Galleries Books

Basically the subtitle says it all. This beautifully illustrated book consists entirely of photos and captions. But, oh my god, what an incredible collection of mind-expanding work. Each piece is perfectly crafted, fresh, and often whimsical. My eyes just got bigger and bigger with amazement as I flipped through this book for the first time. Covering the full range of the best in modern ceramics, this book has hundreds of full color photos to inspire beginners and professionals alike. There are large architectural pieces, thrown pots, handbuilt functional and decorative wares, low fired, pit fired, high fired and raku wonders - something to delight everyone.

This is a beautiful book with many unique & imaginative ceramic designs that will provide inspiration for ceramic artists of all levels. It also makes a great gift or a delightful coffee table book for any art lover

The book is in full-color displaying one to three art pieces per page. Both handbuilt & wheel-thrown ceramics are shown. Captions provide the artist's name, date completed, & size as well as materials & techniques used.

Some of my favorite pieces includes a raku crackle jar & carved tree tiles. I love both the plate with waves & a teapot, and another with egrets on it. I also enjoyed a hand-built multi-colored teapot.

Several eclectic figures, a humorous bird sculpture, & a huge mosaic-style dragonfly screen also caught my eye. This is an indispensable reference tool packed with great ideas & a must-have book for any serious ceramic artist.

This was a wonderful book. Lovely and full of style and grace. The shoes were dazzling and wonderful. Some that i wouldn't mind being displayed in my house.

Shoes are more than scraps of fabric and leather to keep your feet off the ground. Contrary to what all the "Practical Pattys" in the world will tell you, shoes set the mood for an outfit, reveal the wearer's spirit and personality. And shoes can even be ART, as shown in this book. My personal favorite is the "glass slipper" made of broken pop bottles welded together. Not something you want to dance until midnight in!

This book gives me a lot of hint for lightings and modelings.All the fashion photographers ,must see it!

This book gives me a lot of hint for lightings and modelings.All the fashion photographers ,must see it!

I've used this book over and over to decorate my home at Christmas with Southern style arrangements. Demonstrating these techniques for garden clubs and at libraries, I always found a ready audience for this and it was really easy. I learned it all from this book.
The supplies are easy to gather (pinecones, apples, oranges, holly, greenery, wire, ribbon, etc.). The results are spectacular. Your arrangements will look very professional!
Each page shows four or more drawings showing the steps for attaching the pieces to make a different decoration. It shows various wreaths, table decorations, swags, roping, corner accents for doors, mantel decorations and an herb kissing ball.
If you ever visited Williamsburg at Christmas, you will want to recreate these beautiful arrangements in your home. This website gives you an idea of the variety you can create:
http://www.history.org/christmas/dec_doors.html

I have seen this book at the publisher's and it is outstanding. The photographs are exceptional and the descriptions well composed and pertinent. You have, however, left out the name of the CO-AUTHOR, Mary Miley Theobald. I hope you will correct this as both professionals worked long and hard to assemble the edition.

There is virtually no end to the books that have been published on the Civil War.
This is a very large book,10 1/2 X 13 1/2 inches with 256 pages. When first seeing it, one might be tempted to write it off as just another glossy coffee table book. That would be a big mistake. This is one of 3 books in the Rebels & Yankees Series,by two who have great knowledge,involvement and experience andwho have done much consulting work on TV,Films,Museums and other historical efforts on the Civil War.
When I first thumbed through the book, I was immediately impressed by the artwork on the cover and drawings of men and officers in military dress. These are actually more than just drawings; they are full page works of supurb art and detail. The book is loaded with some of the best photographs taken during the war which are used to explain much that is glossed over in Civil War mooks ;that tend to concentrate on the battles. Then we are also given dozens of excellent photographic plates showing, as well as explaining,the uniforms,equipment,pistols and swords that were actually the ones used by the well known as well as those not so well known. These photographs were made from artifacts now held in the best museums in the country.
Not only is the artwork and photography outstanding; the text throughout extremely informative;but it also covers a lot that is not usually found in history books.
The book does a teriffic job of showing how in 1861,there were a relatively few militarily trained, organized or equipped men in the the country and how the great armies were put together in such a short time. The book deals mainly on how the officers were created and how and why some were successful as well as why those who were not,got into the positions they held. Personally,I've often wondered how come some of the great Generals were only in their twenties. After reading this book,I have a much better understanding. Another thing that often made me wonder was the variety of both weapons and uniforms;which is well explained. Another thing that intrigued me was the ever present image of the fancy swords carried by all the officers.The role of those is also explained.
There is still one thing that I still wonder about is the gold boxed epaulettes that appear in every photograph of officer's uniforms and equipment. In all the actual photogrphs as well as the portraits the epaullettes almost never appear.They seem to have been used on only 'dress" or very formal occassions. For instance the portraits of Grant and Sherman on page 172, or Lee on page 195 don't have them .That being said,they do appear once in a while as we see on page 10; or at the Cavalry School of Practice on page 220.
The book is of excellent construction with fine paper,printing,color rendition and binding. The hard cover even has a glossy surface identical to the dust jacket. It is hard to imagine anyone with an interest in the Civil War who would not be impressed with the effort that went into this book and the results achieve.

Davis and Pritchard have created a wonderful work that is sure to become a hit with anyone who studies the Civil War. This book uses words and a generous amount of pictures to tell the story of the leaders, both talented and flawed that held together the two struggling armies in a time of chaos and devastating loss. Although many of the stories have been told in one form or another, "Commanders..." compiles this study in a single book that makes it very easy to compare and contrast the styles and techniques employed by officers of both armies. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to others. I look forward to reading the next book in the 'Rebels and Yankees' series.

I have just seen this exhibition, as it is still touring- it is currently on display at the San Bernardino County Museum, Redlands, California- and loved it!! The book is a wonderful display of these innovative quilts. If you cannot make it to Redlands, this book is the next best thing- if you can, it is a wonderful souvenir!! Highly recommended!!!

This book displays modern quilts and techniques which go far beyond the traditional quilting styles. This provides a fresh look to what can be accomplished through quilting. (pictures only, no patterns, etc).

I have had the great luck of being near San Francisco and thus being able to go to the Palace of the Legion of Honor and its show on Art of the Mayan Court. To say this show was staggering is something of an understatement. I have seen art shows on Magritte, Degas, Dali, Tutankhamen, the Celts, various Chinese exhibits and the like and I can say that this was probably my second favourite show, right after Treasures of Early Irish Art where I was able to see the Book of Kells, the Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch.

Here was able to see works rather less known, but of such fascination and splendour that I have trouble trying to describe them. Luckily, this book exists.

The book not only has marvelous colour photos of the items from the exhibit, including many detail plates, but also in situ photos, especially of Palanque, the primary focus of the exhibit. On top of this the text of this book is incredibly helpful for those of us (most!) who know little or nothing of the various Mayan courts, their art, their mythology, and their history. No, this is not a complete history, though there are many excellent books on that topic that have been written since the decoding of the Mayan language (especially since the great leap in understanding since the early 1980s). Instead, this book provides basic understanding of the art and the context in which it was created.

This is a beautiful book, lovely to hold, well-bound, and full of great wonder. To leaf through it is to glimpse through the smoking mirror of Mayan folklore, receiving prophetic statements not always clearly stated, but intriguing nonetheless. To read the book is to glimpse behind that mirror and begin, somewhat, to understand a lost yet awesome culture.

Look, read, enjoy.

Mary Ellen Miller and Simon Martin build upon their previous triumphs with this excellent volume.
Mary Ellen collaborated with the legendary Linda Schele to co-curate The Blood of Kings exhibition and produce an exquisite catalogue in 1986. The exhibition was one of the seminal events in allowing the public, avocationals and their fellow scholars to witness the grandeur and magnificence of ancient Maya culture and science. Their groundbreaking research into concepts of Maya kingship, history, daily life, and Linda's work on the decipherment of the ancient Maya hieroglyphic writing system were brought together in that excellent catalogue.
In 2000, Simon (who has published extensively on Maya epigraphy and culture) co-authored Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens with Nikolai Grube. This work is one of the most readable, detailed and well organized volumes on Maya history to date.
These authors' continuation of building strength of their presentation through multidisciplinary collaboration makes their current volume, Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya, a huge success.
The pages show their individual and shared strengths and skills as art historian, artist, epigrapher, as well as writing with a thorough grasp of their entire subject matter. Each, having collaborated with many colleagues in the vanguard of Maya studies, brings the comprehensive sum of the latest knowledge into this work.
One suspects that many comparisons will rightly be made to The Blood of Kings, and doing so seems a great compliment to this current work and the authors. Just as the 1986 exhibition and catalogue presented many very famous art objects and placed them into historical and cultural context in Maya history, the collection presented here may surpass the former one in terms of the variety and most of all the timeliness in which many objects are exhibited. Some of the highlighted objects of the current collection have only been excavated in the past decade. In particular, the exquisite platform tablet from Palenque Temple 21 has only come to light during INAH excavations in the past 5 years. It's presence in this collection is indeed remarkable. Additionally, the many beautiful pieces from Tonina have only been placed in that site's new regional museum and been available to the public in the past 5 years as well.
The value of this volume is greatly increased by the addition of detailed descriptions of the art objects, their context, and especially translations of the hieroglyphic writing, where present. The advances made in the writing system's decipherment in the past 20 years make the objects even more accessible to both students of Maya history and culture, and non-Mayanists as well. The beauty and quality of the photographic images and line drawings are especially impressive.
Anyone who has taken an interest in large art exhibitions of objects housed in such world-wide institutions has to stand in awe of this collection coming together. Those of use familiar with the art of Mesoamerica and the Maya world have looked forward to an exhibition of this type and scope in the U.S. for many years. It is a great tribute to the talents (and undoubtedly the great diplomacy) of Mary Ellen, Simon and the other curators to bring these objects into one great show. The catalogue that they have produced is not only a visual joy to linger over, but will be a valuable reference work for many years.
Having been elated with this catalogue, I cannot wait to travel to either (or both) Washington DC and San Francisco to view the collection first hand.

A must-read if you love French culture and history.For the first time the Bibliotheque Nationale de France displays cleverly her own treasures, with wonderfully written articles- especially regarding the illuminated manuscripts. This is the kind of a book you want on your shelves!

I am a nut about French Literature and History and this volume is one of my prized posessions. Most of the important manuscripts and relics of French Culture, from the 8th century on, are on display in this one volume. They are all accompanied by insightful and erudite descriptions on the part of the American and French contributors. It is like being led on a grand tour through one of the most important cultural repositories of the world (La Biblioteque nationale). I have been re-reading Froissart's Chronicles recently and they are magnificently represented as item #39. The volume also includes splendid maps of French territories from the Carolingian era to the Napoleonic Empire. These have been particularly helpful to me in my recent re-reading of Froissart and Joinville & Villehardouin's Chronicles of the Crusades. This volume is not inexpensive, but it is well worth the $ for any bibliophile or literature lover. It is the sort of book one can spend many enjoyable hours with and can study at leisure, giving one countless returns on his/her original investment. The illustrations are uniformily magnificent and the print quality is excellent. It is the type of book that should remain as a vivid reminder of what culture truly means for past, present and future generations. My highest recommendation and my highest commendation for all involved in this magnificent enterprise.

This book is an absolutely illuminating look into the history of Creative Time's impact on public art. Beautifully printed images accompany textual explorations into artists' projects with Creative Time over the past few decades. A must-have for anyone interested in the growth of art that is vital for the creation of a more enriching public realm.

If you like public art and if you like New York, buy this book. It's a fascinating history of an organization that has, for four decades, been at the forefront of this field. This book is beautifully done by Princeton Architectural Press and the several year effort by director Anne Pasternak and her staff is really quite amazing. The 300 plus projects they have sponsored are chronologically presented with beautiful color photography and interspersed with essays and interviews by some fascinating people. Also, this book is going to be a collector's item because each cover is a distinct numbered print generated by a machine recording the sights and sounds of NYC. You can either skim the surface by focusing on the projects alone, or you can delve deeper into the minds of the people who have created and presented these projects.

I've used the Women's Traveller for years, and it's been a part of some of my best vacation experiences. It lists b&b's, recreation ideas, restaurants, travel agents, etc.

Excellent guide--we've used it for all sorts of trips and vacations and it's always made everything a lot more fun--I definitely recommend having one on hand!