Watson Books

Beautifully enhanced with 175 color illustrations, photographer John Ferror Sims' Handmade In Italy: A Celebration Of Italian Artisans Working In Ceramics, Textiles, Glass, Stone, Metal, And Wood combines an informed and informative text with gloriously reproduced color photography to showcases the best of Italian artistry in paint, sculpture, glassmaking, fabrics, stone, wood, and ceramics. From brocades and velvets, to Venetian mirrors and damask steel blades, Handmade In Italy showcases a collection that is as diverse as it is impressive!

I can't say enough good things about this delightful book. I love it. It is brimming with a wide variety of beautiful designs. From delicate roses to Christmas holly and alpine motifs to charming little mirrors, this book has something for everyone.

The book is made up mostly of projects. The instructions are excellent, including step-by-step directions accompanied by large clear illustrations. Full-size templates for design transfer are included for all the designs in the book. There is also a small section in the back that gives details on color, materials and techniques.

I especially liked the Arabian nights theme with wonderful images of people and architecture to be painted on plates, candlesticks and tea cups. Fanciful gourds with insects painted inside hors d'oeuvres dishes are another favorite. I also loved projects featuring an array of feathers and a large selection of seashells.

Before I bought this book I didn't realize it used paints that required a special porcelain firing oven. I have only used the newer ones that work in a regular oven. However, I am certainly not sorry I bought it. The wonderful motifs can easily be painted on anything using the appropriate medium in similar colors. I know these lovely designs will make it into the many other crafts I do.

J.D Watson has written an easy to understand and systematically laid out book for the beginner to learn DOS 5. My 75 year old mother learned to use DOS from this book with no other classes. It is used as the text book for DOS 5 at Colorado Mountain College. DOS is never easy, but Dr. Watson has done an excellent job

The English Puritans are without equal in the area of practical Christianity. Among the Puritans Thomas Watson is at the front rank. If he lacks Dr. Owen's depth, he also lacks his verbosity. This is a collection of 10 sermons by Watson. They are to the point and any serious spiritual seeker will benefit from them. The sermon "The Evil Tongue" (on James 3:6) is worth the price of the book by itself.

This is a wonderful book that resonated deeply within me and has left me feeling a deep inner peace. The book beautifully explains about the journey of the soul and the causes and purpose of illness and dis-ease, enabling the reader to gain a new perspective on their own ability to heal themselves.
The information on how the soul can heal itself is remarkable and I feel everyone would benefit from reading this information especially if they are suffering or know someone who is.

The collaborative work of author Peter Watson and illustrator Mary Watson, The Heart Of The Lion is the picturebook story of a young American boy and his West African adventures with his friend Yampabou as recorded in the pages of his personal journal. It is through the people he meets and the animals he encounters that this American boy comes to understand and respect the rich culture and traditions of West Africa. Peter Watson is a natural born storyteller who himself first experienced the mystery and magic of African culture as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Dahomey/Benin. The impressively stylistic artwork of Mary Watson is a perfect showcase and compliment to an engaging story told in discrete segments that will engaging the total attention of young readers from first page to last. The Heart Of The Lion is an enthusiastically recommended addition to family, school and community library picturebook collections.

The story of how a young woman made unusual decisions to change many generations to come. The creativity of the family working together, the sacrifices, and risk taken prove to explain how this single mother provides for 8 children. Without speaking English, and without formal education she manages to love her family into prosperity, spirituality and joy. This is an inspiration to anyone who feels overwhelmed with life today. This is an easy read, perfect for school children who need books which build character, and to think this is a true story!!

Part of a planned multi-volume series by Eerdmans, this first volume of 'A History of Biblical Interpretation' covers the ancient period -- variously defined by historians, it basically begins with the formation of the Hebrew scriptures and their translation into Greek into the Septuagint (LXX), proceeds to look the early Rabbinic and Apostolic periods, and proceeds into Christian history with the early Fathers and Apologists, Jerome, the closure of the canon, and the ending of imperial times.

I give great credit to this text as they devote much attention to looking at the Bible prior to the time of Jesus as Jewish texts in Jewish contexts, without superimposing a necessarily Christian framework or interpretation upon the texts. Space is precious, even in a multi-volume work, so decisions had to be made as to what to include and what to exclude (a decision that is always made in authorship, though rarely recognised explicitly as the editors here describe) -- while investigation of sidelines and minor strands in Judeo-Christian biblical interpretation is interesting, the decision was made to concentrate on the major influences and figures that continued to have major impact.

The editors Alan J. Hauser and Duane F. Watson provide an introductory chapter that explores the topics in the subsequent chapters of this volume, providing an initial framework and introduction for the overall strand of development. Over two thousand years of interpretation is a major topic to develop; even five hundred years is a formidible task, particularly when those five hundred years contain the formation of the canon of both the Tanakh and the Christian bible, and the formation of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaisms as established institutions.

Hauser and Watson explore the issues of unity and diversity, pointing out the shifting emphases over time. They then briefly describe major historical events and key topics and personalities crucial to the understanding of ancient biblical interpretation. These range from Midrash and the Dead Sea Scrolls to canonical formation and regional rivalries, such as that between Alexandria and Antioch. Hauser and Watson make the interesting observation that, at the end of the ancient period, as Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity were firmly established on separate paths, there was still a great deal of commonality in methods of interpretation. Upon reflection, this should come as no surprise, given that both grew up essentially in the same cultural and intellectual environments.

Succeeding chapters look at major figures and topics such as Philo of Alexandria; Jerome and the Vulgate; the Dead Sea Scrolls; Rabbinic Midrash; Apostolic Fathers; Augustine; and various other topics. The chapter on the Dead Sea Scrolls represents perhaps a departure from the stated intention of not going into minor and sectarian strands (for example, Samaritan interpretation is not a major topic explored in its own right, even though its direct interpretation influence is arguably stronger than the Dead Sea Scrolls until modern times). The Dead Sea Scrolls do, however, provide a snapshot of a sectarian development at a certain point in time, and the documentary evidence that survives represents some of the oldest and largest collections of biblical texts, exegetical writings, and other community pieces from the ancient world.

Each chapter is developed by a scholar expert in the topic; they do work together as a collection. As an aid to scholarship, there are several indexes: subject, ancient and modern author, biblical and extra-biblical primary sources (indeed, the indexes extend for 70 pages). Each chapter has a bibliography for further reading in each topic. I might argue with some of the bibliographic pieces (for example, there were a few key texts for Augustine that seemed to be missing from the list for that chapter), but in general they are good lists.

Scholarly yet accessible, complete without being unbearably lengthy, this book is a good study of the way in which people have looked at the Bible in the past; together with future volumes, it provides an interesting way in seeing how Biblical interpretative development in Judaism and Christianity has brought these religions to the position of diversity of opinion they occupy today.

Thsi book is a must for costumers. There are primary sources for the garments she talks about and it the back of the book are a select collection of patterns that are taken from original garments. The patterns work a treat but you will need to have some skill to use them as there are no instructions.

A complete history of the second oldest city in North Carolina and Craven County. The book is available from Tryon Palace Historic Sutes and Gardens' Museum Shop, 800-767-1560