No comments about British Contemporary Art, 1910-1990: Eighty Years of Collecting by the Contemporary Art Society (Art Reference).

5 comments about Clothing And Textile Collections in the United States: A Csa Guide (Costume Society of America Series).

1. College-level holdings strong in costume history will find CLOTHING AND TEXTILE COLLECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES: A CSA GUIDE a fine survey of the collections available - the first such guide in print. Over 2,600 American collections are included in listings that hold location and contact information and often descriptions of holdings. From drama producers and museum directors to students of textiles and costume history, CLOTHING AND TEXTILE COLLECTIONS IN THE U.S. is an excellent guide.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. This is an invaluable tool for researchers studying any type of textiles, from flags to clothing. The book is about as comprehensive as it gets, listing historic sites, museums, and other collections. There is nothing else comparable for those interested in this topic. Important details are included for larger collections, along with contact information for each listing. This is a wonderful book that was written to promote research and facilitate contact among those studying textile collections.
   
   Robert M Dunkerly
   US National Park Ranger
   Kings Mountain National Military Park



3. This guide provides valuable information for costume scholars doing research and seeking collections. But more than that, enthusiasts, collectors,(of quilts or flags, for example), or just people interested in seeing clothing housed in museums will find this state-by-state guide easy to use and informative. Even if you can't travel far afield, you can take an armchair tour and enjoy the photographs and other material in the guide. Even though I consider myself fairly knowledgeable, this guide has revealed collections I didn't know existed. This guide is bringing to light many hidden treasures that deserve to be seen and appreciated.



4. Another book in the Costume Society of America (CSA) series, this guidebook has the familiar format of a tourist/visitor guide. The more than 2600 entries are by state with addresses and phone numbers. Hours, type of institution (e. g., historical, state), types of items in the collection, and a general description of these are found with many of the entries. For example, the Missouri Historical Collection in St. Louis has more than "16,000 pieces of clothing and textiles, dating from the late eighteenth century to the present." This collection's strengths include women's clothing and accessories from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Such helpful notes are one benefit of having editors with such extensive and deep experience as Queen and Berger. All historical ages, parts of the world, and many ethnic groups are covered by the numerous collections. For the majority of entries with no annotations, websites are listed where applicable; and for those which do not have a website, phone numbers are listed for obtaining further information.



5. As a travel guide book it is quite comprehensive. At leaste so far as I thumbed through it. Even found the little house museum in my tiny little home town. And it does give notes in regard to what collections include. It is NOT however, a photo book that PICTURES the items in said collections. I didn't read carefully enough I guess, and had deluded myself into thinking it would have color plates. If you are fortunate enough to travel to see these museums, this would be an invaluable book. If however, you are like me, and can only afford to order the books published by the people who have seen the collections. This book will only make you wish you had a bottomless bank account and a car that didn't threaten to fall apart at the thought of going farther than ten miles!

No comments about The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art.

No comments about Creative Collectives: Chicana Painters Working in Community.

No comments about Eclectic Collecting: Art from Burma in the Denison Museum.

2 comments about Cigarette Lighters (Schiffer Book for Collectors With Value Guide.).

1. This book is a great introduction to the lighter collecting hobby. It shows a lot of the nicer pieces not seen in the other general guides and prices are much more accurate as well. Besides a few minor errors in lighter descriptions this book is of the highest quality.



2. A pleasant read and lots of new info for me. I'm a newb with lighters
   Tom

3 comments about Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan.

1. Kokeshi: Wooden Treasures of Japan, a Visual Exploration
   offers both a beautiful object in its own right and a clarifying history of the dolls, leavened with nuances of cultural history and custom. For the general reader the book offers many delights, and for the specialist collector of Kokeshi, the images and marks will aid them for years to come.



2. I go to extreme length to find informative publications on Japanese dolls, and a friend presented me with this exciting new publication. The authors have threaded throughout the text, oversized photographic images of individual Kokeshi, often with the marks of the makers incorporated into the design. This links visual information to content while honing the collector's eye. I take my book to every flea market to support my buying of these wonderful Japanese dolls.



3. I collect dolls from all over the world and search for books on subjects related to all forms of dolls. After having purchased this book I was extremely excited to find a text that describes specific dolls types in detail, while informing the reader of relevant cultural history, including the traditional use of Kokeshi to embody folkloric characters. Such tidbits enrich understanding and hint at the larger importance of the Japanese Kokeshi as a cultural expression. The dolls are beautifully portrayed by brilliant photographs and relevant historical background. I highly recommend this book for any doll collector or historian.

1 comments about Vallona Starr Ceramics (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This one not only has full color photos of Starr's more recognized ceramic pieces but contains those which are less known or even rare (such as the Woodland Line) as well. I particularly liked the pages containing copies of actual advertising brochures and stock lists. The price guide at the back of the book should serve as a handy reference and "ball park" figure when looking for items at garage and estate sales to add to a collection.

No comments about Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein: A One Character Play.

1 comments about Collecting Antique Meerschaum Pipes: Miniature to Majestic Sculpture (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. As a collector and admirer of meerschaum pipes, this is the book I've been waiting for. The author, Ben Rapaport, is well known among antique pipe fanciers for his earlier works, including the standard work, Complete Guide to Collecting Antique Pipes (which discusses all types of antique pipes not just meerschaums, published in 1979 and recently reprinted) and the lovely and informative Museum of Tobacco Art and History Guidebook (1996). But his newly published book, Collecting Antique Meerschaum Pipes, is in a class by itself. Although Rapaport is the leading authority in this area, he primarily lets the pipes do the talking. Of the 176 pages, the first 50 contain the scholarly background which addresses the questions of how, who, why and where these pipes were created. But even in this section at least half of the pages are dedicated to wonderful photographs of pipes, old catalogs, craftsmen and workshops. The remainder of the book is an absolutely gorgeous album of some of the most beautiful and extraordinary meerschaum pipes ever sculpted. The photographs are large so that one may see the exquisite detail, and where appropriate the reader is provided with additional particularly detailed pictures. The photography is of exceptional quality, as one would expect to find in a first-rate art book. At the end of the book the author provides a compilation of the 19th and early 20th century manufacturers and sellers of these pipes organized by country and city, and an international listing of museums and shops where one might view some of these treasures today. It is hard to imagine that anyone other than Ben Rapaport could have created a book like this. The book brings together his many years of experience as an author and collector. But just as importantly he is known and respected by the many collectors who were willing to provide him with their pipes for inclusion in this collection. If you collect pipes, if you enjoy viewing small sculptures, if you are a fan of "working art," if you want to take a look into a small and not particularly well known world of master artists and craftsman of the late 19th and early 20th century then you owe it to yourself to buy this sumptuous book.