5 comments about Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues (Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, 9th ed).

1. An excellent catalogue. The only disturbing problem is that there are several mismatchs between pictures and descriptions. Unfortunately more frequent than in earlier issues.



2. The new edition of this catalogue is an extremely disappointing effort in terms of keeping up to date with price developments. A majority of the countries covered in this update have not been reviewed at all, resulting in a very misleading guide to collectors. If you have the previous edition, there is little incentive for you to buy this new edition. Editors should really put much much more effort in updating prices, or simply stop printing updates of the catalogue altogether. Changing the cover picture does not justify a new edition.



3. It was a pleasure for me to order from you. The catalog is great and I got it delivered in no time. The service was GREAT!!!



4. I use this book only, I don't know better source for basic informations for collectors.



5. This book is very well for inform on bills in a world! Pictures, year, price...Very complete!

5 comments about Complete Encyclopedia Of Illustration.

1. This book contains a seemingly endless supply of exactly what you need when you are looking for detailed visual reference, drawn, displayed and categorized in that compulsive Victorian manner. A very handy book to have.



2. A quality sample of a thousand, or so, engraved pictures. With computer graphics, many facets of this art will become lost, because this book represents the best reproductions of tedious, labor-intensive 'photography' in the era before film photography and computer imagery. All of the illustrations here probably started out as simple sketches that were turned over to a plate engraver for inclusion in a magazine or book, many in reference books for engineers and scientists, in order that the reader could follow along with the author's 'pictorial' narrative. Were it not for the meticulous detail and precision of the enscriber, many accounts of historical value would be forever lost as many of the drawings in the book depict machinery, architecture, archaeological wonders and detail that are no longer used, made, or found in existence or in the Modern World. Simply put, this is a phenomenal Book!



3. This book offers large old engravings, with exquisite detail. That's nice if it's what you're after. You'll have page after page of scenes from old books: battles, gods, animals, stories, and more.

   But most of the engravings are large, detailed, and highly specific. And most are quite strange, as if awkwardly removed from their original places. Plus, they are somewhat limited to the 18th and 19th centuries.

   For my purposes--clip art--this book didn't really help very much. I did wind up finding one illustration for my wedding invitation, but not much more. For those interested in a much wider array of illustrations, and those who wish to use illustration for clip art, I would instead recommend _The Clip Art Book_ by Gerard Quinn. In the latter book you'll find machines, animals, people, letters, and more. All done in a great variety of styles. Even those who aren't interested in "clip art" will find Quinn's book to be a more encyclopedic array of illustration. It's the diversely illustrated book which this "encyclopedia" fails to be.




4. This is not a complete clip-art book. It is not a composite out of many sources, even in the 19th C, with different styles.
   
   This is the complete collection of b&w engraved plates from a single German encyclopedia, 1851, but only the plates and their captions. Subject areas include mathematics & astronomy (sky charts); physics & meteorology; chemistry, minerology & geology; botany; zoology; anthropology & surgery (anatomical); geography & planology (maps of continents, countries, and select cities); history & ethnology; military science; naval science; architecture (w/plans of famous buildings); mythology & religious rites (as understood in 1851); the fine arts; & technology.
   
   So illustrations range from complex pulleys and horse skulls to knights in battle and how they built the Thames Tunnel. "Alphabets of Various Languages for the Use of Engravers" includes even samples of cuneiform. Two plates are on theatre architecture. Among the least satisfying may be the engravings of famous works of art for the Fine Arts section.
   
   At nearly 600 pages, landscape, the book is difficult to manage on a scanner. I just use a sharp craft blade and cut out close to the binding the pages I need to scan. Then I stick them back in the space. Bit by bit, they are becoming what the originals were, a portfolio of loose pieces. The maps went first: scanned at 400 dpi, they became readable on screen, where the print on the page was too small. I suspect the original plates were larger and were shrunk when photographed for reproduction.



5. This book is the Bible for anyone looking for a large collection and variety of quality engravings. I use this thing constantly and wouldn't mind seeing a vol. 2. seriously.
   
   FOR ARTISTS: To make this book more compatible with a scanner go to Kinko's and have them cut the spine off. Then have them 3-hole drill it. Then put the whole thing in a large 3-ring binder. Now each page can be easily removed and placed on a scanner.
   
   Seriously. How about a vol. 2?

No comments about Wood Engraving and Linocutting.

No comments about Rubber Stamping (A Passion for Paper).

No comments about Utamaro: Portraits from the Floating World.

2 comments about Cape Dorset Prints: A Retrospective: Fifty Years of Printmaking at the Kinngait Studios.

1. This book gave me a lot of inside information and history surrounding the development of Inuit print making at Cape Dorset. It contains many color plates of the art work and information and photos of the most famous artists. I really enjoyed reading it.



2. This is by far the best book on Cape Dorset artists and art I have ever seen and I have a colection of over 100 books. A must have and well worth the price.

No comments about Intaglio Printmaking (Printmaking Handbooks).

2 comments about Practical Quilling.

1. This book contains over sixty quilling projects for creating gifts, paintings, and cards in categories such as "Easy Floral Designs," "Weddings & Anniversaries," and "Christmas Cards." If you're interested in Victoriana or folk art, "Practical Quilling" will explain a simple decorative technique that was at one time referred to as 'paper filigree.'
   
   Supplies include quilling paper (which you can buy pre-cut into strips), quilling tools which resemble small long-needled awls, blank cards, scissors, straight pins, and glue (I suggest paper glue). Another very useful piece of equipment is a quilling cork board marked with circles where you can pin your petals, rolls, leaves, and hearts into (say) a Christmas wreath before gluing the individual pieces together. An optional piece of equipment is a fringing tool ($50 at the quillingsuperstore.com). You might also want a paper crimper. Both of the latter items are needed for any fancy flower creations.
   
   Unfortunately, this Aussie author has not created very clear, easy-to-understand diagrams to work from. Her drawings are filled with mysterious X's O's and spirals which are not shown to scale on a grid, which would have made them easier to copy. There are some very cute projects in "Practical Quilling" including a jaunty frog, and some very beautiful flower cards, but I would recommend Malinda Johnston's "Paper Quilling" Weekend Crafter manual over this book for ease of use.



2. This is an excellent book for quillers of all skill levels. I've been quilling for over 45 years and this is one of my most worn books.
   
   She has 8 pages of basic instructions including how to create fringed flowers and roses. She also has information on using metallic papers, sealing your project and crimping.
   
   She has both drawn patterns and color pictures. There are very clear instructions on what each mark on the drawings mean. In one the x denotes fringed flowers. At the top of the instructions is a ledger that explains what each mark means. The instuctions are easy to follow and explain the steps in creating your coils and joining them to create a design.
   
   with over 70 projects this book is a very good value.

1 comments about R. Atkinson Fox & William M. Thompson : Identification & Price Guide 2nd Edition.

1. You need to know that there are NO color pictures in this guide. This book has small b&w photos of what must be nearly all of R.A. Fox's prints with a price guide. It's great to know all the names of the pictures that I have, and the one's that I've seen that I would like to have. However, this book is better for someone with better eyes than I have. For me, the b&w photos are too small to distinguish much of the detail.

5 comments about Obsolete Paper Money: Issued by Banks in the United States 1782-1866: a Study and Appreciation for the Numismatist and Historian.

1. This book is not your typical data book with only pictures and current values for each note (such as Haxby, etc). It is a history book of many notes issued in the United States. It covers the years 1782 - 1866 and is mainly focused on "obsolete notes."
   
   For those who only collect notes as a commodity, this is not the book for you. For those who collect to own a piece of history, this IS a great book for you. Given the large task that the author had, he has done a very nice job. If he were to cover every detail of every note, he would never finish. However, the final work is very nice!
   
   I give it 4.5 stars and not 5 because he did not (and could not) cover all notes and history.



2. Bowers has compiled a substantial body of material that traces the evolution of American currency from the wampum used by native Americans and early settlers to the broken bank notes that effectively disappeared after the Civil war. Even a tome this size is unable to cover that much ground in any real depth, but Bowers makes intelligent decisions about when to go into depth and when to trace the superficial edges. On the whole, this is an invaluable resource for the beginning collector who wants a lot of information in a single place.



3. if you are looking for a great history reference that shows how paper money fits into the history - this is your book, Mr. Bowers does a great job in researching his history and he shows how the currency and banking fit.
   
   If you are looking for a good paper money reference, you will find this book very frustrating to use. As a paper money reference I thought it to be very disorganized and frustrating for me to use. BUt this book is still a great addition to my library.
   
   Coverage of Northeast states like Maine, was excellent and probably better done here than elsewhere.
   What I can't understand is why Mr. Bowers tries to do everything, when there are still books needed in areas where he has the most expertise.
   
   I liked the book.



4. This will be the authority on broken bank notes and obsolete currency for years to come. Mr. Bowers is no doubt one of the very few individuals in the world that could bring all this material together and make an extremely readable and much needed volume available to numismatists and students of economic history.



5. Not what I was looking for. It sounded like there was pricing information in book, but there was none.