2 comments about The Watchmaker's and Model Engineer's Lathe: A User's Manual.

1. I can not say enough good things about Mr. de Carle.
   Thank you for your instruction.



2. This book is divided in two parts. The first half of the book covers the overall concepts and use of watchmaker's lathes. The second half reviews all the models that might be typically found. Not entirely encompassing list... but pretty close.

   If you are considering buying a watchmaker's lathe... this is a MUST HAVE book. Also, this is highly recommended for any one who likes lathes in general.

   It's obvious the author really cares about his subject. It is enjoyable to read. The diagrams are excellent.

   Crazy as this sounds, the photos are very good, but actually I thought the line art of the machines (like you see in the Wall Street Journal) is more understandable than regular photos.

   Originally published in 1952, it has been updated over the years in several editions. This fifth edition in 1998 incorporates much of the original material... in the areas of general concepts. Then it substantially revises the second half of the book regarding the lathes of the world that are generally found.

   The book lists lots of good resources in the back -- for manufacturers, etc.

   John

No comments about Inspired Jewelry.

2 comments about Dinnerware of the 20th Century: The Top 500 Patterns (Official Price Guides to Dinnerware of the 20th Century).

1. As a fan of mismatched china, whose collection has been profiled in the New York Times, I recommend DINNERWARE OF THE 20TH CENTURY to both expert dealers and novices who love to entertain in style.
   
   Organized alphabetically first by manufacturer and then by pattern name, this guide is illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs. And it contains all the the information you will need to buy, store, care for, display, replace and value every known piece of the 20th century's top 500 china patterns.
   
   Complete with a glossary of dinnerware terms and a brief history of every manufacturer, DINNERWARE OF THE 20TH CENTURY is a highly recommended reference book for anyone who appreciates a well set table.
   - Regina McMenamin



2. As a novice dealer of new and antique dinnerware, this book has been an invaluable resource for identification and valuation. You will not learn a lot about any one manufacturer in this book because it focuses on the most desirable PATTERNS, featuring clear photos and basic pricing information. I find myself leafing through it often, even when I'm not looking for a particular pattern. If you don't specialize in one manufacturer's wares, but buy and sell a lot of different patterns, you really shouldn't be without this handy reference book. I hope Mr. Rinker will team up with Replacements to produce Volume II - The Top 1000 Patterns, 501-1000.

No comments about Courbet.

5 comments about Chinese Domestic Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings (Dover Books on Furniture).

1. gustav ecke/s book gives excellent photos of a wide range of chinese furniture. Some of the illustatrations of the joiney were not as clear as we would like, but nonetheless it is a commendable effort in bringing to the forefront the wonderful harmony, symmetry, and proportion of chinese furniture. I used this book as a reference to view some excellent examples of chinese furniture at the nelson atkins museum kansas city mo.The book lacked any details of tools and techiques. I am guessing that the reason for that is the author is an academic not a craftsman



2. I was amazed by the furniture in this book. The drawings illustrate a level of craftsmanship that is stunning and humbling to a western wood-worker. The joinery is something to be aspired to and was inspiring to me.



3. Good book but it would have been nice to have more detail about the joinery and construction basics of Chinese furniture.
   
   Still it's a nice one...



4. Very few books on furniture - Chinese or otherwise - do as successful a job. Not only is the history discussed and the pages well illustrated (in black and white), but timeless scholarly discourse is offered and revealing disective drawings provided. This is a must and you will see how the author has laid the foundation for more recent works on the subject since it has become vogue.



5. This book is worth the money. I was looking for book on Chinese furniture as a resource for woodworking. This book is a Dover reprint of a limited edition by Gustav Ecke in 1944. Inside are about 160 plates most of which are black and white pictures, though some are drawings. I believe one will get a good overview from the plates. I found the text a little less informative than the plates but pictures are what I was looking for.

5 comments about B.J. Summer's Guide To Coca-Cola (B J Summer's Guide to Coca Cola Identification).

1. I recently had the opportunity to review another company's Coca Cola collectibles book, they too a well respected publisher of antique and collectibles books and there's no doubt about it, the B.J.Summers Sixth Edition guide has got that one beat hands down. This is a thoroughly beautiful book. Hardcover, thick, glossy stock pages, and fantastic photography highlight this book.
   
   The introduction provides legend keys to the condition as well as the source of the item's value which I think is very important. Summers lets the reader know if the value came from a collector, a completed auction, a dealer, or the author himself. The book then presents 46 different item categories, everything from signs, bottles, calendars and trays, to more eclectic items like Jewelry, no-drip protectors, and ashtrays. There's also a miscellaneous chapter for items that don't fit into one of the other 45 categories.
   
   I was absolutely fascinated by the number of items pictured in the book. With nearly 300 pages and as many as 10 items pictured per page, there are literally thousands of different Coke items pictured. The signage is simply fantastic, particularly those featuring celebrities such as Eddie Fisher and jazz musician Lionel Hampton. In all there are 82 pages of signs alone. Does it picture EVERY Coca Cola sign ever made? Of course not, but what book does? Still even if you have one that isn't pictured, you should be able to find one similar that you can use as a basis for value.
   
   I really enjoyed the section on coolers and those bright, red coolers of days gone by. I remembered the old Coke cooler we used to have back in the early 70's. Like a lot of people, I love the Coke Santa items, especially those great ads by Haddon Sundblom which look great framed and are still very affordable today.
   
   The problems are few and minor. The categories could have been laid out in alphabetical order but instead there seems to be little rhyme or reason to the order. That said, it's still a truly wonderful book that will delight collectors or just plain fans of nostalgia.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson



2. This was a very helpful and informative guide to Coca-Cola collectibles. I would highly recommend it to any serious collector. Full of valuable information.



3. We have quite a few old Coke signs and none were in this guide. We were disappointed to say the least.



4. Pros: Extensive selection of signs and cardboard items with lots of nice colour photos throughout. Many items in this book aren't in Petrettis, so it makes a good companion. All up I am happy with this book and use it regularly to price and check items.
   
   Cons: The book is hoplessely laid out and it can be very hard to find items as it seems there is no logic to the order items are listed or displayed. It seems the entire book is largely made up from the collection of one or two private collections and as such prices can be inflated compared to market values, plus many items are missing simply because these collectors didn't feel they are important enough. As with most other Coca-cola collectors books this one is entirely US centric with very little information on foreign items.



5. *****April 2005 UPDATE: "Could be great" but after seeing the 5th edition, the publisher has taken a book with great potential and flushed that potential down the toilet. What they did was gloss up the paper and make it look old-fashioned (it doesn't work for me, but maybe it will for others), but the huge mistake is that they actually dropped a significant number of items from the book and went overboard hiking up the price values! If you are a serious collector, browse through the 5th edition at a bookstore, before buying it. END UPDATE*****
   
   This guide has great potential, but somebody should do some usability studies on it to make it better. It's a chore finding a specific item. For example, collector trays: I still can't figure out what logic was used to arrange/order them in the book. By title? By name? The index at the back of the book is incomplete and often worthless. For example, there's a whole section on blotters in the front index, but try finding "blotter" in the back index.
   
   Prices are conservative. Unrealistically low in many cases.
   
   There are items that aren't found in other guides, and the color pix are exceptional. I really like this guide, but it has design flaws that need to be fixed.

3 comments about French Furniture : From Louis XIII to Art Deco.

1. I'm an interior designer who collects important period 18th century French furniture. This book IS THE MOST EFFICIENT general reference to the particular periods covered and a minute step beyond the basics and generalities. For serious collectors & those who have already done their major homework - it is doubtful that you would attain additional knowledge from this book.



2. If you only have one reference book in your library on French Furniture, this is the one. For the beginning collector, the book provides clarification on terms and furniture types. For an appraiser, it's a great resource to help with identification of those forms which you do not see very often. There are only sketches, but they are clear, and provide very good detail. For those who simply want a better understanding of French furniture, this book is put together very well, and is easy to follow.



3. I am new to the techniques and methodologies of identifying French furniture. This book provides a good glossary of French terms which describe the characteristics of pieces and it provides a modest description for the common pieces made in the various styles. Line drawings and sketches provide examples of the characteristics described in the text. There are no photos, but the sketches are quite good. I'm rating the book a four because I think there should be more sketches. Not all the items described are exemplified with a drawing. Otherwise, this is a great book for getting started. The content is clear and does not bog down in minutia.

1 comments about Silk Art Embroidery: A Woman's History of Ornament & Empowerment.

1. 
   I spent two days reading and enjoying the wonderful content of this book. Donna Cardwell has gone to great lengths to show every aspect of Silk art embroidery as well as create a charming description for every piece of embroidery she has shown. The close up and colorful pictures are marvelous. Donna has inverviewed the best of the best when it comes to these fine linen techniques. Since I am a virtual "novice" in the world of linens and lace, I will treasure this book as a source for my on-going research and collection. Thank you Donna, for supplying a guidebook and a truely remarkable and fun reading experience that I am sure, will be enjoyed by all who read it. Sincerely, Marjorie Bednarek-White Bear Lake, MN

5 comments about Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them.

1. I have nothing to add to all the other five star reviews, just that this book is amazing, a real labor of love, huge amount of illustrations and history, and impossible to put down. it's worth every penny of the list price as a fascinating coffee table book, and you can get it for ten percent of the list value, used,as well. apparently there were two publishers with two titles, 'timeless toys', and 'playmakers' seems to be the same book.



2. I happened upon this book browsing through a used book store. I sat down and started flipping through the pictures and descriptions of familiar, famous toys, and COULD NOT put the book down! I bought it that night, of course, and was even more spell-bound the more I read. I was astounded by Tim Walsh's research; the large, bright photographs; and the intimate history of the development of so many toys that are part of any American children's heritage. Learning that Mr. Potato Head originally came without the potato (children used a real one!), seeing all the variations of Candyland (found my own version: 1970's), and reading about what made the Cabbage Patch Doll craze (4th grade - I remember so clearly!) was fascinating. It was my treat to read every day coming home from work until sadly, I finished it! But, as a 5th grade teacher, I promptly took the book to school and watched with delight my students' reactions as they discovered interesting and arcane facts about toys they all knew about as well (how long some toys have been around got the biggest reactions). It was passed around the classroom for several weeks. I cannot recommend this book too highly!



3. As someone interested in toys and collecting, I've read lots on the subject. But Tim Walsh still told me things I didn't know. The best part is that someone with no interest in the subject will still find this lavish, inviting coffee table book an enthralling read. The reason is the author, Tim Walsh. Most toy collecting books start with no criteria as to what goes in and what stays out of the book. Tim did. One criterion was that the toy had to be created or invented by an outsider. Thus, a lot of well- known toys already didn't make the cut.
   
   The ones that did have stories a lot better than the title, Timeless Toys, makes them sound. By that I mean that this isn't one of those nostalgic "see how much better these simple toys were than all your overdone gadgetry?" books that abound in collecting circles. You might come to that conclusion, but Tim started somewhere else. When he made his own games, he started asking questions about others. Why is the box like that? Why is this that color? Where did they get that name?
   
   Those are the same questions one asks playing with toys. The cynical answers are that marketing research showed that more people would pick up the package if it were blue, and a computer poll of all co-eds showed they liked the letter "Z". But Tim shows, thank heaven, that those cynical answers are wrong. Lots of great toys came from accidents, and many inventors began with a sense of wonder.
   
   Tim doesn't stop there. Those outsiders need insiders to make a toy. Tim covers all that, including the most famous toy designer, Marvin Glass. As with Andy Warhol, the Glass name covered a design team, and Tim introduces some of the faces behind the scenes. Many toys were inspired by other toys, and Tim traces the roots back. His findings usually don't jibe with the urban legends surrounding their creations, and when there are multiple tales, Tim tells them all.
   
   The most interesting parts to me are some that might be overlooked. They are small sidebars showing the origins of a toy and some of the companies that have made it. Often the company names change because the companies are bought by other firms. A decade ago Tyco was bringing back all the classic toys that ever existed, having bought those companies or their toy molds. Where's Tyco now? I wondered, until Tim revealed it was bought by Mattell.
   
   Tim also tells the origin of many toy companies, including one started by two guys named Matson and Elliot. I've read about Wham-O before, and even interviewed an animator who made Superball commercials, but Tim reveals the secret of how Wham-O made so many great toys. Tim also breaks it all down with by decade timelines. He often shows the box art of toys that were revived in various decades. Toy art in the '50s and '60s, much of it done by comic book artists, is a wonder to behold, while the overdone, throwaway art of today really does look like the result of committees on market research.
   
   The bad news is that this 300 page book is only about 75 toys. But that may be a good thing. Those interested might track down Bill Bruegman's Toys of the Sixties or related volumes to read on. Don't buy The Playmakers, though, because Timeless Toys is the new title of the same book. Tim Walsh convinced me that creative souls, even today, even if by accident, may still have a chance. If toys be the fruit of wonder, play on!



4. The author has created an excellent book covering the most popular toys of the 20th Century. As you go through this book, you are going to come across many toys you remember from your own lifetime. While some have faded with time, many are still popular and have entertained ever since they first appeared.
   The book takes a rather wide view of what a toy is; and includes many games,puzzles,and other things that have entertained young as well as those who are young at heart,if not in years.
   The first toy discussed was the Flexible Flyer sled.It brought back a memory to me ,since I had one as a kid.Mine had the straight-runner,and I ran into a gutter grate and punctured my thigh. It seems it happened enough that the runners were rounded.Then, there is the Big Wheel. The kid next door had one and he loved it so much ,he wore completely through the plastic wheels.
   Here, you will not only see great pictures of the toy or game ;but also the story behind its being invented and marketed. You will also learn about the person who invented it,details about patents,how many were sold;and lots of other interesting details. It's highly likely that you will find your favorite toy or game covered.
   At the back of the book you will find an extensive Bibliography. The book covers many games and puzzles.I have been a long time fan of puzzles and if you are interested in them ,I suggest a search under Jerry Slocum,[...]or The Slocum Puzzle Foundation,Beverly Hills,California.
   Overall,a wonderful book that would be interesting to just about anyone who enjoys toys,games or puzzles.



5. As a toy inventor I was surprised when I first saw the book by how beautifully designed it was as well as the extraordinary quality of the photography. On further examination, it greatly surpassed my first impression with its fascinating stories and (truly astonishing), that it got its facts right!
   
   In addition to the fun of seeing all those cool looking toys and taking a nostalgic look back over the last century, it's an historical tribute to American and American immigrant's genius and hard work that has given us all so much pleasure.
   
   treat yourself and your friends to this fine book.

1 comments about Gianfranco Pedersoli - Master Engraver.

1. This book is a masterpiece. Actually not the book itself, but all the Pedersoli work this book conains are just exceptional. Page after page after page just world class engraving with very good quality photos. All his engraving are so lifelike, created with love and executed superbly. If you are even little interested in engraving, then you have to get this book. And even if you're just into fantasy art, then his work has a lot of this too.
   
   Just plain amazing, what can I say.