Miniature Books

This is one of the best books written on the subject in years! It is very detailed and full of color photos of these great old toy soldiers. If you have this book and Richard O'Briens...thats all you need as a resource on the subject!

This is one of the best books written on the subject in years! It is very detailed and full of color photos of these great old toy soldiers. If you have this book and Richard O'Briens...thats all you need as a resource on the subject!

M's Molina has put together a fantastic book on the art of thread crochet bears. I don't even work with thread that much, but this book has me reconsidering that philosophy. The panda bear is just calling to me to be crocheted, as well as the polar bear.
M's Molina's instructions are clear and concise. The patterns get progressively more difficult, but you can stick to the "easy ones" and still be quite happy with the outcome.
I recommend this book highly to all who are interested in making teddy bears, especially thread teddy bears.

The first two are very easy: the bears have straight arms and legs. The next two have bent arms, and the last two are a little more complicated. Each of these patterns will add to your knowledge and enjoyment of the art of thread teddy bears. The instructions are easy to follow, each pattern has a diagram to assemble the bear and color photographs of the finished bear.

My older son (now 9) had it when he was a baby and now I am buying it for my 8 month old again.

My daughter can't do without this book. I am amazed to see how many different words she learned. I strongly recommend it to the parents.

I believe that this book will be the one people will turn to to get valuable info. on the Barclay Transports & Cars. It must have taken the authors years to compile all the information in this book . If you collect Barclay's then this is a must have book .
The book starts you off with a brief history of the Barclay Manufacturing Co. and as the book progreses through the pages it gives up more and more detail of every known Transport and Car . The book is very well layed out with it's easy to understand no. system . For easy reference it has lots of color pictures to refer to .
Thank goodiness we have people who are wiling to do the work involved to compile such a book and get it to this high level .
If you don't have this book then you are at a disadvantage .
Loved It !!!

I found this book highly detailed and very very informative. The authors not only did an excellent job of clearly explaining the differences between the 4 basic styles but showed all the many many colors , shades and tints .I especially liked and found interesting, all the little notes and stories of the background of how and why some of these changes came about. The high quality paper and clear photos make the pictures jump out at you right off the page. The photo effectiveness really shines thru, when it came to showing all the various tints and shades of the same color.The pictures were not only close and clear but very vivid. I especially liked the authors simple, straight forward and very effective way that they cataloged these various changes. This easy, open ended system, allows more additions to be included later when they are found. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. Kudos to the authors, for taking, what had to be a huge amount of man hours to bring this much needed book to the next level . I predict this will be the Barclay " bible " for identifying the small Transports.
Dsmechanic

This book was really funny. Charlie Brown, Lucy and Snoopy are probably the best charaters.

Pretty much the same as the special,(except for the Pawpet Show),
Charlie Brown waits for valentines with pie in the sky hopes. Snoopy makes a music box out of paper, while Sally makes a diamond and a club, and Charlie Brown watches his "something that is very nice" fall apart.

The Best of Miniature Quilts is a wonderful book with many beautiful quilts and user friendly instructions provided for each. The photos are clear and depict these beautiful quilts in their full glory. Of course we must remember that smaller does not always mean quicker but you can fit a lot more in the same space!!

I loved the Miniature Quilt Pattern Magazine and miss it's publication.
This Book is a compilation of different miniature quilt patterns from the magazine. It is beautifully illustrated and easy with clear directions regarding the patterns.

I've already identified a couple of the quilts illustrated I want to make. That's how inspiring I found this book.

This is one of the most beautiful miniture books I've ever read. The photography is stunning, even on small scale, and I've found myself paging through it again and again. I originally bought the book as a gift for a friend who was engaged but ended up keeping it for myself! The strong point of this book is definately the pictures. The text is very limited, and I didn't get any new ideas for a wedding that I hadn't heard before, but obviously this miniature edition is very much scaled down from the bohemoth original volume. A must-have for anyone who loves weddings!

I have been reading wedding planning books in order to prepare for my July wedding. Beverly Clark's books have the most class and tradition. I can not afford the large coffee table book but the mini-book is the same with advice and pictures. It is a nice small gift for brides-to-be.

Fabulous illuminations;
I became fascinated with and got attached to those stunningly beautiful initials, the most amazing calligraphy I ever examined in my life. I have been also amazed by and curious about the four Symbols of the Gospel writers, since I first encountered in the Chapel of the Episcopalian Bishop of NC in Raleigh, and was informed that they were influenced by the preaching Coptic Monks to the Celts and Scots.
Only people of developed artistic orientation, could appreciate how beautiful these genuinely original decorations reach out to the overwhelmed reader. Alas that parts of the Gospel according to St. Luke are missing from the original Codex.

Religous Celtic Art:
Long before the coming of St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597, Christianity has been introduced among the Brittons, by Coptic missionaries who reached as far as the British Isles. "We do not yet know how much we in the British Isles owe to these remote Coptic hermits...Everyone knows that the handicraft of the Irish monks in the ninth and tenth centuries far excelled anything that could be found elsewhere in Europe. Their unrivaled illuminations, can be traced to the influence of Egyptian missionaries, we have more to thank the Copts for than has been imagined." Eminent historian: Stanley Lane-Poole.

Kells' mini hardcovers:
The variety of exquisite little hardcover reproduction volumes are reproductions of parts of the original illuminated manuscripts. They are magnificent, with gold-leaf detailing and sumptuous full-color illustrations, making them a perfect gift for all who cherish the rich legacy of Christian art. The original illuminated manuscript, is permanently on display, since the 19th, in the Library of Trinity College Dublin.
It is one of the most beautiful of the world's most famous manuscript. It contains 680 pages (or 340 folios). Just two of the pages are without ornament, while about thirty folios, including some major decorated pages, have been lost. Two volumes can normally be seen, one opened to display a major decorated page, and one to show two pages of script.A CD-ROM version of all 340 folios from the Book of Kells is available for purchase.


Origin of Book of Kells:
The Book of Kells, was most probably copied by hand and illuminated by monks around the year 800 A.D. Its name is derived from the Abbey of Kells, in the Irish Midlands, where it was kept from at least the 9th century to 1541, it was probably begun on the island of Iona. It is uncertainly presumed, that portions of the book were made at Kells, after Viking raids on Iona forced the monastery to retreat to the isolated location. It contains the four gospels, preceded by prefaces, summaries, and canon tables or concordances of gospel passages. It is written on vellum and contains a Latin text of the Gospels in insular majuscule script accompanied by magnificent and intricate whole pages of decoration with smaller painted decorations appearing throughout the text. The manuscript was given to Trinity College in the 17th century and since 1953 has been bound in four volumes.

Book of Columba:
This same Irish manuscript containing the Four Gospels, is known also as the "Book of Columba", probably because it was written in the monastery of Iona to honour the saint. Some small portions at the beginning and end of the manuscript have been lost, but otherwise it is in a very good state of preservation. It was apparently left unfinished, since some of the ornaments remain only in outline. It is written in part black, red, purple or yellow ink, and it has been thought that the hands of two scribes, neither of whom is known by name, are discernible in the writing and illumination of the manuscript.

Book's Beauty:
This is the most copiously illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels in existence. No words can describe the beauty and splendour of the richly coloured initial letters, which are more profuse in the "Book of Kells" than in any other manuscript. The artist possessed a wonderful knowledge of the proportion of colour and the distribution of his material -sienna, purple, lilac, red, pink, green, yellow, most often used, and the shade tinting of the letters was managed with fine taste and skill. A series of illuminated miniatures, including pictorial representations of the Evangelists and their symbols, the Blessed Virgin and the Divine Child, are worthy of notice. It is no wonder that it was believed that the "Book of Kells" could have been written only by angels (very artistic indeed!).

Composition and Loss:
The date of the composition of the book can hardly be placed earlier than the end of the seventh or beginning of the eighth century, It is likely that it is to this book that the entry in the "Annals of Ulster" under the year 1006 refers, recording that in that year the "Gospel of Columba" was stolen. According to tradition, the book is a relic from the time of St. Columba (d. 597) and even the work of his hands, but, on palaeographic grounds and judging by the character of the ornamentation, this tradition cannot be sustained. This must be the book reported at Kildare in the last quarter of the twelfth century, described in glowing terms. Later, it was located at the cathedral of Kells (Irish Cenannus) in Meath, a foundation of Columba's, where it remained for a long time, until the year 1541. Archbishop Ussher presented it to Trinity College, Dublin, In the 17th century where it is the most precious manuscript in its library and by far the choicest relic of Irish art that has been preserved.

Manuscript Ornaments& Designs: The most characteristic ornaments of the Book of Kells, as of other illuminated Irish manuscripts of the period, are the coloured representations of fanciful beings, or of men, animals, birds, horses, dogs, and grotesque, gargoyle-like human figures, twisted and hooked together in intricate detail, a system of geometrical weaving of ribbons plaited and knotted together.
The versatility and inventive genius of the illustrator surpasses all belief. Lines diverge and converge in endless succession, and the most intricate figures, in lavish abundance and with astounding variety of ornament, are combined and woven into one harmonious design. In spite of the extent of the work and its thousands of exquisite initials and terminals, there is not a single pattern or combination that can be said to be a copy of another. The artist shows a wonderful technique in designing and combining various emblems, the cross, vine, dragon, fish, and serpent. The drawing is perfection itself. It has been examined under a powerful magnifying glass for hours at a time and found to be, even in the most minute and complicated figures, without a single false or irregular line.

*Most of this review material are from Trinity web & New Advent

Friedrich's work celebrates the solitude of the soul & man's union with nature. It is lonely, bleak & brilliant. It transports you to another place & time, one far removed from the chaos of modern life. This must be the definative work on CDF, so far as i know. A "must have", if ever there were one.

This highly illustrative tome includes pencil sketches and tracings showing lines of force for Friedrich's major works. In addition, an in-depth discussion of his life, including cultural and socio-political influences, is discussed concurrent with a review of not only his major masterpieces, but his minor, early works as well. An absolute must for anyone who has become enamored with his work, or the work of other similar sublime, landscape artists of the period.

This is a small but lovely collection of Madonna and Child artwork.
The previous reviewer-Craig Pike's review obviously is with the wrong book as this book has nothing to do with the birth process.

A must have. From the male and female hormon to fertilization to birth, a comprehensive look at the birth process. You WILL ask the question, "How'd they take that picture?" Fantastic.