5 comments about Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings.

1. Several years ago I bought a reprint of Dr. Morse book and it has become not only a treasured Clasic but a Bible of information. Although there are no pictures, none are needed with Dr. Morse drawings and detail descriptions.
   E L Smith



2. I bought this book about 3 years ago from Amazon. So you'd think that it would be old hat by now. Yet I find myself picking it up at least once every few months to either refer to it for a construction detail or just to look for something new. What a wonderful resource for traditional Japanese design this book is.
   
   Trained as a Zoologist, Morse put his scientific powers of observation and systematic description to work during the 1880's in producing the sketches and text that describes a world of everyday Japanese design right before it was swamped with Western influence and largely disappeared. There are plenty of books that can show you pictures of ancient Japanese temples and teahouses, but what about the method of constructing the roof of an ordinary 19th century Tokyo home? This was stuff that few people thought was worth recording for posterity. Which is why Morse's book is so unique and valuable to us.
   
   Anyone with more than a passing interest in the way that things are built or designed would do well to put this book on their shelf. Interior decorators, architects, DIY types (such as myself), finish carpenters, contractors and furniture makers should all have a tattered, dog-eared copy of 'Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings' within easy reach. It is a constant source of inspiration.



3. "Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings" is a great book. If you've any interest in traditional Japanese architecture, get this book. Edward Morse was an American who went to Japan in 1877 to study brachiopods. He ended up recording a vanishing way of life instead. He tells you how Japanese homes were built and why they were built that way. Not much escapes his eye. In serviceable prose and clear drawings, he tells us about carpenters and their tools, houses, furnishings, privies, fences and gateways, water supplies and gardens. Most of it he compares favorably to American and European counterparts.
   
   Best of all, it's a Dover book and cheap.



4. I picked up the Dover paperback edition at a library book sale and was charmed by the author's detailed drawings as much as the description of domestic life in 19th century Japan. Morse originally published this in 1885, barely 30 years after Perry's expedition, and traveled around Japan documenting as many houses and styles as possible (including those of the Aino culture). There are no photographs, but the intricate line drawings and intimate descriptions of functional households -- kitchens and cooking utensils, washing areas, sleeping quarters -- are minutely detailed and thoroughly described in the text. Not just a book for those interested in architecture but history as well.



5. I purchased this book simply to get a quick overview of Japanese domestic architecture. The price is always right with Dover books so I just ordered it without any research. What a pleasant surprise to find myself reading a definitive work on the subject a few days later. The text is thoughtfully written and the illustrations skillfully done. As with any well written and illustrated book, color pictures are not overly missed. As a result of this book I find myself much more interested in Japanese architecture than I ever intended to be and heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in home or interior design.

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1 comments about Gracie Mansion: A Celebration of New York City's Mayoral Residence.

1. Ellen Stern's "biography" of Gracie Mansion is simply tremendous. It traces the history of New York City's Mayoral Mansion from its beginning as a merchant's country house, through several owners, years of benign neglect after NYC acquired it to it's conversion into the Mayor's Mansion.
   
   Ms. Stern tells the story of each family that has lived there starting with Fiorella LaGuardia through the current Mayor, Mike Bloomberg who uses Gracie Mansion only for entertaining.
   
   The book is lavishly illustrated with wonderful color pictures as well as clever pen & ink caricatures of each of the mansion's mayors by Al Hirshfeld and Peter Stern.
   
   This is a great book for anyone interested in the history of New York City, it's mayors and the many colorful personalities that have crossed Gracie Mansion's threshold.

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1 comments about American Landmarks: The Lighthouse.

1. this book is one of the best lighthouse books I have ever read. The pictures are excellent and includes many lovely poems and comments about lighthouses and the delight people find in them. Included is a short part of Walt Whitman's "I must go down to the sea again. If you are a lighthouse lover, this book will fill you with a desire to get into your car and drive to the nearest lighthouse around.

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