1 comments about Samuel Colt: Arms, Art, and Invention (Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art).

1. This large-format, full color book is a must-have for gun collectors... especially those who study Colt firearms. The photographs are clear and large. The text is comprehensive and well-written. An excellent book!

2 comments about Caring for Your Collections.

1. This book was assigned reading in the Museum Studies program I completed several years ago. I found it to be very readable and useful. It is geared to the person who is serious about preserving the treasures he or she has collected or inherited. Among its lessons is the fact that virtually everything we do to maintain our everyday household objects is not appropriate for objects that we would like to see survive for the long term. This book provides valuable guidance on what can be done to preserve the objects we value most. Today, I am a curator of a diverse museum collection, and still find this book helpful and a good refresher.



2. I'm purchasing my second copy of Caring for Your Collections. I am the curator of a house museum with a very diverse collection and I have found this to be a handy reference guide with easy to follow instructions for dealing with a wide variety of materials.

No comments about The Western Pursuit Of The American Dream: Selections From The Collection Of Kenneth W. Rendell.

1 comments about Kovels' American Antiques, 1750-1900.

1. The Kovel's outdid themselves with American Antiques 1750-1900. It is a must for all American collectors. The breadth of coverage is amazing. A beautiful book full of new information. I found the illustrations exciting, by far the best they have done. All who enjoy reading and learning about Americana will love it.

1 comments about Popular Art Deco: Depression Era Style and Design.

1. Most books about Art Deco rightly cover the fine art aspects of the movement but the authors of this lovely book explore the way commerce used deco styling in mass produced products available on any Main Street. It would be a good few years before an art style was used again to sell things, namely pop art in the mid-Sixties.
   
   Look at the many photographs of everyday items in the book and it is clear that manufacturers copied whatever deco style elements they wanted to enhance the sales potential of their products, at the same time a group of industrial designers where developing America's unique design style, streamline and contributing more elements to be copied, a good example are the three speed lines that popped up on many products.
   
   I think the illustrations in the book are well chosen and they really do cover everyday items in use during the Depression years and nicely the text is broken up with various interesting sidebars like the one on Dolores Del Rio's moderne house or festive season graphics or Deco Mexicana. To compliment this excellent survey have a look at 'Streamline' (ISBN 0811806626) by Steven Heller and Louise Fili, basically a visual book with several hundred examples of everyday graphics. Both books cover so well two exuberant art styles that everyone could share and so were truly democratic.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

No comments about Soda Pop.

5 comments about Poor Richard's Almanack (1733).

1. What can you say about this book.........other than it's a collection of timeless sayings and thoughts from the mind of one of America's original great thinkers. This should be required reading (in all formats)for high school students if for no other reason than to have them explore humor without 4-letter words. Once read, some of these bits of wisdom will stay with you for life. Enjoy and pass along. You will be a part of re-braining this country!



2. Though Benjamin Franklin never suggests that all the words are his, his assembly of commonly used phrases and sayings provides the reader with material that will make them think. Do remember, that this doesn't read like a novel.



3. So to start, there is a huge problem with this page. If you utilize Amazon's Search Inside feature for this version of the book it is actually showing you the inside of a different copy of Poor Richards Almanack. What you see is definitely not the inside of this book and I'll tell you why later.
   
   Another problem with this page is the fact that people are reviewing the content of Poor Richards Almanack and giving you, the consumer, a history lesson on the book. But come on... the content of the book is pretty much a given. If you're not familiar with the Poor Richards Alamanack, then it's probably a good idea to check it out from a library before you buy it. You would want to own a copy simply for novelty's sake.
   
   So onto the review of the actual product... This is a very poor copy in terms of quality (just like this review). This is just speculation, but it literally appears as if someone from the publisher went to the copy machine with an original copy of the book, pressed the "Enlarge 150%" button, photocopied the entire original book onto larger paper, bound it, put a cover on it, and sold it as the copy you see here. The black space you see on the cover is about the size of the margins within the book. This creates an obnoxious amount of white space around the paragraphs which in turn makes the book difficult to read. On top of this, some of the pages are slightly crooked.
   
   So as I've stated, the content is exactly like the original, but you can easily find a better version than this one. Unless the book was intended for people with impaired vision, there is no reason the original book should have been blown up and placed on 2 inch margins. I would steer clear of this version and find a better one.
   
   As a side note, there are several versions of Poor Richards Almanack. Some have his quotes reorganized into categories and some versions have his quotes re-written into more modern language. And there is, of course, the original. For Christmas, I got my Mom the original as well as the one with the organized quotes. So I guess it's whatever your preference is.



4. Given as a gift so have no input. Recipient did not care for the format of the book.



5. Ben Franklin's book is loaded with tips just as relevant today as they were centuries ago. You will truly be surprised at the amount of knowledge, useful knowledge, you get from this book.

No comments about Bits & Spurs: Motifs, Techniques and Modern Makers.

1 comments about The Antique Hunter's Guide to American Furniture: Chests, Cupboards, Desks & Other Pieces.

1. I was a little disappointed with the size of this book - wish it were bigger. However, it has been useful in our consignment shop.

No comments about Country Store Collectibles.