No comments about Native American Fetishes.

No comments about The Complete Encyclopedia Of Hunting Rifles: A Comprehensive Guide to Shotguns and Other Game Guns from Around the World.

2 comments about The Wine Lover's Guide to Auctions: The Art & Science of Buying And Selling Wines.

1. 
   Ursula Hermacinski has been a wine auctioneer at Christies and elsewhere for over 20 years. Her well organized book is a clear exposition of the auction process.
   
   Part One is a summary of the history and details of auctions and a short lesson in wine basics. Part Two is a superb tutorial in reading wine catalogs; she describes the bidding process, whether you attend in person, by telephone, or increasingly on the Internet. Part Three helps you decide which auction house to use to sell wine, and details many of the pitfalls: bad wines, shipping damage, handling charges, and more. Part Four is the weakest section, a sort of hodgepodge dealing with charity auctions and learning about wine: travel to wine regions and taste lots of wine is the essence of her advice.
   
   The book is crisply written and is a useful source of trade secrets on how to try to buy wines inexpensively. It is well to remember that Ursula Hermacinski, though, is an auctioneer and has a self interest in encouraging buyers and sellers. One reviewer found her "so motivating one can hardly wait to zip off to the next auction and wave that bidding paddle with confidence."
   
   Go slow say I.
   
   One of my best auction hints if you are looking for a bargain is to never open the bidding. If the lot is unsold, you may be able to buy the lot by negotiation after the sale.
   
   I've given this book only four stars for two reasons: first, except for general interest, it is applicable to only a tiny group of wine consumers. Second, the wine auction business is fast moving, driven by a number of factors including shipping laws in the United States, the growth of Internet auctions and uncertainty about the legal ramifications, and a serious problem with counterfeit wines.
   
   If Ursula Hermacinski would enhance this book, say with an author's blog on Amazon, so she could keep her readers up to date, the book would be worth five stars for the clarity of her writing.
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



2. The Wine Lover's Guide to Auctions: The Art & Science of Buying and Selling Wines
   Ursula Hermacinski. Square One, $17.95 paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-757-00275-5
   
   A foreword by wine guru Michael Broadbent intimates that this book is a serious authority on its subject-and it is. Hermacinski, who's been a wine auctioneer for more than 20 years (most of them at Christie's), presents a guide to the wine auction experience that even the most studied oenophile can learn from. The first 48 pages include an entertaining history of wine, auctions and, of course, wine auctions. There's also a solid overview of wine basics, covering grape varieties, regions, bottle shapes and sizes, storage, serving, glasses and food pairing, because understanding wine fundamentals, the author explains, is "an integral key to your success at wine auctions." Though the topic is narrow, anyone with a strong interest in wine might find it worth exploring, because auctions allow buyers to "acquire wines that are not available elsewhere because they are very old or very rare." This book takes readers through auctions' pros and cons, terminology a nd process. Hermacinski wraps up with information on wine collections and furthering one's wine education. Throughout are tidbits of wine-related trivia and an engaging, unpretentious writing style that makes the potentially intimidating world of wine auctions accessible. (July)

1 comments about Greenberg's Guide to Marx Instruction Sheets.

1. Each Marx/Allstate/Montgomery Ward/Grants/Western Auto/Walgreens train set made by the Louis Marx company came with a number of instruction sheets. At the least, there was the basic sheet showing how to connect the transformer to the track and how to put the track together. It included a synopsis of how to lubricate the locomotive.

   If your set had any type of accessories, these were covered by additional "IS-#" sheets (where # is the sheet #). A deluxe set sold at any of the listed stores might have a instruction sheet for the track/engine/transformer, plus the sheet for each accessory.

   If you need replacement IS sheets, this is the book for you!

   RJ-Casares@worldnet.att.net

No comments about Pauillac: The Wines and Estates of a Renowned Bordeaux Commune.

2 comments about Price Guide to Antique Clocks.

1. As a fairly new clock collector I was looking for information to help me when purchasing clocks off of ebay. This was the first book I bought and I haven't looked at it since the day it came in the mail. I came across the Tran Duy Ly books shortly after this and purchased one, the one for Ingraham clocks and watches. I used this book constantly and have since purchased three more, (for Ansonia, Seth Thomas and New Haven). I pull them out every time I am interested in a clock. They are extremely thorough and accurate. Plus, you can get updates just for the prices, you don't have to buy a whole new book.

   This book is going to be one that stays on the bookshelf and will rarely, if ever, be referenced. Purchase the ones by Tran Duy Ly instead.




2. Price Guide to Antique Clocks by Robert and Harriett Swedberg contains information on the identification of American clocks from the mid-19th century until about 1940. There are more than 600 photographs with identifying information in this book. These are different photographs than were included in their 1989 book, "American Clocks and Clockmakers". While prices for the clocks were given, there was no information about whether these prices were retail or auction prices or how the prices were obtained.

2 comments about Cord 810/812: The Timeless Classic.

1. Wonderful history of these fascinating and beautiful autos. I'd always heard anecdotes of how the Cord was a lovely but mechanically troubled car and this history provides all the details you could ask for. The author must have spent years assembling notes and details to make this book such a comprehensive masterpiece. If you want to know the Cord 810 & 812 story look no further!



2. This book is highly recommended for a totally insightful view of the times and situation(s) that led to the creation of what was a futuristic all-out artistic object that occurred because of the right things being in the right place at the right time. The fact that the subject matter just happens to be an automobile is secondary to the author's placement of people and events which conspired to let these events occur in the first place, yielding a beautiful work of U.S. industrial art.

No comments about Scott Specialized Color Guides for U.S. Stamps.

2 comments about Official Price Guide to Action Figures: 2nd Edition (Official Price Guide to Action Figures).

1. This book had all black and white pictures, and almost all of them showed the item in its package. I needed a book to help me IDENTIFY individual figures, which this book DEFINATELY DID NOT DO. I immediately returned the book.



2. This was a very informative book. I liked the fact it went back a while to older figures I am missing, as well as all the hints and thips along the way. Kudos to Amazon for featuring this book!!

1 comments about A Passion for Collecting: Decorating with Art and Antiques.

1. The author takes us for a visit to collectors homes, and allows us to have a look at their private assembly of objects, paintings and sculptures they are passionate about. We can view the art in its context, we can see the juxtaposition of objects and furniture as these are being used by its owners, without pretending, revealing more than just the art. We get a glimps at the interior design and decor layered just as life puts them together. Only real collectors can possibly understand the mania they are infected with, not being able to resist amassing
   the fetishes of their desire.