Stewart Books

Soon after Daguerre demonstrated his photographic process in Paris in 1839, the new technology was used to capture in two dimensions the ruins of antiquity. Photography and archaeology, in fact, developed as disciplines more or less hand-in-hand. In this digital world, it is particularly interesting to be reminded of the effort that went into taking a single photograph at the time--the medium's pioneers traveling by sea and traipsing across Egypt or Greece or Italy lugging their easily damaged photographic equipment, the long exposure times required by then state-of-the-art cameras.

More than a hundred of these early photographs, from roughly the first forty years of the medium's history, are beautifully reproduced in Antiquity & Photography: Early Views of Ancient Mediterranean Sites, published by the J. Paul Getty Museum. (The photographs included are taken from the Getty Museum's Department of Photography and the Research Library of the Getty Research Institute.) Andrew Szegedy-Maszak of Wesleyan University (whom I have to thank for my copy of the book) provides the book's introduction, a survey of early photographic activity in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, and he has also contributed one of the book's four essays, "An American on the Acropolis: William James Stillman." Stillman was an amateur archaeologist who published a collection of photographs of the Acropolis in 1870. Lindsey Stewart ("In Perfect Order: Antiquity in the Daguerreotypes of Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey") writes about another amateur, Girault de Prangey, who made daguerreotypes throughout the Mediterranean in the middle of the century. In her essay "The Art and Science of Antiquity in Nineteenth-Century Photography" Claire Lyons writes about the use of photography by early archaeologists. The new technology allowed archaeologists to document their finds, and "facilitated a systematic reading of buildings literally as texts in stone, legible across their facades." And John Papadopoulos focuses on Athens in his contribution, "Antiquity Depicted," in which he demonstrates "how images negotiate between expectations, reality, and the ideal."

Debra Hamel -- author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece (Yale University Press, 2003)

Magnificents are the monuments and buildings that appears in the photos, magnificents are the photos themselves as a token of the excellency of the technique even in so an early epoch and, at last, there is also sad magnificence in the daring and refined spirit of the first men that make use of the new tool to document the past. Looking at these photos as objets of combined antiquity you cannot but think in the people that took them, now they also antiquities in the history of photography, many of them forgotten, his memories dusty and crumbled. Magnificent, finally, the book in itself. A must for any art lover and history buff.

I have a lot of friends who are enthusiastic about new wines and this is the best gift for men or women. It is written with a breezy insider's voice that is informed but fun and "quotable". Also like the hints for easy recipes that would complement the wine.

I love many of the wines that I've tried, but there's so much more out there. Just try going to any good wine store; how's a person supposed to know?

For me, this book was a lot of fun to read. It painlessly educated me and I am on to new wine frontiers that I would not have explored before.

Absolutely wonderful book, pages chock full of useful information, it's hard to put down. After your done reading it the charts and graphs are the type of concise information useful to anyone in the field.

A must have for those interested in the field aspects of archaeology. Covers everything from surveying, mapping,sampling, soil stratigraphy, and even about finding a job! If you are new to archaeology, you definately will like this book.

When I first saw "The Ark to the Future", I was impressed by the clever packaging and design of the product. I also enjoyed the well written booklet and the bold colorful illustrations and photos. But what really intrigued me most was the focus on family- the family of past, present and future. It is truly a way to preserve the family history and the flavor of family today fo future generations.

"The Ark to the Future" contains a real metal time capsule, instruction booklet, postcards, stickers, memory album and a family tree poster. The poster inspires us to trace our family heritage and is a must for anyone interested in geneology. The booklet guides us through preparing memorabilia for the capsule, as well as creating a family memory album. It is something every member of the family can help create- and there is no right or wrong way. When finished it is stored in a safe place for as many years as you determine. What a wonderful way to preserve a part of family today for future generations, and give them something they can truly cherish. A true gift to the future!

I received my Ark in the mail a few days ago and was thrilled. The Ark was impressive from the moment I opened the box. Detailed like an actual time capsule, I find the design to be fun and very unique. The directions are easy to follow, precise and thorough. Congratulations to the authors...they captured the essence of family life and the importance of geneology in a fabulous new product. My twelve year old daughter can't wait to get started on the family tree. The stickers, inside materials and packaging are colorful, fun and exciting. I've never seen any memory book so creatively inspired. I'm going to purchase several more for holiday gifts. A must for the new millenium. I truly believe it's a project all families will enjoy doing together.

Dave Bidini is a wonderful writer. I don't know much about his music, but his books are a joy. I read most of this book one day while I was sitting at a tire shop getting new tires put on my vehicle, and I was snickering in a roomful of people. Particularly enjoyable to me was the part of the book about Finland. He was dead on about the Finns as I know them. If you wonder what life is like on the road for some of the people whose careers have been in rock music, this answers some of the questions. A good read.

If you are not a fan of the Rheostatics, you should be. If you are not a fan of Dave Bidini's writing, you really should be. In this, his most current work, Dave is travelling the world and sharing his experiences after he learns that his band, the wonderful Rheostatics, are calling it quits after 20+ years and, it seems, his musical career will be a solo venture from now on. Dave's writing is honest, engaging and, usually, funny as hell. Chalk full of stories of his adventures with tons of pop culture references thrown in as well, the book builds up the final chapter describing the Rheos farewell concert at storied Massey Hall in Toronto. The book was very powerful to me as I was lucky enough to be at that show and even got to talk to Dave afterwards. Lucky me! But again, even if you weren't at Massey Hall on March 30th, 2007 or have never heard of the Rheostatics, Dave Bidini's writing still makes the trip around the world with him a joyous literary adventure.

This book can be used in the classroom to teach the poetry form of haiku. It gives background information on the subject and shows the reader how easy it is to write haiku. The book is written in that poetry form and is reader friendly. Order it now.

This book is for everyone. It can be understood by both young and old, and is very informative yet truly fun to read. My compliments to the writer.

An excellent general book coverng information pump users would do well to learn!

I will recommend this book on pumps on anyone that works at a petroleum refinery, petro chemical plant, and chemical plant. The book has different kinds of pumps, that are used in the industry and gives very good explanations and details on the pumps being explained. Very valuable book and reference on different pumps that are used in refineries, petro chemical plants, chemical plants, and any other industry, that uses pumps. Highly recommend this book.

This is a fantastic book! A buddy told me about it so I got a copy to take away on my vacation - brilliant. If you like your rock and roll this is for you - a real insight to the business and shows why so many rock stars are so messed up. If you read one book this summer make it this one!

Really exciting, couldn't put it down, lots of twists that I wasn't expecting - and I mean REALLY wasn't expecting! A fantastic look at the not so glamourous side of rock and roll. It has to be THE book to read on your hols this year.

I used to read these "comic strip" formatted tips in Baseball Weekly, and I thought they were awesome. I have watched and played baseball for years (even attending baseball summer camp), but I learned some great tips from almost every strip. I liked them so much that I started cutting out the strips and putting them in a photo album. I wanted to save them for my kids to read some day. Unfortunately, I only had about 30 tips saved. I was ecstatic when I saw that they were putting all of the tips into a book.

I was fortunate enough to come across this book several years ago while scanning the sports shelves for Yankees books. After flipping briefly through it, I knew I just had to add it to my baseball library. Containing 101 tips broken down into 10 categories (hitting, infielding, outfielding, pitching, catching, running, offensive strategies, defensive strategies, umpiring, and general), this book is a "must have" for coaches, fans, and players. While we all know the basics, Downes and Gilbert give you the finer points of how the game is played. After reading this book, I was at a ballgame and offhandedly made some remark to my friend before a play. After what I'd said came to pass, everyone around me looked at me like I was Nostradamus. If they'd already owned this book, they'd have called it too. Don't wait until opening day, use spring training to sign this book up for your bookshelf. Play ball !!!

If your an artist or interested in art history...this book is very helpful....I had to get it for class..but i still reference it to this day...

In the introduction to this revised seventh edition, Anthony Janson (whose father, H.W. Janson, still has top billing for the volume) talks about the long tradition he and his father have had toward this volume and the larger work that carries the same name. It has been a standard in Western art education for decades, and the revisions periodically placed serve to bring new interpretations, perspectives and finds into the mix of history.

Prior to diving into the depths of art, Janson provides a primer - art history is a relatively new discipline, and often studied by historians and others with interest but relatively little training in artistic areas themselves. This book is about the visual arts (those of drama, music, etc. are not included here, but architecture is to some degree); Janson gives a brief survey of key concepts that are critical to understanding the mediums (artists, Janson states, prefer to use the plural of medium as mediums rather than media). Geometric and visual appreciation concepts are introduced, as are philosophical/aesthetic ideas.

The majority of the text is divided into four broad sections: The Ancient World, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance through the Rococo, and the Modern World. This is a book that really a survey or history of Western art - it does have a brief section at the beginning of the Ancient World on cave art and neolithic art in North America, but apart from this never wanders outside the main courses of Western art even in the modern period. As an introductory text, this is not surprising - many of the values and concepts of art in non-Western cultures require more explanation for adequate aesthetic appreciation of their art than an introductory survey course could cover. Still, it is a deficit worthy of note for those who are looking for a more comprehensive volume.

The Ancient World covers art of Egypt, the Fertile Crescent and Persia, Aegean/Greek art, Etruscan art, and Roman art. The section on the Middle Ages begins primarily with the rise of Christendom as the dominant political power - this includes Byzantine art, early Medieval art (Carolingian and Ottonian times), Romanesque, and the ascendancy of the Gothic style, including the great Abbey of St-Denis. The Renaissance focusses early on Italy, but also explores the Renaissance influences in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and England. The Modern Period is the most diverse, with movements such as Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Art Nouveau and other schools that had a greater tendency to cross national boundaries. The twentieth century brought about a great explosion of artistic expressions, in architecture, sculpture, painting and photography, each of which get a chapter. While the fourth section begins with a discussion of modernism, it ends with the discussion of post-modernism, a period of transition.

The colour reproductions throughout are stunning, and the use of black-and-white images to highlight details is also useful. Two-thirds of the 600 illustrations are in colour. The photographs showing architectural styles are interesting, far from being boring 'sample' shots. The text is engaging and informative, achieving a good balance between the artistic, the philosophical and the historical. There are maps, chronological tables, a glossary of terms, suggestions for further readings arranged topically, and a very useful index (always a plus for students and scholars).

The predecessor edition was entitled 'A Basic History of Art'; this one has added the word 'Western' to the title, very appropriately. This new edition has included new essays in the introduction, including 'The Power of Art', 'The Impact of Context', and 'Experiencing Art in Museums'. The maps and timelines have been revised, and there are new Cultural Context boxes alongside the text. Also, 'Materials and Techniques' pull-quote boxes give an explanation of principal art practices, methods and conventions through history.