No comments about Greetings from San Francisco.

No comments about A Handbook for Booklovers: A Survey of Collectible Authors, Books, and Values.

No comments about Book of Matchbox Labels.

No comments about Short Stories Minibook: Most Popular Selection.

2 comments about Crimes of Writing: Problems in the Containment of Representation.

1. Ok, so the prose is dense, and she's read more books than you, and sometimes there's a bit of untranslated French (a pet peeve, I'll admit). Still, this is brilliant stuff. The chapter on graffiti is a classic-- the best theoretical treatement of graffiti available, and worth the price of the book by itself.



2. I was very excited about this book. Unfortunately it reads as though it were written by a graduate student has gone mad on speed. The simplest ideas are obfuscated by hideous prose. Here's an example: "In order to maintain imposture as a notion, we must also maintain a ficiton of seamless subjectivity." Otherwise stated: In order to act you have to pretend convincingly. Try it yourself, each page is packed with enough tangled syntax, overwrought diction, and unnecessary allusions to give a decent editor nightmares. Who is in charge of those grants, anyway? This is smart??!!

2 comments about A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books.

1. Again, the problem with buying unseen off the internet; being in love with the woodcuts of Durer and Altdorfer, I was hoping for an introduction to a wider range of such works by artists of the period. Unfortunately, what you get are not full page illustrations of the woodcuts, but photographs of the actual pages in the original books, curled edges and all, and usually in less than half-size so that one is straining to see the image. I presume this method of reproduction is meant for antiquarian book lovers, but certainly not for someone interested in the art. Know what you are getting and you won't be disappointed.



2. Author Daniel De Simone is curator of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress, and his background lends well to an authoritative survey of 19th and 20th century scholarship on early woodcuts in hand-printed books. Other experts join in the production of A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut In Early Printed Books with articles considering major woodcut book editions, from religious texts to period productions around the world. Add a healthy dose of color reproductions and fine close-ups and you have a seminal contribution to publishing history collections and supplemental reading lists -- as well as a specialty art library 'must'.

1 comments about Standard Guide To Golden Age Comics.

1. The first question that one may ask about The Standard Guide to Golden Age Comics is why would you need it if you have an Overstreet price guide. Good question, one which I will answer soon enough. The Standard Guide to Golden Age Comics is the 2006 edition from Krause Publications, who have been publishing outstanding books about collectibles for many years. This guide to strictly the Golden Age of comics covers titles from 1938 to 1956 with some 30,000 prices and is edited by Alex Malloy and Stuart Wells III, the same men who edit the Comics Values Annual.
   
   The book is laid out cleanly and neatly with a comprehensive index of artist name abbreviations. The listings are exhaustive with their notations of first appearances, notable appearances, origins, etc. Only a near mint price is listed but a condition and grading guide is included to calculate prices that are not in the top condition. Also important to note that the price is based on strict grading guidelines such as CGC which is why the prices will probably seem higher to collectors familiar with the Golden Age market. This is perhaps the only issue I can find fault with. While CGC is becoming more and more prevalent every day, I still think the average collector would prefer just traditional grading, although dealers may differ with me on that.
   
   So what makes this book worth purchasing if you already have an Overstreet? First, being dedicated to just Golden Age comics, as opposed to everything, this book doesn't have to use a minute font that you need a magnifying glass to read. Sorry, these eyes aren't as young as they used to be and a large typeface is appreciated. Second, it address a growing segment of collectors who ONLY collect Golden Age books and don't need a price guide with a bazillion different X-Men titles and variants to navigate through to find the book they want. Personally, I'd love to see Krause do a Silver and Bronze age price guide as well.
   
   The next great selling point is the over 900 cover reproductions in full color. You just can't beat color! I also love the fact that the editors didn't just reproduce covers of the usual superhero titles but also included many more obscure funny animal, war, and romance titles. The kind of books you just don't see every day.
   
   Finally, the book isn't padded at the back and front with dozens of pages of ads that I frankly don't care about. It's a trimmed down, streamlined guide that gets right to business and doesn't annoy the reader with a lot of fluff they'll never use. An indispensable guide for the Golden Age comic book collector or fan!
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson

No comments about The Proper Decoration of Book Covers: The Life and Work of Alice C. Morse.

1 comments about The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor: The Life of Christ Illuminated.

1. This art book shows brilliant medieval Gospel manuscript illuminations by renown Armenian painters. The quality of the art is world class and the quality of the reproductions is excellent.

No comments about The Book in the Islamic World: The Written Word and Communication in the Middle East.