzle the eye. All, however, owe much to the 1964 publication of Robert Koch's original "Rebel in Glass" that stirred the renewal of interest in Louis Tiffany by presenting not only important photographs but original scholarship that still is unsurpassed. The new "Collected Works of Robert Koch" brings together in one volume his three previously published books on Tiffany. As an added bonus, the reader will find new, luscious photographs that further cement Tiffany's place as one of America's most important artists. This book is a must, not only for Tiffany collectors but for anyone interested in the history of American art, Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts.