1 comments about Collecting Edgar Rice Burroughs.

1. As an avid Burroughs collector, I awaited the receipt of "Collecting Edgar Rice Burroughs" with great anticipation. After reading the book, I debated whether to return it for a refund. It is of almost no value to a collector. First, it contains no information about any of the Tarzan books. Secondly, it contains no information or valuation for any of the A.L. Burt or Grosset and Dunlap editions of Burroughs books. Thirdly, valuations for first editions are only given with the dust jacket, no value is given for the book without the dust jacket. Fourthly, the values given for those first editions are grossly inflated. I regularly buy those same books in Burroughs auctions for approximately 1/10th the price at which Erardi valuates them. Fifthly, none of the information needed to discriminate between a first edition and a second printing is given.

   There is really very little information in this book. It consists mostly of color pictures of various dust jackets and paperback and pulp covers. If pictures of the artwork are what you want, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a reference book to help in your collecting of Edgar Rice Burroughs, look somewhere else.

5 comments about Marilyn Monroe: Cover to Cover.

1. This thoroughly unique and enjoyable approach to the documentation of Marilyn's career is a comprehensive collection of magazine covers from all around the world, featuring her throughout her career. The whole is an eclectic gathering of photos highlighting her metamorphosis from unknown young model to luminous superstar.
   
   Although many of the more well known American covers are absent, there is plenty here to satisfy! The variety and sheer number of colorful covers is impressive. The memorable quotes that accompany so many of the covers capture the essence of her endearing personality without being an actual biography, and the timeline is a good but brief overview of many of the important events in her life.
   
   Although I am not an avid collector of MM memorabilia, I'm sure the pricing information would be valuable to those who are. I found comparing the various values to be very interesting reading. I can only imagine the painstaking work that went into identifying each of these photos and determining the worth of each cover.
   
   This would be a welcome and unique addition to any MM library - highly recommended!



2. This is an unusual outstanding picture book.
   
   Marilyn in unforgetable pictures.
   
   Thank you!



3. I absolutely loved this book! It was fantastic. Marilyn Monroe was such a beautiful, talented person and this book definitely shows it. The pictures are sharp and bright and the captions are wonderful. The variety is nothing short of impressive. I highly recommend this "coffee table book" to any Monroe fan!



4. Now in a revised second edition, Marilyn Monroe: Cover To Cover by Clark Kidder is a unique collection for the fans one of Hollywood's best known personalities, as it features full-color illustrations of numerous magazine covers that showcased this talented actress and American heartthrob. Each picture offers a brief caption or memorable quote (often by Marilyn herself) about the picture, as well as the average selling price for good condition copies of the magazine. Marilyn Monroe: Cover To Cover is a very highly recommended resource for celebrity memorability collectors in general, and Marilyn Monroe fans in particular.



5. Clark Kidder has done it yet once again. His magnificent Marilyn Monroe magazine collector guide " Cover To Cover " is lavishly illustrated with gorgeous Norma Jeane covers from around the world. This book is very helpful for Marilyn Monroe collectors. I have been collecting Marilyn Monroe Memorabilia since 1991 and everytime one of Clark's great Marilyn books come out I learn so much valuable information. This book gets my highest recommendation. Simply delightful and is a definite must have referance guide for any serious Marilyn Monroe collector. Clark Kidder is a Marilyn Monroe Super Collector and his work promoting the hobby of collecting Marilyn Monroe memorabilia has done wonders for the hobby. Two Thumbs Up!

1 comments about Antique Maps: Postcard Book.

1. I was a little surprised by the size of the book (see dimensions): the book is a little bigger than most other postcard books--and sometimes, bigger cards are just what you need! Every map card has a very nice translation/description on the back of the card; each card is very glossy and beautiful.
   I am a fan of antique maps as is, but seeing this postcard book was really exciting: it has maps ranging from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. There are several world maps, as well as maps of separate countries--there is even a map of the moon! If you love the colorful maps of past centuries, you know the ones--the ones with travelers in the corners of the maps, with the depictions of the winds personified along the borders--this book is certainly for you.
   I own many postcard books, and I have to admit that this is one of the best ones!

No comments about Irene Avaalaaqiaq: Myth and Reality.

1 comments about Comics Values Annual 2005: The Comic Book Price Guide (Comics Values Annual).

1. Every year, when this time comes around I'm happy for two reasons. First it is Spring, and we can stop wearing all those heavy winter clothes, and second because the new CVA is in (or is it the other way around?)
   
   CVA is easily the bestest, most organized, and fully realized comicbook price guide on the market. It is assembled by a crack team of professionals dedicated to the project, and thoroughly respected in the field of comics and collectibles.
   
   This one far and away beats the competition. Always with great articles and/or interviews, as well as easily organized into "company" chapters, which makes finding specific titles much simpler.
   
   Yes boys and girls, this one is - most definitely - the cat's meow!

5 comments about Collector's Guide to Early Photographs.

1. Perfect book for the beginner in the world of early photography. Details each type of early photo, describes the process used to make it, and explains how to identify it. The author also shares tips on buying: what to look for, what's exceptional, and what to avoid. Gives prices and lots of great picture examples, and details restoration efforts that beginners can and should do, as well as what NOT to do. Loved it and would highly recommend!



2. This book was great. I collect cabinet cards. They are not as collectible as other forms of photographs, and that makes it very hard to find good information. This book was very helpful. It gave me information to date them, and which one are rare, uncommon, and unusual.



3. I was blessed with a box full of old photographs, including some that I called "daguerreotypes", really not knowing what they were. I still have the photos in storage, but after reading this book, and having it on hand to refer to, I feel confident that I will be able to properly identify the photos. Most of these are from the mid 19th to early 20th century and this book covers this period exactly.



4. This is a marvelous book. It is chock-full of information on the various photographic processes of the early 19th century. It takes us from cased images (daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes) to photography on paper (calotypes, wet plates, albumen prints, cartes de viste, cabinet cards, sterographs) to late 19th century processes (dry plate, silver prints, platinum prints) and has a special section on US Civil War images. An exhaustive reference sure to please.



5. This has it all. I've seen a read a lot of collectable type books and this is the best. It contains everything you need to know about early photographs. This doesn't just tell you the prices but explains why certain photographs are valuable and all the history too.

1 comments about Alex Toth.

1. If I could have my wish and could become any artist that I wanted to be- I'd be Alex Toth.

   It came as a shock to me awhile back to finally realise that so much of the work that I admired over the years was drawn or designed by the same creative genius (Space Angel, Clutch Cargo, Space Ghost, Johnny Quest, Super Friends, The Rook, etc.)

   This is a truly remarkable book that actually gets inside the head of one of the all time great animators and illustrators. Not only do you get hard to find material from limited circulation publications (from Bravo for Adventure, to The Fox, to Zorro), but you also have a great deal of unpublished material from Toth's personal sketchbooks. Not only that, but the artist writes extensive commentary about just how he concieves both characters and plots. Further, he comments on the artists that most influenced his own work and development over the years.

   The introduction is written by Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates & Steve Canyon.)

3 comments about The Silent City.

1. This book is a perfect reflection of what is left when you exterminate the spiritual element of a society. This is what results when you forcibly amputate the "Holy" from Holy Russia. This is what is left- ashes, and stone, and zombies. It is a place of the living dead. Even the sadism of the police seems to lack any real animating passion. It is just a job, and if they are not brutalizing and humiliating someone (anyone really) then they aren't doing their job. Nothing personal. Even when the faceless, brutalized masses finally fight back there is no real heroism involved. It has as little meaning as a stampede at the stockyard....

   I've heard this book compared to Jack London's _The Iron Heel_ and Orwell's _1984_. I'd have to agree, this is the purely visual expression of the same anti-totalitarian theme. It works. If you really take it in, then it can't fail to give you nightmares. You can tell that the artist was raised under the specter of the Gulag. That's the difference, if an American tried a similar work it would have come across as just another horror show or comic book- a Russian does it and it comes across as a plausible reality. Maybe that explains why this work hasn't found a wider readership in the U.S.- no one wants to reflect on what it represents.

   Don't get the idea that this is only about the "Gulagocaust", for it isn't. It isn't even a condemnation of true socialism, for it is pointed out that the "socialist camp" had nothing really to do with socialism, but everything to do with camps. As is pointed out in both the introduction and afterword this book is about any system where people are treated as lifeless statistics. It could just as well represent the coming global world of corporate totalitarianism.

   Reflect on this book two or three times some evening before turning in. If it doesn't give you nightmares then you haven't really been paying attention.

   How do you know if your society is slipping into this nightmare? As the closing afterward says- when you find that empathy is impossible and prejudice is unavoidable.




2. Silent City is the best work of fantasy related artwork I have seen in a long time. Erez's works compare with those of Ron Spencer or Greg Horn, and are equally brutal in realism. Eric Yakin manages to combine light scaled cubism with modern realism in a bleak outlook of what may have been today. His youthful existance in Communist Russia truely shows through in this magnificent first work. Anyone and everyone should own a copy.



3. The artist, 18 when producing this debut wordless novel, attempts to depict the situations of the dehumanized, angry citizen under sadistic regime in the industrial wasteland. It is a good try but the artwork is a bit dull and flat in most of the pieces. One star for the attempt and another for the idea.

1 comments about The Golfer's Library: A Reader's Guide to Three Centuries of Golf Literature.

1. This book provides approximately half-page comments about the author's selection of the top 400 golf books. There are brief introductions describing the major works prior to each chapter, as well as general comments on building a golf library in the introduction.
   
   The book seems best suited for a golf book collector who may be beginning a collection, although more avid collectors will still gain some nice tidbits of information. In general, I think Daniel Wexler has done a fine job of introducing us to the cream of the crop and weeding out the junk. I was delighted to see that we shared positive opinions of some of the lesser known titles ("Great Golfers in the Making" comes to mind). Of course, in a book like this there is bound to be the "What, he didn't include that book". One of my favorites, the Golf Book of East Lothian, was not included. The descriptions of the books are accurate and often accompanied by his personal opinions, which are helpful when trying to decide if one should purchase a rare book without having had the luxury of physically seeing / reviewing the book ahead of time.
   
   "The Golfer's Library" has a unique format among golf collecting books. The book does not intend to provide a comprehensive list of all known golf books. For this, I would suggest "The Game of Golf and the Printed Word", although now becoming outdated (1985). For more of a historical perspective of golf books, consider a copy of "Aspects of Collecting Golf Books", (out of print, scarce). Another book, "An Introduction to the Literature of Golf", by Classics of Golf, is similar to Wexler's book in that it is a book about golf books, but the former describes far fewer books but in much greater detail.

No comments about Books On The Move: Tracking Copies Through Collections and the Book Trade (Publishing Pathways).