1 comments about Historical Scripts: From Classical Times to the Renaissance.

1. A very well conceived book, with superb photos (all black and white), with one line of each script reproduced in its actual size. Painstaking research resulting in a magnificent selection of manuscripts.
   It is divided in 6 sections:
   Classical letters (Greek and Roman inscriptions);
   Majuscule Scripts (Rustic Capitals, Square Capitals, Greek Uncials, Latin Uncials);
   Emergence of the Minuscule (Roman Half-Uncials, Insular Half-Uncials, Caroline Minuscules [Continental style Caroline], English Caroline Minuscules, Compressed Caroline Minuscules, Italian Caroline Minuscules);
   Gothic Scripts (Protogothic, Gothic Quadrata, Gothic Prescissus [Praescissa, sine pedibus], Gothic Textura, Gothic Batarde);
   Capital Development (Caroline Capitals, English Capitals, Early Gothic Capitals, Gothic Capitals);
   Humanist Scripts (Gothic Rotunda, Humanist Square Capitals, Humanist Italic Corsiva [bookhand and documentary hooked-ascender Cancellaresca], Humanist Italic Formata, Humanist Cursive).
   A glossary, a select bibliography, and indices (of names and of manuscripts) are included. Some of the works mentioned in the text are absent in the bibliography (e.g., Jean Mallon's Paleographie Romaine, Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1952).
   Attention is given to monumental epigraphy in the first plates.
   Though updated and correcting traditional misconceptions, this is primarily a book for historically-minded calligraphers, not for palaeographers, in that it excludes documentary and everyday scripts, as well as illegible (for today's standards) bookhands. Basically, only scripts from the times of Roman and medieval graphical unity, in their best calligraphic forms and insofar as they have `living descendants', are reproduced.
   Hands between the early Middle Ages and the emergence of the Caroline minuscule (precaroline or `national') are dismissed as "regional" or "local dialects"; thus the author puts aside Visigothic, Beneventan, and all the scripts derived from the New Roman Common Script (New Roman Cursive). Strangely enough (for those outside the Anglo-Saxon world) he makes place for the Insular scripts. Of the cursive gothic scripts, only Batarde (in a Bourguignonne-like version) is present, perhaps because it is similar to the many versions of the Secretary, despite being one of the most elegantly illegible hands of the late Middle Ages on account of its various forms for N, R, S, and of V-like Y and X, as well as its place rules for the use of V or U.
   There are no instructions on ductus, as previous knowledge of it is already assumed.

1 comments about A Guide to Collecting Cookbooks: A History of People, Companies and Cooking.

1. ...This Would Be It! Colonel Allen's enthusiasm for the subject led him to produce what is probably the definitive work in the field of collecting cookbooks. This book sweeps up both the new and the experienced collector into the fascinating world of vintage cookbooks and their value as a source of historical information. The only drawback I found was the grouping of books in categories for the price guide section, as I found myself thumbing through many places to locate a particular cookbook. However, it contains an exhaustive listing, and once you get used to it, the layout is only a minor annoyance. Along with Dickinson's and Barile's books on the subject, it is fast becoming dog-eared from daily use!

3 comments about The Tres Riches Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry.

1. Enter the magical medieval pages of the illuminated manuscripts of the gifted Limbourg brothers and discover a world long gone, but one which seems oddly familiar in a storybook sort of way. The colors (nicely reproduced in this hardback version of the book) will dazzle you - the skies were painted with an ultramarine made from costly lapis lazuli. The compositions, drawn in the pre-perspective days of the 15th century, will delight you. Many of the religious illuminations are moving - the Death of Christ captures the grim darkness into which the world has been cast in tones of grey and brown with only the shining gold halo of Christ piercing the gloom; God in his heavenly lunette above the picture looks sadly down on the scene, brilliant amidst reds, blues, and gold. But it is the pictures of the calendar - a wonderful record of daily life among the rich and the poor alike - that will charm you the most. The Duke feasts, the peasants warm themselves before fires, the plowman tills the soil, the farmers shear the sheep, and the pigs forage for acorns. And rising in the background of each of these magical scenes, in regulation storybook fashion, is a shining white castle. This hardcover version is a beautiful book that you will treasure for years.



2. Having read negative reviews of the cheap, paperback version of this book, I took a deep gulp and sprang for the expensive hardback. This is a case where spending more for the hardback version is more than worth it. The pictures are very large size format, with the gold intact (unlike the paperback version). The quality of the paintings is excellent. The book is beautiful to display, look at and/or study. I have been copying one of the illustrations, and having a great time.I love medieval illustrated books. I have not found another one in this large a format, with such detail. If you are into illuminated manuscripts, you must have this one, there can be no argument. (Hardback version)



3. The books begins with an introduction, then many images from the Tres Riches Heures, and at the end there is a commentary of the pictures.

   The big problem is that the pictures were made in the sixties, they are fuzzy, unsharp, the colors are not vivid and bright, such a very low quality of photocomposition is no more acceptable at the end of the 20th century. It is high time that a newer edition be made available in English, as is already the case in French.

2 comments about The Winchester Single-Shot, Vol. 1.

1. John Campbell is to the Winchester Single-Shots as Frank Sellers is to the Sharps. This book, and its Volume II, are outstanding books about John Browning's first gun. It covers EVERYTHING you will ever want to know about this rifle, and then some. It is a must for anyone interested in the history of John Browning, Winchester and the famous Model 1885 Single-Shot Rifle. The book is FULL of pictures, diagrams and information about the 1885, including every modification and improvement this rifle went through during its long years in production. It also gives unbelievable details about every customized option or version that the rifle was ever made into. So if you are interested in the Winchester Single-Shot and its history, this book is the one, of two, to read.



2. This book has it all for the 1885 enthusiast, as well as for anyone who has an interest in John Browning, Winchester Repeating Arms, single shot rifles, and/or the beginnings of the modern gun industry here in America. Highly readable, with plenty of facts, figures, and illustrations. Well-edited, and excellent graphic presentation. A beautifully written, edited, and executed book, and one that you will read several times for the sheer enjoyment.

   The quality of this book is a standard to which all others of its genre should be written to, but unfortunately too often aren't. I salute the author for a job truly well-done, and I unreservedly recommend this title to anyone who has even a remote interest in the subject matter; the cost of the book is money well-spent. The book is that good.

No comments about World of Aztecs: in the Florentine Codex (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana).

1 comments about Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship.

1. If you haven't already read "Old Books, Rare Friends" by the same authors, then you may enjoy this title.

   However, if you've already read "Old Books, Rare Friends," you'll probably be very disappointed. "Bookends" is a much shorter work, and much of it simply repeats "Old Books, Rare Friends."

   "Bookends" leaves out most of the stories concerning the authors' book collecting and instead focuses on their relationships with others (e,g,., men they didn't marry, mothers, dogs).

5 comments about Collected Books 2002 (Collected Books).

1. The Ahearns should first get credit for even attempting to compile this book in the Internet age of bookselling. Prices change quickly as books come on the market and dealers race to the bottom trying to get sales. Prices also skyrocket when something is actually scarce. To put a value on a book with the fluidity of the market is quite bold. Basically this is a very long list of rare, valuable and coveted books with "points" (I'll get to this below) and a price attached.
   
   I will not even touch on the price accuracy. I am a book dealer and have strong opinions about pricing and valuation. For the collectors trying to evaluate their collection just know that a book is worth exactly and only what someone is willing to pay. This amount can go up or down but a book's value is determined at the time of sale.
   
   So if prices are constantly in flux, and value is really determined by the particulars of a transaction, why should you buy this book? Mostly because very high end books are listed. For example, two of ten folios from James O. Lewis' Aboriginal Portfolio came up at a local auction house and there were none on the Internet at that time. The single source at my disposal that had information on this work was Collected Books. It was also useful in telling me that the American first edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in my possession preceded the British first - unusual for a work by a British author in 1885-6. This is tough information to come by for free on the Internet.
   
   You see, book dealers are tight with their knowledge and that is the other main reason to purchase this book. With pricing information easily available on the Internet, the only advantage we have are bibliographic details and memorization of vast numbers of books. The Ahearns have given you a valuable tool if you wish to learn the nooks and crannies of the high end book trade. Specific "points" - oddities which identify various states of a print run - are faithfully listed in this book and these are impossible to know without reference material. But beyond the bibliographic tidbits and very high end price info, this book is of limited value. The honest truth is most people who buy this book could much more easily find values by comparing prices on the Internet, because the books they have are probably not as rare as they think.
   
   In the back of Collected Books there is a selected bibliography of reference works. Specific bibliographies are often for first edition identification, and Collected Books is no replacement for your Zempel guide. So use this book for judging the price of very rare and expensive books which rarely make it to the market or for looking up bibliographic points if you do not have better resources. Read the author's introduction, and the "Using This Guide" chapter before you dare look at prices. Many customers have made a total and complete ass of themselves by not knowing the preeminent importance of condition in the rare book world. This book is of specific and limited value, just know what you are getting into.



2. Year after year, the Ahearns have turned out the most comprehensive guide to values. I have been a serious collector for years and always look forward to the newest edition. If you collect paperbacks, book-club editions, or buy for content rather than edition, then you probably won't enjoy this book. However, if you are into book collecting or want to be, then purchase the Bible of book collecting. In the genre "books about books," the Ahearns are tops!



3. {This} is a valuable book for collectors of first editions. It is the most comprehensive single-volume guide to current market values. The authors own and operate a bookstore in Rockville, Maryland, specializing in rare books and first-editions.



4. A must have if you've got the bug.



5. As Roget is to Thesaurus, so the Ahearns are to books. "Collected Books" is a massive listing of values for tens of thousands of books. Collectors will find the never-to-be-obtained rarities listed (entertaining to look up) but also the more attainable first editions in the $50-$500 range. This is a big book to lug along to a sale but, believe it or not, an enjoyable browse and a fine way for the aspiring collector to see which authors are more collectible.

   This book is NOT three things - reminders that the serious collector must, inevitably, accept the need for a number of references which will have some overlap.

   It is not a guide to identifying first editions - often a challenge for the large number of pubishers who do not clearly indicate 1st ed status. For this I'd highly recommend McBride's pocket guide. It also isn't really a guide to "modern" first editions, at least those that are in the $30-$100 value range. You may find Uris or Ludlum's first two books here but not their 3rd or 5th. It MAY make a difference to you whether such a title is really worth the $30 a dealer is charging. For these books I recommend Lee's "20th Century First Edition Fiction." It is not merely a listing of authors' first books, although it includes those... for that, and a wider range of midprice authors, their "Book Collecting 2000" is great. .....

   Once you know what the book is not, you can determine if it is for you. The five-star rating applies to those buyers with a serious interest in collecting (or thinking about collecting) the roughly 20,000 most valued books. It includes all the good stuff. Where necessary it lists details of first-edition "points", the subtle details of identification that, for some books, distinguish earlier from later states. Alternate editions such as American and UK or limited or special editions are also priced separately. It is a useful, even entertaining, reference for the serious collector. Someday the online databases and search engines may supplant references like this (I do use them more often) but if you're a bibliophile your prime reference on books just has to be a book.

2 comments about Robert Crumbs Sex Obsessions.

1. Taschen and Robert Crumb together? Unbelievable, and that's exactly what this volume is, rich in color and otherwise unavailable stories. This is a massive compendium of one of the greatest artists of the last half a century. With a pulled, surprise print enclosed in it's own bound sleeve, this is truly a collector's item, but don't save for resale, open and enjoy. His work delves into not only his own obsessions and insecurities, but is one of the most insightful individuals rendering on paper the human condition. More often than not, it is right on cue and right on track. Slipcassed, signed, numbered and set in it's own private corrugated packaging, this is one volume absolutely not to be missed. But, you better hurry, only 1,000 copies were set for sale along with 200 artist's proofs set aside, so it won't be available long. The print enclosed, original art quality! Not a detail was missed. Thanks Taschen.



2. WOW! I JUST PURCHASED THIS AND ALTHOUGH I WAS WARY OF THE HIGH PRICE, I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED! WITHOUT GOING INTO DETAIL I WILL SAY THAT ANYONE WHO ADMIRES ROBERT CRUMB SHOULD HAVE THIS. THE AUTOGRAPH ALONE IS WORTH IT AND THE SELECTED NUMBERED AND STAMPED PRINT IS ALSO WORTH IT BUT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK ARE THE REAL PLEASURE HERE. RARE AND COLORED STRIPS AND SKETCHES MAKE THIS A FANTASTIC READ. BEAUTIFULLY PUT TOGEHTER. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

1 comments about Isles of Gold: Antique Maps of Japan.

1. Sometimes you can just tell when a book is a labor of love, and "Isles of Gold" is definitely one of them. First things first, it is lavishly and profusely illustrated--there are 92 plates in all, most in color and all carefully reproduced and large enough that the reader can make out the neat little details (many of the plates fold out in order to achieve this effect). The maps themselves are something to behold. There are many types, both Japanese and European, overviews of the whole country as well as panoramic views of Japan's famous sites, maps fitting Japan into the larger context of the Buddhist cosmos as well as land survey results and city guides. As the book moves chronologically from the earlier maps to the mid-1800's, the accuracy increases of course, which is interesting in its own right. And yet the strange, unfamiliar, and implausible geographies of the earlier examples are as fascinating as they are incorrect (plus the European ones have all those funky sea monsters and mermaids and stuff, and the Japanese ones have their own cool quirks like islands of vampire vixens). In any case, almost all of them are aesthetically pleasing regardless of accuracy; indeed, some are practically works of art--including one by Hokusai himself.
   
   All of this would be a chaotic embarrassment of riches though without the author's fine essay. He has taken what could be an arcane, technical subject and made it eminently interesting and accessible, and transformed what would have been a pleasing if incoherent visual barrage into a very pleasant and educational guided tour. Especially noteworthy is the manner in which he not only balances his attention between the efforts of European and Japanese cartographers (which is rare enough) but actually addresses their interaction, the cross-fertilization of their ideas and techniques, so that our clearer understanding today of the planet on which we live definitely comes across as the cross-cultural endeavor it indeed is. The author has been collecting these maps for years (many of the illustrations are from his collection), and he definitely deserves our thanks for sharing his enthusiasm and his favorite treasures with us in this beautiful book.

5 comments about Speaking of Books: The Best Things Ever Said About Books and Book Collecting.

1. Books are one of the most precious possessions we humans can have; they are our history, our knowledge, our culture, and the largest record that we exist. And, in Speaking of Books, the reader will find page after page of the words we have used throughout recent history to lovingly (and at times not so lovingly) talk about our books.
   
   Whether you are a biblioholic/bibliomaniac or you just love to read the books in your local library ("No place affords a more striking conviction of the vanity of human hopes than a public library" -Dr. Samuel Johnson), this book will entertain and enlighten you about our love affair with the bound written word. From the well known such as Edgar Allen Poe and Ralph Waldo Emerson to the obscure, people have been writing and talking about books since the book was first published.
   
   "The trouble with this book is that its covers are too close together." - Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
   
   >>>>>>><<<<<<<
   
   A Guide to my Book Rating System:
   
   1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
   2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
   3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
   4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
   5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.



2. The editors have collected many powerful sayings and arranged them under twenty different topics to create a very useful compendium. It is a wonderful reference for anybody especially writers, readers, speakers, collectors, and people who love books in general. The mixture of funny quotes, inspirational sayings, and aggressive thoughts would surely challenge the readers' thought processes about each adage. An index of authors is provided at the end of the compilation for easy search. Although it is supposed to be a reference book, reading it from start to finish is pretty exciting.



3. 1) There are more good books than any single person can ever read in their lifetime
   2) A sick child at home may in reading a book have a true adventure in mind
   3) Not all books are good ones. There are bad books in the world- there are Evil ones that have brought great disaster and suffering.
   4) A book can tell us more about strangers than we can ever know about people close to us
   5) Each of us is a book or many books. And perhaps one day in the Great Library of the Future there will be a book for each of us that tells our life story.
   6) The greatest book there is is the Book of Books-and the author is G-d.
   7) Shakespeare did not write his plays to be books- and yet what greater books are there than Lear and Hamlet and Macbeth and Julius Caeasar?
   8) A book a day keeps the Alzheimer's at bay.
   9) A book about books is a booklover's delight
   10) Let us all praise our favorite books.



4. This compendium of quotes is divided into 20 chapters (some more vaguely defined than others), each with a short introduction, including:
   
   The Pleasures of Reading
   The Pleasures of Buying and Owning Books
   Bibliomania
   How to Read
   Lending and Borrowing Books
   What Books Can -- and Cannot -- Teach Us
   Collector and Collecting
   The Book Trade
   The Enemies of Books
   Libraries
   Good Books and Bad
   Books and the Young
   Authors and Their Readers
   
   Quotes range in length from one sentence to paragraphs, and are by authors and readers, most pro some con. Unfortunately, not all are dated or sourced. An author index can help you locate musings by particular people.
   
   The font is large and clear, and the book format makes this a pleasure to read.
   
   Fun browsing material for book lovers.



5. A great effort by the editors of another great book "A Passion for Books".As a lover of books and reading I am attracted to books on books.It takes a pair like Rabinowitz and Kaplan to do a real good job of producing such good results.Books on books and books of quotes seem to be topics that edited book producers and publishers seem to believe are a snap to produce.I haven't checked ,but I would suspect R&K could but wouldn't crank out a book on some other subject ie.Birdwtching even if prompted by a publisher.I think this is why these two books are so good.I find editors that pump out books on a variety of subjects produce mediocre results and fall in the same realm as those referred to by Francis M Cornford on page 209 "University printing presses exist,and are subsidized by the Government for the purpose of producing books which no one can read;and they are true to their high calling".These kind of books can often be identified as having received a grant by a government or other body that believes that they,rather than the buyer, should decide what is worth publishing.
   as having received some sort of