Illustration Books

Family by Margaret Mead & Kent Heyma

Really superb collection of black and white photos of families. I can't praise the images enough - they are truly a wonderful portrayal of the world's families. This volume is enhanced by Margaret Mead's anthropologically-based text commentary. An exquisite and artistic book.

Frazetta's work has graced album covers and book jackets. In this first volume you'll see some of his finest. His techniques for drawing your attention to primary and secondary points of interest in his works are done beautifully like a photographer uses light. His works are lush and sensual, celebrating the human anatomy like the ancient Greeks. The facial expressions of his subjects convey intensity, strength, and will. You can actually feel the energy jumping out at you. Too bad it's out of print, but I suspect these masterpieces will be popping up frequently in various compilations.

If you love Frank Frazetta's art then you must see the _Fantastic Art Of Frank Frazetta_ Volumes 1 to 5. This is the most complete collection of his work in print. The reproductions are first rate and on high quality glossy paper. Although they've been out of print for over a decade it's well worth the trouble and expense to obtain these books. They will, no doubt, appreciate in value.

This book has a wild and imaginative collections of copyright free illustrations. Cosmic and creative. A good stimulus for the mind.

I am buying this book for a friend's new baby. I have a very old copy of the same book that I recieved when I was just three years old. It has always fascinated and excited me. Children love it for the wild and surreal drawings. Adults love it for the sheer beauty in the artwork. I highly recommend this collection for anyone who wants something a little different. You won't be dissapointed.

When I read through the introduction, I was surprised to find out that this work was the result of a lifetime's endeavor - because it's relatively short. While authors these days churn out 600 page books on a yearly basis, this man wrote over the course of his life. The writing is very different from modern day authors such as Steven King, in that detail is only applied to objects sparingly, where as S.King's books tend to delve into details at will.

This is, to my mind, the best existing English translation of Faust. Luke's verse is ingenious, it flows beautifully, and -- above all -- it rhymes! Non-rhyming translations can never capture Goethe's extraordinary poetry. Other ryhming efforts are typically awkward and unnatural. Luke's introduction is also highly illuminating -- scholarly, but accessible. If you want to get as close to the original as is possible in English, read this version.

I enjoyed this book very much, and I am not even Canadian

Edith Fowke collected much Canadian folklore and folk songs during her life, and wrote many books about these subjects. This is a good introductory book. Fowke carefully includes songs, jokes, stories, etc, from each part of Canada, showing that Newfoundland and Quebec do not have a monopoly on our folklore.

Far too often, Canadians downplay their rich cultural history and undervalue their store of folklore. Hopefully, more books like this one will help us to learn and appreciate our folklore and will whet a thirst to discover more.

This dealer wrote the definitive book on banner art and artists. If you plan on collecting banners, you must read this book.

This terrific book celebrates the (now) lost world of Circus Sideshow banner art. This book includes illustrations for such classic Circus Sideshow acts as the Alligator-Skin Girl, the Amazing Eeka, the Sword Swallower, the Rubber-Skin Man, and, of course, everybody's favorite cover girl, Sweet Marie, the world-renowned Fat Lady. This book also includes biographical information about the artists who created these amazing works of folk art such as Snap Wyatt, Johnny Meah, Fred Johnson, and Jack Cripe. This book is a surprisingly serious treatment of this little-known corner of the folk art world. (The authors convincingly link various visual elements in the sideshow banners to 17th Century Flemish portrait painting and Japanese wood-block prints!) This is a really fun book that every folk art fan will really love. The book contains 70 color illustrations and a total of 35 pages of essays. Incidentally, although I bought this book because of my interest in folk art, this book will also certainly appeal to circus enthusiasts and collectors of circus memorabilia.

Really a wonderful book with great graphics. Got the title from the Movable Book Society. If you like pop-ups JOIN.

but the drawings are a delight. Uncle Arnaud created this charming volume of water colors in 1814 as an alphabet primer for his two-year-old nephew Alfred. Napoleon was on Elba, and the formerly exiled King Louis XVIII was in power. The views include the family chateau and its surrounding landscape and the elegantly furnished interior: kitchens, chapel, workshops, wine cellar, and stables. The book includes detailed drawings of other types of buildings - palaces, churches, cottages and barns.

The book also focuses on nephew Alfred. His clothing and pastimes are minutely illustrated. There are images of his instruction in polite manners, music, and the arts. Altogether Uncle Arnaud drew nearly 300 watercolors.

The pages are filled with puns and French captions. Many of these have been translated into the English, and the book contains an excellent French to English dictionary of words and terms of the period.

Charles Plante, a London art and antique dealer, acquired the book from a Parisian dealer who "bought it directly from one of the family members of the chateau." Plante writes: "I think it did more than train the young nephew about life in the chateau. It's telling him about the larger picture and perhaps things to come in his life, and that's one of the reasons why it survived. It was very much a treasured object within the family."

Plante's researches lead him to believe their limited militaristic flavor speaks to the alienation of the French aristocracy from the Revolution. Wordplay and visual humor abound. A theater is placed next to a metal bathtub, or "baignoire", a word that also meant "theater pit." A chamber pot looms under a bed. An infant, an aged man, a skeleton with a scythe, an hourglass and other objects seem to warn of the fleeting nature of time. A whip and a razor in a grouping of toys convey an ominous note.

Plante writes that juxtaposition of many of the objects doesn't make sense to him or to other historians. "The picture may become clearer as more research is done. Or in fact it may be rather simplistic and they're all things that the nephew would have come in contact with in the chateau or come to learn about in life. The more I look at it the more I learn from it. I think that's what has given a lot of people pleasure. And its naive charm adds a whole other dimension to one's interpretation of what is art."

I found this a fascinating insight into the life of the aristocracy after the French Revolution.

indeed, the book takes the reader on an exciting excursion to the world's great museums where Rembrandt's works and the other paintings you cite are on exhibit. This book will be of use to students and scholars.

Dr Girsh has a wonderful grasp of the complex nuances of Rembrandt van Rijn and his works. Also, Girsh ties together many other Biblical references to other important figures in history, and shines light on hidden concepts that eludes even the most analytical of readers. A strong theme of "the origin of thought" pervades this book, branching into many subjects: medicine, languages, human thinking and behaviour, and others... truely a masterpiece!

This is one of the best books by Ms Grafton. The images are colorful, sharp, and clear. Ms Grafton provides authentic advertisements from the turn-of-the-century, as well as furniture, cars, luggage, and cigar ads. Many of the graphics are old photographs. This decoupage book is simply beautiful and very useful, also containing the old stand-bys such as holidays,butterflies and flowers. Highly recommended!

These quaint old victorian vignettes in bright colors are perfect for collages and scrap books. Victorian era lovers, this is for you!

we often do not have the chance to hear a person from our past but this book is a lyrical transcription of miss amelia earhart putnam. these are her words and observations and she lets us into her protected world to glimpse her passion. i recommend this book for anyone and everyone, the young child who seeks self esteem for the rough years of adolescence, the young adult trying to make their own way and even the well seasoned, this is a story of trimuph, something we are lacking in todays tabloid world.

"The Fun of It: Random Records of My Own Flying and of Women in Aviation", by Amelia Earhart - Brewer, Warren & Putnam, NY 1932. HC - 213 pages, a list of Aviation Books By Women, and includes 31 B & W photographs, (many full-page and of good quality). 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"

Dedicated "To the Ninety Nines", this is the 2nd of 3 books Amelia wrote, the 1st being "20 Hrs. 40 Min." after her 1928 Atlantic crossing, whilst the 3rd was "Last Flight" in 1937 on her failed attempt to circumnavigate the globe at the equator.

Herein, AE writes largely a discursive autobiography, reveals her visions of the past, present and future for aviation, impels a strong calling for feminism/equalism of working sexes, ending with a final section about her 1932 solo flight across the Atlantic. AE is quick to point out much of her acclaim is/was due to contribution of others - that, as a girl or woman, she received a luxurience of acclaim, and reveals a modesty not often admitted by others. There is, thoughtfully, and purposefully, only minor mention of her husband George Putnam. AE provides a modest 'tour de force' on the history of flying: -- from balloons, dirigibles, to flying at time of Wright Bros., Dec. 17, 1903 and up to the early 1930's with speculation about supersonic stratoshperic flight, space ships, rocket engines, giant airlines, etc. and discussion of her flights in autogyros which predated heliocopters.

What we find in AE's writing is her directed appeal to encourage women's involvement in each and every phaase of aviation (mechanics, pilotage, meteorology, sales, production, and design): -- AE promotes aviation as an important industry still in its infancy for cargo, mail, transportation and 'for the fun of it'. AE is a skilled writer, making good analogies for her adiences/readers to follow concepts in a book largely free of error, written before 'spell-checker', etc. It is non-technical and should make for a wide reading audience.