1 comments about Twentieth-Century Design (Oxford History of Art).

1. Since Hesketts "Industrial Design" from 1990, this is the best comprehensive introduction to the "new" Design History view on the parallel histories of design developments in this century.

   It takes a relatively non-heroic attitude towards celebrated designers and design classics while trying to locate the meaning of design products in mass culture, lifestyles, corporations and consumption spheres instead of the designers "creative mind.

5 comments about The Stage Management Handbook.

1. This book was used as a text book in a stage management class I took last quarter. I was well versed in theater before taking the class, but not from a stage management point of view. This book helps explain everything from simple terms to more advanced backstage lingo. Also, the author gives great explanations of how to block scenes, call cues, make transitions from the rehearsal space to the performace space, making the actors feel at home, and more. It was one interesting text book!



2. I found this book to be extremely helpful when teaching churches how to adapt theatrical techniques to the church setting. It is also a unique handbook that breaks down the lingo and explains the need for a stage manager in a show. As a professional, I find it valuable to recommend to those who have never been in theatre or those learning to become a stage manager. Everything is concise and to the point without talking down to people. I highly recommend this book.



3. I found this book to be full of wonderful ideas (too bad I had already learned most of them the hard way :-). This is a wonderful reference for the professional stage manager but can also be easily adapted for community or college theatre as well.



4. The Stage Managment Handbook is a great book for those who are new to the stage managment scene. However, those experienced in stage managment will probably not find this book very informative. So... if you're new and looking for a place to start, I wholeheartedly reccomend this book. If you are a backstage vet, then spend your money on something more advanced.



5. I keep buying this book for friends who want to make Stage Management their career. It has great pointers,forms,glossaries and a complete look at what you are getting yourself into when you agree to stage manage even a community theatre production. It is cheaper than the Lawrence Stern book, which is also an EXCELLENT book.

5 comments about Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey.

1. This is one of the first books in a long list of fashion books that I own. It is one of my favorites. It is a bit academic as another reviewer mentioned, but I feel that's an important part of what makes this book a keeper. It covers European, mostly English fashion of the aristocracy. There are some great historical anecdotes. My favorites involve Empress Eugenie lounging audaciously around in her red knickers, and some about the rare daring lady to show up to the Ascott races in "pants". The writing isn't as witty as other books, but the historical detail is fantastic. There are quite a few pictures as well. The arrangement of the pictures and text is chronological and very easy to follow. The only drawback is that the pages are matte and not glossy. And the spine falls apart after a few years of hard labor.



2. It is a rare opportunity to see how people dressed in reality so far in the past. By contrast, fashion plates always show the garment in its perfect form, portraits are idealized, and original illustrations change the proportions, whether purposefully or not, to fit the times of the artist, not that of the garment. Photos do not lie.
   
   The pictures feature mostly upper-class people in attractive poses, and the reader can enjoy seeing these people in their clothes, in a variety of settings, in the middle of different activities (cycling, skating, boating, traveling through snowy mountains, playing tennis...). The people sitting for portraits are looking their very best, trying out different positions, picking their finest clothes. As for the garments themselves, the pictures are clear and attractive, and the details are so telling!
   
   The text dissects the pictures and explains costume of the era in detail, discussing the general trends, exceptions, class distinctions, and how the people in these old photos relate to all this. A Very good book for a costume historian.



3. A good and informative book. Just looking through it I learned a few things that I hadn't ever heard or noticed before, such as the way that tightlacing of corsets doesn't seem to have been too common before the late 1860s.
   The book is very reasonably priced. The only trouble, which probably, were it to be fixed, would make the book cost a lot more, is that I often wish the photographs were printed in better quality.



4. 
   This compact book is full of photos and it has great explanations from beginning to end. The author explains carefully every photograph, and also each of the fashions worn by the subjects.
   
   If you love old photos of Victorian and Edwardian fashions, then this is a nice book to own for your library. (Also, the price is reasonable).



5. Dover Publications, monarchs of 19th-century fashion surveys, have hit another one clean out of the park with this superb examination of Victorian and Edwardian fashion from the coronation of Victoria to the early 1900's. Originally published in England in the early 1960's as "The Mirror of Reality", this book was acquired and republished by Dover in a handy paperback edition up to their usual high physical standards (Dover is well-known for the high quality of its paperback books). Alison Gernsheim delves into every single aspect of costume in the period, from buttons to boots, and the accompanying B&W photos, well over a hundred of them, are worth even more words. The fashion-plate books such as Stella Blum's "Harper's Bazar 1867-1898" and Joanne Olian's "Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from La Mode Illustree" are absolutely indispensable for showing the fashions of the era as their designers conceived them, but you need - I say again, _need_ - this book to see how those dresses looked in the real world.

5 comments about Ribbonwork The Complete Guide: Technique Guide for Making Ribbon Flowers and Trimmings.

1. highly recommended. beautiful photos - clear instructions - gorgeous designs. As a vintage ribbon work lover, this book has it all.



2. when you want to make a gift special this book will have your flowers very creative and lets you pick those special colors with out a lot of mess. great book



3. Excellent. Very easy instructions and easy projects. I was immediately able to make beautiful flowers out of ribbon. Highly recommended.



4. This book is all you need to know - materials, techniques, inspiration for projects. If you'd like to learn ribbonwork, this is the only book you need.



5. This is the 3rd book I've bought on making ribbon flowers and it is certainly the one to make it easier for you. Her flower directons make your ribbon flowers look like the ones you buy.

5 comments about Sea Glass Chronicles.

1. Considering there was only one other book on sea glass that I knew of, I absolutely HAD to have another-being the avid sea glass fan that I am. However, upon receiving the book, I was greatly unimpressed with not only the images, but also the lack of magnificent specimens. The book tells more about ceramic shards than it does actual glass. In my opinion, I find actual glass to be much more attractive than any kind of pottery shard.
   
   Furthermore, the book had hardly any information on where to find glass, how to look for it, or even when to go and look... absolutely nothing about actually collecting. Or what about the weathering process of the shards? Nope. I was very disappointed in the lack of information. For those craving explanations of the possible origins, when and where to find glass, and just general information regarding anything one can think of about sea glass, get the book Pure Sea Glass. It's an amazing reference whenever I come home with new and interesting pieces.



2. Last night I opened Sea Glass Chronicles to read a few pages, but found I couldn't put it down! This lovely book is a treasure, just like the "treasures" it describes in each chapter. After a few pages, I realized that Pat Hanbery's photographs were amazing as well! Enjoyable on several levels, it's a "coffee table" book that any age would enjoy simply for the browsing, but the writing and research by C.S. Lambert will take you much, much deeper into this hobby enjoyed by nearly everyone: beachcombing! It is an educational trip through the archaeology of beach glass, pottery, and doll fragments, caught in time before they were all altered by water's relentless task of reducing them into sand particles on a beach. Although there is a great deal of information, it is presented in quickly-readable short stories. This is a real "keeper" as well as a good gift idea.



3. so much information about seaglass...
   and the photos allow you to compare what you have already found or looking for.



4. 
   
   Fabulous book for anyone who loves beachcombing and collecting sea treasures - highly recommended!



5. Nice book with some pretty pictures but does not really contain much useful information about sea glass. The book "Pure Sea Glass: Discovering Nature's Vanishing Gems" contains much more information about the possible origins of sea glass for the novice collector.

2 comments about 500 Chairs: Celebrating Traditional & Innovative Designs (500 Series).

1. I bought it for my husband (woodworker). We are both artists and we LOVE it. Some very interesting and creative pieces are featured in the book.



2. Each page contains a beautiful picture of a modern chair made by artists who take pride in creating usable furniture that adds beauty to any home. A fabulous study if you like modern furniture.

3 comments about The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards of United States Coins (Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards for United States Coins).

1. Easy to understand and use. Photos extremely helpful. Essential tool for novice and experienced collector alike.



2. EXCELLENT book for those trying to learn to grade there coins. I HIGHLY reccomend this item. Details every grade, and what characteristics it take for the coin to make the grade.



3. This book, simply put, is an absolute neccessity for all coin collectors. With Kenneth Bresset editing the book and Q. David Bowers narrating it, the book has to be awesome. It has, among many other things, The basic ANA Grading techniques, Key to official ANA Grading Standards: Circulation Strike Coins; Key to official ANA Grading Standards: Proof Coins, Advanced Grading Techniques, A closer focus on certain aspects of grading and the official ANA grading standards for each coin type. From AG-3 to MS-70. It also has notes that warn you about different things to look for in certain types of coins. Buy this book, you definately will not be disappointed.

4 comments about Hot Wheels Forty Years (Hot Wheels (Krause Publications)).

1. Hot Wheels 40 Years is a very nicely put together book. It is a vast improvement in design, paper quality and everything thing else the its five years before predecessor Hot Wheels: 35 Years of Speed, Power Performance and Attitude. It is important to point out that although 40 years are covered, this is no field or price guide and only has a very small number of Hot Wheels vehicle photographs inside. Collectors or would be collectors would need to grab a Warman's Hot Wheels Field Guide: Values and Identification or something like this to get prices of and pictures of all the vehicles out there.
   
   What this book is, is a look at the Hot Wheels brand and its history through the eyes of an avid fan and collector. There are many interviews with designers and others associated with Hot Wheels along with many photos, sketches, castings, prototypes and the like. A lot of photos and information holiday cars given as staff bonuses to Mattel employees are inside as well which are quite interesting and show the company is or at one time was a fun place to work.
   
   The reader is taken step by step through the design stage of some vehicles. Commentary is also given on the finished product of cars throughout the decades as well as production errors such as VW beetles having the engine up front.
   
   There are places where maybe the authors love for the product stopped him from asking the hard questions such as what was the public reaction to the Mystery car packaging (black bubble instead of clear so buyer had a lucky dip type experience, I mean it obviously isn't around anymore, did it just get cancelled due to lack of sales or were customers annoyed with what they got? Also no commentary on the general public perception, of Hot Wheels being an inferior product to brands such as Matchbox (who are now owned also by Mattel) or Johnny Lightning and if Mattel plans on trying to life the image and quality of the brand or is content to just compete on price alone.
   
   Hot Wheels being pretty much the cheapest option for die cast car toys meant pretty much everyone had some of these things when they were kids. They are still priced well below Johnny Lightning (although granted their vehicles are more for adult collectors) and Matchbox today so no doubt if you've got kids today they've got some too. This book would make an excellent showing your kids the difference between your childhood and there's book.
   
   The author is really into his combi vans and a lot of the pages are devoted to those Volkswagen vehicles. The back pages of the book have Hot Wheels top 40 castings which is basically the author's opinion on the best car brought out by Hot Wheels each year of its existence.
   
   It's not a bad read and an enjoyable way to relive the past. Unfortunately a fair few photos make multiple appearances in here though, surely the editors could have stepped in and said hey, how about covering a bit more of the range.



2. I purchased this book for my 6 1/2 year old son who is Hot Wheels crazy. He looked at all of the pictures and then put it away. It's really for the collector and Dad who played with the cars in the 70's. For them, it's a great book to have around.



3. I just recieved this book today and "WHOW" what a book. The details of the graphics are fantastic. The are numerous pictures of cars in cards and with the graphics you feel as if you can pick it right off the page.
   
   Angelo has brought the Hot wheel history full circle with this book.



4. interesting book, plenty of photos, not just a dry catalogue, goes into the history of the manufacturing and design process, great coffee table and reference book

5 comments about Brooches: Timeless Adornment.

1. This review was written and published for the Yahoo online group Jewel Collect.
   
   Title: Brooches: Timeless Adornment
   Author: Lori Ettinger Gross
   Type of Book: Hard Cover
   Retail Price: $45.00
   Pages: 192
   Rizzoli 2008
   
   Brief Description: Brooches: Timeless Adornment is a shiny new picture book that focus's on vintage, antique and contemporary brooches. Most of the pieces are fine jewelry but there are a few costume pieces. Many of the fine jewelry designs will be quite familiar to costume jewelry collectors since there has historically been so much overlap between the fine jewelry world and costume. For example there are fruit salad pieces, blinding deco clips, fabulous florals and charming figurals. There are examples from Van Cleef and Arpels, David Webb, Seaman Schepps, Suzanne Belperron, Schiaparelli, Alexis Bittar, and many unmarked treasures. There are some silly parts in this book but the nice layouts and high quality pieces make up for it in my opinion.
   
   Quantity of Illustrations: At least one piece per page and often times many more. According to the press materials there are 175 photos. All are in color.
   
   Comments: The photos are artistic. Brooches: Timeless Adornment is a book to ooh-and-aah over not a catalog of hundreds and hundreds of pins. The brooches are not all shot the same way some are on white backgrounds and others on clothing, fabric, wallpaper, etc.
   Score: 8
   
   Quality of Illustrations: All color photos. All are very clear, clean, professional and very detailed. Again this is an artistic coffee table type book from a very fine publishing house.
   Score: 8
   
   Quantity of Information: Nice breezy easy to read chapters on History, Craft, Collecting, Style Pin-ology and Care. You may ask yourself what is pin-ology? It seemed to be a chapter on the themes generally seen in pins, figural, floral, whimsical etc. I did learn things reading this book and you might too. For example, I know about the Victorian language of flowers and pieces with multicolored stones that spell out acronyms but did you know, there is also a secret language of Georgian Sevirgne or Ribbon Bow Brooches? Described as a flirtatious ornament, the placement of a bow brooch indicated if you had found true love, or were actively looking and all points in between.
   There is also a nice little section on Milicent Rogers a collector/designer/rich lady who lived in Taos, NM post WWII. As a sidebar, for those traveling in the southwest the Millicent Rogers museum is a great small local museum. She was a huge collector of Native American jewelry and her collection is prominently displayed in her namesake museum.
   Is the information thorough? Yes
   Score: 7
   
   Quality of Information: Good interesting details, nothing groundbreaking but an interesting read for jewelry fans.
   Comments: This book treats each piece as an individual little piece of art. Each photo is captioned with details about the maker, materials, date of production etc.
   Score: 7
   
   Values Listed (Prices) No
   
   User Friendly: Yes
   Is information easy to find? Table of contents no index.
   Most of the information is visual so yes it is easy to find
   Score:
   
   Average score: 7
   
   Is this book a must have? Yes for devoted jewelry fans. Again those who are only interested in costume jewelry there is very little included and I believe you will be disappointed.
   
   Overall comments: I really liked this it was beautiful to look at and I think I will use it to track down the origins of costume pieces. And a shout out to Julie Levine from Joolbait Jewels who has a piece included.



2. What a fabulous book. Well written and great photography. A quality reference and also a breathtaking coffee table book. You will enjoy this!



3. For a Rizzoli book the photography of the brooches is terrible. The pieces chosen for the book are interesting and beautiful. When I opened the book, the binding broke. It is printed in China so I suppose that explains the overall poor quality. I returned this book.



4. Page 56 begins in the middle of the sentence. It might be that this book was printed in China.
   Great photos for people interested in this type of jewelry. Some nice information.



5. A concise, informative, well-researched book on brooches with wonderful photographs by David Behl. Ms. Gross has certainly authored a book which gives a broad historical overview of brooches. The book includes many fabulous, meaningful, and accurately categorized pieces as illustrations. Obviously, Ms. Gross spent much time in selecting the appropriate pieces to be illustrated and much research in preparing the corresponding information with the pieces. The book covers the history of brooches to the care of brooches, and is one of the best overviews of this very important jewelry form that has been published. Also, I might add, that the Rizzoli Publishing Company, as always, did a masterful job in publishing the book.

5 comments about Photograde: Official Photographic Grading Guide for United States Coins, 19th Edition.

1. There is nothing new in this book except the 19th on the edge of the cover. It doesn't even cover the state quarters or presidential dollars. I am very disappointed in the quality of the photographs. I would have expected quality Color photos in this day but these photos are of 1970 B&W quality and not the quality of todays digital photos. It's just a poor and lazy update of prior versions to give the author a boost in money. If the author wants a good book then completely redo it with high quality color photos and add the new coins for more accurate grading. Do not waste your money on this book. Buy an older used one for less money.



2. I am extremely disappointed in the photographs. They are not large enough and not clear enough to really see detail being discussed. With the state of art of photography and printing, the quality of the book is inexcusable, especially since having photos of the various grades is the `niche' the book is trying to fill. I realize that using glossy paper would make this book significantly more expensive, but they could have done a much better job with the existing paper stock. The photos make this book unusable. Instead consider `AMA Grading Standards' or `Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection.'



3. Persoanlly, I really like this book and use it all the time. It is easy to understand and helps me feel more confident with my personal grading practice. The only thing I don't like is that the pictures are not the greatest but this hasn't really been a problem for me. In short, if you want to grade better then get the book. The sub-par pictures aren't enough to detract too much.



4. While the book is unique and helpful with the pictures depicting the grade of most coins, it is outdated! I was very disappointed to not find grading guides for the new state quarters (1999,ff). I read on the title page that it was last revised in 1995! Yet, the book was copyrighted in 2005. I thought I was buying a current book to aid me in grading my coins. Wrong!



5. I've had this book for years. And yes, while it's a very good guide for grading coins in the inferior grades; and as someone mentioned, even many ten year old kids can do this--those aren't the grades that most often matter much with regards to US coins.
   
   For example, a well known mail order coin company has a 1923 Mercury dime for sale, right now, for $8.75 in the grade of good--which is probably a bit much, for one of the lowest possible coin grades. On Ebay, the same coin in "choice BU" (and no one knows what that means exactly particualrly not on ebay), appears, for sale, and to be a roughly MS-60 coin. It can be "bought now" for $50 bucks. So that's the range that Photograde handles--Almost Good, to Brilliant Uncirculated. A range which varies from $5 - $50 on this particular, common date Mercury dime.
   
   Now that same dime however, has sold recently at auction for $500 in MS66, $1800 in MS67, and a whopping $12,500 in MS68!
   
   In other words, unless you're a kid collecting out of your lawn mowing proceeds, the real issue nine times out of ten; on most coins after 1850), isn't whether or not a coin rates VF or F, it's all about the 10 different grades from MS60--MS70.
   
   It's frankly amazing to me that there isn'tt a good guidebook published by PCGS or ANACS, that can do in text form, what these organizations pretend to do every day of the year behind closed doors--determine grades of uncirculated and proof coins.
   
   Such a book would be relatively expensive, maybe $50-$100 or more. But for people who collect coins at least in part as investments, this amount is barely significant in terms of what it would mean to teh collector.
   
   Photograde? It's a decent enough compendium, but you can go online and get most of their grading criteria, with better pictures, for free. The book is sadly out of date IMO, in the sense that it still treats coin grade divisions, much as they were treated 30 years ago.