No comments about Collectible Playing Cards (Collectibles).

1 comments about The Magnificent Flora Graeca: How the Mediterranean Came to the English Garden.

1. This astonishingly beautiful book covers little known facts of John Sibthroup eighteenth century botanical expedition to the Greek Island and Ottoman Empire. The book is lavishly illustrated in full-page color of the expedition artist Ferdinand Bauer. But of most interest are the black and white field sketches with Bauer's color chart coding and the herbarium specimens shown juxtaposed to the final painting. The first 97 pages give important information on Sibthroup, his preparation for the expedition and selected excerpts of the expedition its self. Page 99 to 125 discusses in detail Bauer. It speaks of his techniques, conditions in which he worked, and plight while under the employment of Sibthroup. I enthusiastically recommend this book. It is an essential book for botanical artists/illustrator and history buffs.

2 comments about Collecting Photography.

1. Content wise, the book is broken roughly into two halves. The first half of the book is a discussion on collecting photographs, how to build a collection, thoughts on value of photographs and a discussion of collecting trends and strategies. The discussion is pragmatic and the author shares good insights to anyone looking to become a collector no-matter what their budget. The reader will come away well informed about what photography collection is all about and what to look for in selecting a photograph. This section is illustrated throughout with numerous examples of collected photographs, most of which are from the 20th century. These cover many different genres with some of them being famous whilst others are more obscure. You can spend a long time just browsing at these photos and getting inspiration from them.
   
   The second half of the book is text only and it contains a series of appendices including: a chronology of photographic history, a glossary of photographic terms and techniques (detailing the many numerous chemical processes that have been used in photographic history), a list of famous photographers and a list of places to buy photos internationally. All these act as valuable references.
   
   This book would be appreciated by anyone who has an interest in photography as an art, a collectable, or just something beautiful to look at. Overall, I found this really enjoyable to read as well as educational and it has inspired me to buy the odd photograph on-line.



2. I found this brilliant book during a research of reading materials for my university's "Art and technology" class. It is not only a good resource for the photo collecting industry, but also a good read for those who are interested in exploring how people's perceived value towards an image is affected.

5 comments about American Tobacco Cards: A Price Guide and Checklist.

1. It was not what we were looking for. We wanted sports cards and this was mainly girly cards. We put it in the trash.



2. This comprehensive and superbly organized work is richly supplemented with numerous color and B/W photographs. A brief and informative history about various tobacco products/inserts and manufactures is provided. The book is organized principally into two units: N-series for 19th century cards (N1-N694) and T-series for 20th century cards (T1-T177). Each entry includes a brief description of the set and card appearance (front and back). The overwhelming majority of entries include an actual size photograph of a representative card (front and back) and a list of all cards in the set. Comments pertaining to card variations and prices are useful. The edge of each page is labeled with the set number to aid with rapid location of descriptions and card images. The work is peppered throughout with short vignettes and essays (published previously in various trade journals) by Dr. Terry Mitchell about specific sets or card themes. Although this is a soft cover book, the pages are printed on high grade gloss stock paper that tolerates repeated handling. Suprisingly, the book is neither overwhelming or boorish in its presentation. The brief descriptions and inclusion of images for virtually every set are effective strategies and make the book exceptionally user-friendly. No other work to date has done such a masterful job at capturing the variety of subjects, visual appeal, and historical allure of tobacco cards. This book is a must-have item for novice collectors and enthusiasts.



3. A beautifully executed publication, however as a collector of Victorian Trade Cards, I was greatly dissapointed NOT to find ANY of the cards in my collection listed. I would have expected at least ONE to have been referred to, but the items in the book are mostly geared to the collector of tobacco insert cards. If this is your thing, this is your book. Forget it if you are more geared to Tradecard collecting



4. The book is great historical lesson. Reading about the history of the Tobacco cards has been very informative. The writers have dedicated many hours to thorough research of this topic.



5. Colorful and interesting pictures provide an easy to use reference guide. The text is clear and concise with indepth information on value and various other aspects of collecting. I would highly recommend this book for serious collectors, antique dealers and those interested this aspect of American history.

No comments about Cave, City, and Eagle's Nest: An Interpretive Journey through the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2.

No comments about Encyclopedia of Collectible Children's Books.

1 comments about Perspectives on American Book History: Artifacts and Commentary (Studies in Print Culture and the History of the Book series).

1. This is a book whose time has come! Never before has such an interesting set of essays on American print culture been collected in one place. It was a stroke of genius to supplement it with a CD-ROM. In this way the book in itself is a testament to the amazing journeys American print culture has taken!

   The editors have done a terrific job of ensuring readability and compatibility throughout the essays included here. At [money], it's not exactly a steal, but still worth every penny. Destined to become the benchmark against which all other books on the topic are measured.

No comments about Baseball Books: A Collector's Guide.

2 comments about Words And Image in the Book of Kells.

1. Pulliam's text is an important addition to the ongoing study of the Book of Kells. Her analysis of placement, design, coloring, and symbolism for every illuminated initial in the manuscript is extensive. Pulliam breaks new ground in that this is the first study of its kind (to my knowledge), specifically focusing on initials within the manuscript, to be conducted on the Book of Kells. Although occasionally, Pulliam seems to stretch a bit in her individual analyses, overall she supports her argument well and consistently maintains her methodology. With the exception of numerous non-translated Latin passages , Pulliam's style and language are easily approachable, and any scholar, regardless of discipline, should have no problem following the text. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Book of Kells, especially regarding its function as an art object. I believe that Pulliam has added valuable information to the current study of the manuscript and has provided a thorough examination of one particular element that is traditionally overlooked in its study.



2. I'm no expert, but I think this is the best work written on the Book of Kells EVER! The author captured my interest from the very first page and I wasn't able to put the book down until I finished it. I realize that it's rather expensive for a book, but it truly is worth every penny. If you're only going to own one book on this subject, you should buy Heather Pulliam's. Even if you never get around to reading it, the cover is really pretty!

2 comments about Voynich Manuscript an Elegant Enigma: An Elegant Enigma (Cryptographic Series , No 27).

1. The book has references to the text, but doesn`t have the specific entries next to the words so you`re constantly going back and forth between reading and flipping to back pages. Overall a dry read like that of a student paper. Whatever search engine you use just type in Voynich Manuscript and print what comes up (.......believe me it`ll be a book unto itself.)



2. D'Imperio, a cryptographer, collected and summarized all previous research on the Voynich manuscript in 1978. Sometimes dubbed the "most mysterious manuscript in the world," the Voynich Manuscript (VMS) was written at least 300 years ago (no one is sure quite when) in a fantastic unknown script, in an unknown language, by an unknown author. Given the strange illustrations (duplicated in this book) present in the VMS, it could contain secrets of astrology, alchemy, or ancient herbal knowledge. Now, thanks to the internet, a concerted effort to "crack" the message has been born, and D'Imperio's monograph has become the bible of serious researchers and hobbyists alike. Full of references and historical data related to the VMS, this work is a must for anyone intersted in mysterious history and culture, alchemy, or cryptography.