1 comments about Naughties: Nudies & Bathing Beauties.

1. Arrested by the photos on its cover, I picked up Sharon Weintraub's NAUGHTIES, NUDIES, AND BATHING BEAUTIES and bought it on impulse. I opened it, and almost instantly came down with collector's fever. The author's enthusiasm is contagious, and her personal collection breathtaking. The narrative on the history and manufacture of the mostly German, mostly bisque figurines is expert and easy to follow (infectious, you might even say). But familiarity breeds covetousness when it comes to this book, so beware!

   Ironically, the "nudies" and "bathing beauties," originally novelties and souvenirs bought to shock and titillate, are probably most attractive today to women, especially those with feminist bents. This is because we see them now as depicting the wonderful time when women were tossing out their corsets and wearing comfortable clothing, when we got to feel the sand in our toes,to cavort like Isadora Duncan in the sunshine. The book begins with a fascinating, lavishly illustrated chapter about that period in our history.

   With the caveat that you will want to spend your kid's college tuition on what you previously might have thought of as knick-knacks...buy this book.

3 comments about The Banana Sculptor, the Purple Lady, and the All-Night Swimmer: Hobbies, Collecting, and Other Passionate Pursuits.

1. I loved this book! It's a fascinating mix of "real life" stories of the passions of down-to-earth and "regular" people who have intriguing obsessions. Reading it is like joining a secret society or club or meeting a new group of wild friends whose lives are the richer for (as the Banana Sculptor himself puts it) the need "to dream."

   This book could be called "American Eccentrics" for its wonderful range of characters - from the tiddly wink competitor to the inveterate garage saler to the sculler and the skater and the card shark. The authors are the best kind of good listeners and interviewers - they stay out of the way and let the enthusiasts speak for themselves, about the magic of baking or bonsai and how the soul and spirit factor into swimming all night or collecting pre-cancelled stamps.

   A great one-of-a-kind summer/beach book, and a terrific anytime gift!




2. This book is a series of mini-biographies of Americans with odd hobbies or pursuits or interests. They are very short (5-7 pages) and very well-written. However, there is no analysis as to why these people do what they do or whether there is something wrong with them. For example, many of the men profiled are bachelors. Is this cuase and effect or effect and cause or neither? It might have been interesting to speculate. This book is like whipped cream - fun to eat but ultimately of no nutritional value.



3. This is indeed a book about people who are stranger than fiction. The author interviews people who have unusual hobbies and have gone over to the far side of hobby land. Nevertheless, they are happy and not locked up in an insane asylum. Each chapter is about a different individual. Some amazing stories... one man for example swims across the great lakes. Another reunites American and Japanese World War II veterans who fought against each other.
   
   The authors also talks about how they met the various people in the book and maps out the social network of friendships. Often very funny, weird, and amazing. After reading the book you'll start thinking of the people you know who would be perfect for the sequel or if you're really lucky, perhaps yourself.

1 comments about Collecting Authentic Indian Arts and Crafts: Traditional Work of the Southwest.

1. From the Indian Arts and Crafts Association, an organization created to promote, preserve and protect authentic Indian art, this is a very good book for beginning collectors of Native American Arts and Crafts. Although it is not as detailed as it could be, it is a great place to start. With thorough descriptions and photos, it explains what you should look for when looking at pottery, jewelry, baskets and other Native crafts. It also gives a crash course in identifying fraudulent and mass-produced works. Each section (pottery, jewelry, Navajo rugs, etc) is written by an expert in the field and is well thought out and clearly presented. Even a more experienced collector will find something new. If you are interested in collecting Native American works, this is an invaluable guide to starting off right.

1 comments about Instant Expert: Collecting American Folk Art (Instant Expert (Random House)).

1. This book tries to cover a lot of ground on a very broad and subtle topic. Unfortunately, no one can really become an expert on American Folk Art by simply reading this or any other book. The book does provide a good overview of the various collecting areas of American Folk Art and might be a good place to start for someone new to the field.

2 comments about Warman's Fishing Lures Field Guide: Values and Identification (Warman's Fishing Lures Field Guide).

1. This is an interesting book for the dealer & collector alike. Chockablock full of pictures & pertinant information on lures, one of those esoteric fields that you REALLY need a book to master.
   Carl Luckey is generous with sharing information on lures. I've learned plenty owning this book - I carry it in the car & I can't wait to find the "big one". Hope springs eternal!



2. The size of this book is the best thing about it. You can get all the info in other books but they are big and heavy to carry around at lure shows or just out looking at garage sales. It has very good pictures and accurate info.

5 comments about The Anatomy of Bibliomania.

1. a tongue-in-cheek look at the "madness" of bibliomania, inspired by Robert Burton's 17th century classic "The Anatomy of Melancholy", this book is filled with fun facts and interesting anecdotes from the world of books. If you're a book-collector, booklover, bookseller, or just all-around bookaholic, you'll delight in this compendium of book trivia, and in the clinical classification of the numerous manifestations of bibliomania (book-madness), from the book-thief to the book-abuser to the book-hoarder, and everything inbetween - but be careful you don't find yourself described therein!



2. This is it. Huge, plenty of data, infinite in its approaches, full of ideas, rich in details, abundant in humor and written in a circunvoluted english as if written by a XVII wit. In fact, as if Robert Burton would have done it now, as in fact he did it then.



3. I found the place by accident; I always do. It isn't as though I set out looking for them but they call out to me. I don't even have to see them. Sometimes I can simply sense their presence. The closer I draw, the greater their insistence, the more persuasive their arguments, and the stronger the attraction. A good bookstore is irresistible.
   
   Some time ago, I was with some friends and we stopped in a café briefly. My bookstore indicator went through the roof and after very little looking, I discovered the Acorn bookstore in Grandview. I'll save the complete story for another time. Inside, I found a book of particular interest: one that might describe how I am able to discover such bookstores so easily and why I am so enamored of books. The volume was Holbrook Jackson's The Anatomy of Bibliomania, this 1981 edition being supertitled, The Book About Books.
   
   "Bibliomania" sounded like a strong word to me-its meaning obviously being "book-madness." Nevertheless, consideration of the possibility seemed wise, and likely a pleasurable task, as it would include an addition to my library and some hours spent in reading and introspection. After looking over the extensive table of contents, I turned to the opening and read, "The Author to the Reader." Therein, it said:
   
   "Gentle Reader, I presume thou wilt be very inquisitive to know what antic or personate actor it is that so insolently intrudes upon this common theatre to the world's view, arrogating as you will soon find, another man's style and method: whence he is, why he does it, and what he has to say. 'Tis a proper attitude, and the questions clear and reasonable themselves, but I owe thee no answer, for if the contents please thee, 'tis well; if they be useful, 'tis an added value; if neither, pass on, nor, in the observation of what wise Glanvill, hath any one need to complain, since no one is concerned about what another Prints, further than himself pleaseth; and since Men have liberty to read our Books, or not, they should give us leave to write what we like, or forbear, which for the most part they do.
   
   "Yet in some sort to give thee satisfaction, which thou hast a right to demand, since I have caused my book to be printed and sold for money, I will show a reason both of this usurped title and style. And first for the name and form, which I hae so freely adapted from Robert Burton his Anatomy of Melancholy: lest any man by reason of it should be deceived, expecting a pasquil, a scherzo, a burlesque, a satire, some humorous or fantastic treatise (as I myself should have done, recalling that all parodies are jests), I may at once undeceive him, for my intent is serious; I have gleaned the crops of innumerable authorities scattered far and wide, winnowing the chaff from the grain, and setting out the various species in such an order that they may best contribute to our knowledge of books in general and of Bibliomania in particular."
   
   I was hooked, and purchased the book. Its structure is thirty-two parts, covering such things as "Of Books in General," "The Pleasure of Books," "The Art of Reading," "Study and Book-Learning," "A Pageant of Bookmen," "The Influence of Books," "Borrowers, Biblioklepts and Bestowers," "Of Bibliomania or Book-Madness," and concludes with "Bibliophily Triumphant."
   
   A passage I found particularly noteworthy was "Men Who Become Books: Biblianthropus."
   
   "If, as I have shown, pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli, [`The reader's fancy makes the fate of books'] books, as I have also shown, make the fate of their readers; it is a quid pro quo, give and take."
   
   As I read through the text, I found that the treatise became an increasingly plausible argument that I afflicted by bibliomania. I have long believed in this quid pro quo and indeed have proclaimed to the entire world time and again that lego, ergo sum. Even so, in the sections where Jackson discusses the hunters and collectors of books, he shows that bibliomanes often do not read their books. Their love of books is often superficial, appreciating much about them but ultimately being driven by such things as greed, or at the very least profit. I found myself disconnected from the subjects of the discussion.
   
   The opening of the conclusion, entitled "Wedded to Books," I found myself once again connected with the subject. Jackson advises:
   
   "Let us love books as we love, dum vires annique sinunt, while we are in the flower of years, fit for love, and while time serves,
   
   Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
   Old Time is still a-flying:
   And this same flower that smiles to-day
   To-morrow will be dying."
   
   Bibliophily is a natural and even healthful state, for books are the most timeless way for us to proclaim who we are and to find out who our ancestors were. I suggest that there is no better way to find one's place in the world than first to survey the world. I hold that there is no better way to survey the world and human experience than through books. With this knowledge of the world, one has a frame of reference for one's own experiences and can see one's own life in perspective. This understanding will not only enhance one's own experiences, but through discernment leads to wisdom: knowing what to do when confronted with decision, how to promote what is ultimately good. Or, as Johann Kaspar admonished:
   
   "Act well at the moment, and you have performed a good action to all eternity."
   
   So this is the crux of bibliophily for me, even if I do enjoy such simple pleasures as seeing, smelling, and touching books. Nevertheless, the world of books is large enough to allow for reading that is less purposeful in nature, even allowing for the pointless. Other bookmen, whether bibliomanes or bibliophiles, may well take liberty of disagreement with me; and I have no interest in preventing them in any case. Having taken Jackson's tour of bibliomania, I am well satisfied with both the content and presentation. And I'm delighted to have another volume to add to my library.



4. I adore this book! I have it on my nightstand and can just open it up anywhere and be entertained and delighted. One can find facts and qoutes that are truly beautiful. I few of the passages literally took my breath away.
   
   If you love books and reading, this is a MUST have!



5. 
   If you are an aficionado of "books about Books" ,you'll love this classic.
   The author,Holbrook Jackson ,who died in 1948 at the age of 73 was one of England's foremost men of letters.He was primarily a "bookman" who loved books and everything about them,and what they were to him ,he wanted them to be for others.It has been said, that when it came to books he was a conductor,not a composer-and what a brilliant conductorhe was.
   This book was first published in 1930 when Jackson was 55. It came out in 2 volunes comprising 435 pages and a small printing of only 1,000 copies. It has been reprinted in several editions and still available in a soft cover. It is one of those books that people hold onto and is readily available in various editions. I bought my copy in "The Sleepy Hollow Bookshop" in Midland ,Michigan,in 1997.It is the Hardcover edition ,published in 1950,consisting of 668 pages ,excellent condition,including the dj,and very reasonable priced at $20. As I have always been attracted to books about books,I was captivated by it immediately. Since that time,I have glanced at it many times,but finally got aroumnd to reading it through. Since the time I bought it,I've read several other books about books and written reviews on them. I 've enjoyed them all ,but this is without doubt a classic.
   You must keep in mind that this book was written 60 years ago .It also concentrates mainly on British and European books,collectors,authors,classics,etc.However;what the author writes about applies to any books anywhere.He covers everything imaginable about readers,collectors ,booksellers,collections and not muchabout authors ,other than their love of books,versus writing them. Also,don't think that ,with so many pages,the book is too detailed and gets bogged down.There ree co many subjects covered that any subject covered is done in a couple of pages.It is broken down into 32 Parts or Chapters.with each Part again broken down into several sectionsFor instance ,Part XXXIV,
   
   The Symptons of Bi"Tbliomania;there are 7 sub sections;
   I.The Symptons Introduced
   II. Wherein the Madness Lies
   III. Its Main Character an Obsession
   IV. Of Hording
   V. Bibliotaphs and Book Misers
   VI.Of Pluralists
   VII. The Mania for Rarity.
   All this is covered in 18 pages.
   One thing that becomes very evident is the immense difference with readers and books from the time this book was written and today ;is the introduction of the Internet on the whole world of Bibliography. Those were the days that most books were found in small local bookstores.Book lovers spent endless hours searching bookstores in hopes of finding their books. Now virtually any book can be found and acquired via the Internet. Also,Bookfairs and Events like street sales are great ways to find books and even meet authors.In Totonto we have huge charitible used
   book sales run by Univrersities.;who get donations of books from theri Alumni.
   And then we have Amazon and the communitaion among readers with Customer Reviews. All these new advancements would be totally unimaginable,to Bibliophiles.But ,once again,all the things that Jackson talks about are stii as revalent today as they were then ;but even more so.
   
   

No comments about Victorian & Edwardian Furniture.

3 comments about Tibetan Furniture.

1. This beautiful book offers much more than a generous selection of wonderful photographs! It is historically informative and well organized so that it is easy to read for both the professional and collector. If you are interested in Tibetan antique furniture-this is the publication for you!



2. This is an early book--one of only two at the present time--focusing on Tibetan furniture from the perspective of the antiques field. Tibetan furniture is an area that will surely find a wider, recognized place given the growing role of some Asian countries, especially China and India, in global political and economic affairs. Already one sees a growing interest in Chinese antiquities and art. As Buckley notes, the time when a survey of ancient and older Tibetan furniture including many photographs such as found in this book is possible is likely passing because many of the finer pieces of Tibetan furniture are already scattered in private homes and museums throughout the world and there is already considerable interest in this field among Hong Kong and other regional dealers. Although the author admits he is "biased toward chests," these serve sufficiently for instruction and examples on the construction, materials, dates, and carvings, illustrations, and other decorative and symbolic features of all Tibetan furniture. "The echoes of contacts with peoples all over Asia can be traced in the designs found on Tibetan furniture." Yet the furniture and its designs are not a simple imitation or composite of forms, designs, etc., of other cultures, but shown the stamp of the "unique identity" of the Tibetan people and culture so that Tibetan furniture is unmistakable. The illustrations and symbols of Tibetan furniture are usually related to the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet. Buckley's book is not only a guide to identification of the desirable antique Tibetan furniture, but it also relates the historical and cultural context of the furniture. The author is a recognized expert on antiques and collecting currently living in Beijing.



3. I'm an artist with a particular interest in the decorative arts - and, while I can't say much about the text (I haven't read much of it), the artwork shown in this book is exquisite. I purchased this book for the eye candy - and there's quite a bit here to be had.
   
   The book focuses on hand-painted Tibetan furniture, and it's the highly stylized, decorative, and "folky" painting which I find so appealing in the work presented. The book is richly illustrated with many examples, the examples are well photographed, and the printing is high-quality.
   
   If you're an artist, it's a great reference book - there are many decorative motifs and design ideas from which you can "steal", "borrow", "adapt", or otherwise use as inspiration in your own work.

4 comments about Fountain Pens and Pencils: The Golden Age of Writing Instruments.

1. This is a very good book for the serious collector. The price may seem high but for the wealth of information it provides it is a bargain. This is a new addition with the principle difference over the last addition being updated prices...some of which seem out of line high. Good illustrations. Not every color of a particular model may be represented but they do pretty well trying. Overall, I highly recommend it especially for the new collector.



2. Simply put, this book is an essential item for any serious fountain pen enthusiast or collector. To the best my knowledge, only Andreas Lambrou's Fountain Pens of the World compares (or even surpasses it, actually) in scope and depth, and Lambrou's book is twice the price.

   Nor is this book limited to the seasoned expert; I first read it as an utter novice and found it delightfully accessible (the plentiful color photos go a long way here.) The only caveat is that - as mentioned by another reviewer - the suggested prices seem very high; it might be a mistake for a neophyte to base purchasing decisions on the listings in this book.

   Pass up that aero-filler 51 or that unrestored blurrily-photographed vac major, for the time being, and pick up a copy of this book instead. In the long run, it's a far better investment if you are truly interested in vintage fountain pens.




3. I purchased this book for my husband for fathers day and he loved it. There were so many pictures. We could not wait to see if any of his collection was in the book. If you are a pen collector, this is definately the book to have.
   
   Andre'a



4. It is a big book with lots of information. Not a book for casual collectors. However it is "a must have" book for serious collectors. The first few chapters are especially very useful as they describe essential aspects of collecting pens and things to look for. They also tell the history and evolution of fountain pens. The history of the big pen companies are quite detail and of course there are lots and lots of beautiful photographs of the pens.

No comments about Arts & Crafts Collector's Guide, The.