2 comments about Viking Designs CD-ROM and Book (Dover Pictorial Archives).

1. Bought this book to help with tattoo ideas and concepts. Great art work and clear pictures.



2. The images are black-and-white. These particular designs tend to have a lot of interweaving patterns vaguely like Keltic knotwork but more irregular and "organic looking". There was plenty of detail to work with, and several formats are included. I used the TIFFs and converted to my own GIFs so that I could make the white parts transparent; this was quick and easy to do. I've had a hard time finding clip art suitable for my website so I am glad to have found several of the Dover clipart books.

4 comments about Prints and Drawings of Kathe Kollwitz.

1. This book is a great teaching aid for drawing and the transition from drawing to print processes. Great examples of the simplicity of marks necessary to create a form or mood recognisable to all. It is as much about what is left out as it is about marks made. Very dark subject matter delt with in a sensite way, a must for all for teaching and inspiration.



2. This large-scale volume does a very nice job of covering many of Kollwitz's finest works...and at a very nice price, thanks to Dover Publications.



3. Kollwitz was hated and persecuted by Hitler for taking the underside of humanity. She presents the real effects of modern warfare upon our defenseless civilians women and children. She presents the weary face of defenseless despair under relentless attack. She is the face which must be seen, like the courageous and proud Frida Kahlo, yet hers too weary for pride and fierce resistance.
   
   Get this book and LOOK . . .



4. Kathe Kollwitz shows real people dealing with the real problem of the Second World War. Her drawings are poignant reminders of the love and humanity that can exist in the midst of madness. She is also not afraid to show the horror of the war and the tolls it takes on its victims.

5 comments about A Dedicated Follower of Fashion.

1. I ordered the books for my boss, so I didn't actually read it. I did however meet the author!



2. Brubach's reporting on fashion is cultural as well as critical, making it some of the most intriguing writing in either the New Yorker, Atlantic, or New York Times in the last decade or more. This elegantly designed but engrossingly readable book is witty, scholarly and insightful, but still the best reason for buying this book is that it's a grand read if if you don't care about fashion as a daily fan. Like all additions to a home library, this illuminates a world from an intelligent, learned perspective. It will become a classic collection of essays.



3. Brubach does little to convince me that fashion is not, in fact, shallow and dismissable. She comes close to an epiphany of meaning in an essay about the French and the social reading of personal appearance, then loses her ground totally in an article about large size fashions, exposing her own biases without self-awareness. I only struggled my way through this because I'd both looked forward to it based on advance press (fished in!) and spent good money on it. I don't think I'll keep it; off to Half-Price Books for Holly.



4. Reader beware: if you buy this book expecting to find a fun, entertaining read about clothes, you'll be disappointed. However, if what you want is a book that provides insight into how fashion is a business, and the factors that influence the success of that business, then this may be the book for you. Another caution: although the print date is listed as 1999, the articles and examples were written much earlier.



5. Holly Brubach writes with intelligence and wit about a subject that most people dismiss. She understands the thoughtful, artistic aspect of fashion design as well as its more ludicrous side. Designers themselves should be happy with her writing because she takes them seriously, distinguishing art from hype. But it seems that some of them have banned her from their shows for not regurgitating their self-valuations. Brubach's writing compares very favorably to current art criticism and social commentary. But the best thing of all is that she is funny and entertaining, and you don't need to be a fashion insider to enjoy this book.

No comments about Careers!: Professional Development For Retailing and Apparel Merchandising.

3 comments about Decorative Corners CD-ROM and Book.

1. lots of choices for corner graphics and the cd was super uncomplicated, worked well on my mac and in photoshop



2. I was looking for copyright free art for a publication I was working on for a client...Dover never lets me down!
   
   The assortment of styles and topics in this edition is great. It will serve me well in future projects as well as the one I purchased it for!
   
   The ease of these newer editions with the CD-ROM's makes my job so much more enjoyable.



3. If you're looking for a selection of copyright-free clip art borders to use for websites, posters, flyers, or other projects, this is a nice collection. There are four versions of each image - one for each corner. The images included represent a variety of themes, including floral designs, ribbons, swirls, geometric patterns, Christmas, patriotic designs, stars, southwestern designs, and more. There are 200 black-and-white images in total, useable with either Windows or Macintosh. The graphics are all quite large on the CD-ROM, so you can re-size them in any graphics program to whatever dimensions you need. They are all available in GIF, JPG, BMP, PICT, TIF, and WMF formats, saved at 600 DPI. The book itself contains a preview of every image, each accompanied by the image number, so you can easily find the one you want on the CD-ROM. The CD fits into a plastic sleeve on the inside back cover of the book for safekeeping. I have used clip art from this and other Dover Clip Art books on numerous occasions, and have been quite happy with it.

5 comments about Scotch & Toilet Water?: A Book of Dog Cartoons.

1. Bought this as a gift. Recommend buying used, condition was totally perfect and with shipping only paid apx 5 bucks.
   Book is nice,not as funny as I thought, but guess you need to appreciate that kind of humor.Still nice, just not ROFL.



2. Already a New Yorker cartoon fan, I was excited to find this book in my vet's waiting room and had to get a copy for my husband. It's too funny. The facial expressions alone are worth the price.



3. ...you'll love this book. Just flippin' hilarious. A great gift, too.



4. As xpected, this was (is) great. It has given me LOL & tears.



5. Smart, crisp cartoons - many followed by a chuckle or a good belly laugh. My older son and I spent a good part of a rainy afternoon laughing together. As a woman who lives with four dogs, Cullum really hit the spot on many of the witty quips.
   Kate Nicoll, MSW of Soul Friends

No comments about The Book of Plants: The Complete Plates (Taschen 25th Anniversary Series).

2 comments about Mary Cassatt: Paintings and Prints.

1. I am a huge fan of Mary Cassatt as well as the Impressionist. This book as beautiful illustrations and very easy to read and easy to understand explanations about the paintings. I first checked this out at the library and enjoyed it so much, purchased it through an Amazon reseller for my personal enjoyment.



2. She called herself one of the Independents. The world remembers her as the Impressionist who painted "The Boating Party," the choice for a first-class U.S. postage stamp and one of the most widely reproduced paintings. She was behind America's first purchase of Impressionist art: a Degas painting. In fact, friend and mentor Edgar Degas advised her on the farther window light and floor for "Little Girl in an Armchair" and praised "Girl Arranging her Hair," the Japanese woodblock print inspired "Bath," and "Mother and Boy."

   The book's first plate, "The Bacchante," lets viewers know what MARY CASSATT: PAINTINGS AND PRINTS were all about: women communicating with others and hinting at states of mind behind beautifully lighted and shaded fabrics, such as "Woman with a Red Zinnia"; flesh, such as the swiftly scribbled modeling to "Mother, Young Daughter and Son"; and furnishings, such as the Opera House banquette and chandelier ovals taking up the ovals from the figure and reflected figure of her sister "Lydia Leaning on her Arms, Seated in a Loge." Art critic and historian Frank Getlein backs his well-written text with 72 well-chosen plates. His book and Griselda Pollock's MARY CASSATT: PAINTER OF MODERN WOMEN give the perfect examples for Michel Melot's THE IMPRESSIONIST PRINT, Paul Smith's IMPRESSIONISM, Gary Tinterow's ORIGINS OF IMPRESSIONISM, and Helene Barbara Weinberg et al's AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISM AND REALISM.

4 comments about Carousel Horses Stained Glass Coloring Book (Dover Pictorial Archives).

1. This coloring book, as well as other stained-glass coloring books from Dover, is suitable for all ages, including adults. In fact, the books would be wasted on young children. All of them are especially beautiful when colored with the deepest shades of markers, and particularly when viewed from the back.



2. These are wonderful pics that look beautiful when finished. Our other stained glass books came with a white flap to put under the page you're working on. That's kind of a must and isn't a feature of this book. But you can find your own backing for it.



3. This coloring book is wonderful. I have a carousel themed room and I colored the different pics to the color scheme of my room. This is an excellent gift for any carousel horse fan or an older person who enjoys coloring books. Not ideal for young children.



4. It is being used as a reference for future art projects. It has great ideas/pictures to work with.

5 comments about Montgomery Ward Catalogue of 1895 (Catalogue & Buyer's Guide).

1. Don't order from this store.
   Due to a natural disaster all orders are 6 months are more behind the scheduled delivery date!
   The customer service line 1-800-227-7598, just says that due to a "natural disaster" they can't speak to you. They then tell you to visit the website but no one EVER returns your emails.
   
   You will NEVER get your product and you will have to go through a year long process to get your money back from the compnay.
   
   I Ordered a table July 13, 2008, and I still havn't received the table and yes, my credit card has been charged!!
   
   We live in an internet age where you get most orders in 2 days. Don't bother with this company. Montgomery Ward has had it's day and it doesn't belong in this century.



2. I've given away several of these reproduction catalogs as gifts and they're always a big hit. Instantly, the recipients open the book and start studying its pages, remarking at the prices and oohing and ahhing over the more curious items of the day.
   
   This book gives a detailed and accurate picture of a typical "day in the life" 110+ years ago. Think about that for a moment. Can you really imagine someone looking at a 2005 newspaper in the year 2,110?!
   
   Buggy whips and patent medicines and cook stoves (fired by kerosene, wood or coal!) and portable bathtubs and cream separaters and more were featured in this catalog.
   
   This is a wonderful resource and a fun read. You can lose yourself for hours reading about life "back in the day."
   
   A little trivia: There's a story (as told on PBS's documentary, "Mr. Sears' Catalog") that the Sears Roebuck catalog was a tiny bit smaller than the mail order catalog offered by his competitor, Mr. Aaron Montgomery Ward.
   
   Sears (a marketing genius) knew that the farm wife would probably have both the Sears and Ward's catalog in her home. Sears made his catalog a little narrower and shorter than the Ward's catalog, so that when the little lady was tidying up the house, the Sears catalog, being smaller, would end up stacked on TOP of the Ward's catalog!
   
   Rose Thornton
   author, The Houses That Sears Built



3. How nice that someone has preserved both a piece of history and a part of the legendary and much-missed Montgomery Ward stores. If you study or write about history, you'll find this a fabulous reference of period styles, furnishings, and common items. Fun to read as a curiosity piece, too.



4. This "Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue and Buyer's Guide" from Spring/Summer 1895 is better than a time capsule. Most of my ancestors were still on the far side of the Atlantic that year, but for my maternal grandfather's ancestors here are 25,000 items (most of which are illustrated by woodcut) that they could have either had in their homes or dreamed about owning. From straight-edged razors and high buttoned shoes to tea gowns and the New Improved Singer Sewing Machine. Historically, Montgomery Ward prided itself on being the friend of farmers and the official supplier to the Grange. Ward was the first to offer a product guarantee that became the key to earning the respect of rural consumers and building the business. However, in 1887 Ward's main competetior Sears put out his first catalog and upped the ante by showing the customer what they would be buying before they bought it (okay, he also offered lower prices). By the time this 600-page catalogue came out in 1895 Ward was following suit. Flip through it and see what sort of amenities were making their way out to the farms at the end of the 19th-century. You could buy a buggy for $60 or spend $200 on a piano. Here you can get a bathtub, chairs, watches, hats, and even a Star Raisin Seeder. How about a solid-gold eighteen-karat wedding band for only $5? Looking through these pages will give you a sense what it was like in 1895, when the average worker had to put in 16 hours to earn enough money to buy a hair brush or 260 hours for a one-speed bicycle. Just looking through the pages of books you could order was enlightening. Actually, this is more like a time machine than a time capsule.



5. Like the Sears Roebuck catalogue, which sits beside it on my shelf, this unabridged reprint is an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to know the kinds of items that might have been found in a typical middle-class home a hundred-odd years ago. In some ways it's even superior: the illustrations have reproduced more clearly, with their details better visible, and the type, though you may still want a magnifier to read it, is also more easily made out. Prices are of course included, though you'll want to allow for the fact that MW was at that time not a conventional retail house, but confined to mail-order, which allowed it to undercut the "traditional" merchants just as Net sellers can today! There's a full index right at the front, where you can easily look up whatever you may be interested in at the moment; or you can simply open the volume at random and start browsing. And, unlike Sears, it even has a toy section! Like all Dover books, its paper and binding are superior in quality, and will doubtless last very well. Since the items listed don't duplicate exactly, I strongly suggest purchasing both catalogues. As a writer of historical fiction, I use both frequently. Highly recommended.