Louisiana Books

The book brings together all the various information on Margerita into one handy place and adds a bit of new information and some theories on how the events of the Guillory's lives transpired. Especially interesting is the author's theory on the Indian slave Jean Guillory.

Rarely does a comprehesive book cover the known work of an artist and open and close the issue. Persac is little known outside of Louisiana. He is a major early artist who documents Louisiana life in the late pre Civil War era. Kudos to the authors, sepecially Prof. Bacot. Thank you for this book.

Young Martin Romero's grandmother explains how for ten thousand years the gift of healing has been passed on among the Chitimacha Indians along the Bayou Teche in south Louisiana.

"The traiteur healing tradition came from Indian shaman, European druids of the British, Irish, and Celtic French, and from African medicine people. Most of us are now Catholics. The mixing up of many medicines and traditions make us strong traiteurs. ... "

Will Martin find a way to accept his own gifts and follow the promptings of his heart?

Beautifully written young adult fiction. Moving and profound. Highly recommended.

This is the best biography of Chesnut to date. Muhlenfeld draws from all of Chesnut's writing, not just her famous Civil War diaries, to build a picture of a woman and a writer.

Get a front row seat at Mardi Gras with Kerri McCaffety's MASKING AND MADNESS. This vivid collection of photographs is centered around portraits taken during Mardi Gras 2001, peppered with mixed shots from other years visits. The beauty of Mardi Gras is that it is all about showing off and being seen, a perfect natural subject for photography.

The calm muted portrait background of McCaffety's photo booth provides a blessed quiet space where all manner of characters can shine in all their secret-persona-glory-revealed! Makeup, masks, sequins, glitter, tulle, stripes, spots, spangles, and beads, beads, and more beads! From whimsical to "what the heck?", McCaffety catches it for the just needed moment of capture so it can be shared here.

If you'd rather skip the crowds, pull up a chair and relax with the masking and the madness in this book.

The piece illustrating the cover is the highlight of this incredible collection. It is known as the Lilies of the Valley Basket. The moss is pure spun gold, the basket gold, the flowers are pearls with highlights of diamonds. The entire basket is made up of yellow and green golds, silver, nephrite, pearls, and rose cut diamonds. All the pieces in this collection are gorgeous-- absolutely amazing. This work was a favorite of Czarina Alexandra and was created in 1896.

This 57-piece collection includes three Imperial eggs. The Imperial Caucasus Egg was a gift from Czar Alexander in 1893. The portraits on this egg are covered by magnificant and ornate doors that open up to reveal miniature portraits of the Grand Duke and Abastuman, the Royal Lodge. It was created with yellow and quatre-colored gold, silver, platinum, guilloche enamel, diamonds, pearl, crystal, and ivory. Stunning.

Also included here are the Imperial Danish Palaces Egg which was given to the Czarina by Czar Alexander III. This one is light pink enamel but includes a fold out panel which holds 10 pictures of the royal residences in Denmark and Russia.

The last egg is the Imperial Napoleonic Egg and marked the 100th anniversary of the Russian defeat of Napoleon. Larger than the other eggs, there is a six panel fold out revealing the six regiments and the Dowager Empress as their honorary colonel. The materials used here were gold, enamel, diamonds, platinum, ivory, gouache, velvet, and silk. Exquisite.

There are also several pairs of opera glasses (rose and green gold, tri-color gold, anamel, silver, diamonds), perfume bottles, cigarette cases, trinkets, an inkwell (bowerite, silver, enamel, and glass) and small items of jewelry, such as rings.

The floral works, however, are the most highly admired pieces by historians and there are 18 other floral works in this collection besides the Lilies of the Valley basket. The flowers and leaves are made of carved semi-precious stones and adorned with diamonds and other gems, as well as gold. They are lavish and ornate. The Orange Blossom Spray, for instance, has leaves and petals made of quartzite, olivine, nephrite, rock crystal, with gold stems.

I was fortunate to view this magnificent collection this week and was duly impressed. This 160 page book (catalog, really) is full of beautiful color photos and descriptions of each masterpiece. It also explains the origin of this collection while giving more information about Matilda Geddings Gray.

Matilda Geddings Gray began collecting these works in the 1930s. At different times she was offered an immense amount of money to return these items to Russia. She always declined and the foundation she created has also declined to sell them. They are permanently housed in the New Orleans Museum of Art, but are presently out on loan to a nearby museum.

My intro to Dr Kenneth W. Thompson came in 1990 as a first-year student at the Univ. of Virginia. A product of a fabled period in the Univ. of Chicago's history, a central tenet in his instruction was enunciated by his mentor, Hans Morgenthau: that a nation's foreign policy is best understood through the prism of national interest. This view of IR struck me as revelatory, much as did Clauswitz' view that war must serve as an extension of a nation-state's policy aims. "Master's of Int'l Thought" is an excellent survey of modern era thinkers (believe 3 or less are still with us today!) and written in Thompson's always thoughtful and exceedingly respectful style. I cherish my time previously spent in his classroom, and am thankful for the substantial work provided to us by this great American.

This is a magnificent, authentic sourcebook (1925), which includes not only spirituals in versions unlike any other ("Dry Bones" is out of this world), but also work songs, secular songs and street seller's cries. The "Cross-tie Song", with a work leader singing to the log that used to be a tree is inspired poetry. "Rock Mount Sinai" is in 5/4 time! The melodies and lyrics are of great quality, Kennedy was picking and choosing from a lifetime of engagement with the African American community in Louisiana. A gifted collector - great songs.

Grace King's memoir of life in New Orleans from the Civil War to the Depression traces the crises and changes in Crescent City society, so it's more than just another autobiography by a Southern belle. King became an independent woman and breadwinner, breaking with Southern tradition to pursue an intellectual career and defending the South: hers is an absorbing, winning memoir perfect for collections strong in either autobiography, women's writings or Southern history.

Memories - Volume I & II combined, by Johnnie Allan, is a pictorial history of South Louisiana music from the 1910s to the 1990s. For decades, music-lovers from throughout the world have thrilled to the rich and exotic sounds of South Louisiana - Cajun, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, Country n' Western, Rhythm n' Blues, and more. Memories is a portfolio of over 800 photographs, many of them never before published. Here you'll find scenes from the lives and careers of musicians both famous and obscure. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Memories is a complete encyclopedia of the music of this fascinating region! . This book contains hundreds of valuable photos of south Louisiana/east Texas artists and musicians in 14 different genres of music. It also includes a brief introduction and discography of each section.