3 comments about Watt Pottery: An Identification and Value Guide.

1. This book is very informative. It gives one an idea of the value of a particular piece of Watt Ware. It lists all the different styles that were created. I keep it in my car in case I find a piece of Watt Ware in an antique store and wish to see how the store's price compares with the value listed in the book. It is a very good resource to have on hand.



2. A Wonderful Book that's packed full of Photos of this Lovely Pottery, as well as the History behind this Sweet Pottery! A Must Have if you collect Or Deal in Watt Pottery!



3. This is a good basic book for collectors new to Watt Ware. The photographs are excellent and help in identification. It is a well organized book and begins with a brief history of the Watt company and has a chapter devoted to each major pattern. At the back of the book is a section covering different company markings with photographs and drawings. The book was published in 1993, however, the value guide was updated in 1998 and has proven to be accurate in my experience. What this book lacks is a greater history of the company. It would have been nice to know a little more about it with some photos of manufacturing and such. For the price of this book it is a good value...a good start.

1 comments about The Art of Chess.

1. Nice photos for a coffetable book. Just make sure you get the hardcover.

No comments about The Work of Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

5 comments about The Basics of Bead Stringing.

1. This is a great little book! It may not be as fancy as the bigger more colorful books but, this book is a great resource. It covers basic bead stringing to wire wrapping. If you ever need a reference book this is it. If you want big and fancy buy a bigger fancier more expensive book. If you are looking for a book that has a little bit of something for everyone this is it.



2. I'm very new to jewelrymaking and recently picked this up as a first guide. I'm very happy to say that it has fulfilled my expectations. Extensive greyscale illustrations show step-by-step how to perform the steps described in the text. Basic concepts are discussed with an eye toward explaining them in detail for the total beginner.

   This is very much a homemade sort of book -- saddle-stapled and not very long, about 60 pages. If there's ever a second edition, I'd like to see better editing to get the grammar errors out, and I'd love to see some useful color photos -- the ones included are there more for showing possibilities than for illustrating concepts. It is also true that some of the things discussed don't fall under my personal definition of "basics", like making daisy chains (f.e., I'd never even *seen* a daisy chain before seeing them here). But as my first guidebook, it's worth the extremely low cost. The style of writing is accessible and friendly and the step-by-step illustrations are invaluable to understanding.




3. This is a really great book for a beginner. The illustrations are really clear and easy to follow. There are lessons on basic stringing, knotting, wire wrapping, and finishing. A very handy book, well worth the money. Following the directions I was able to string a necklace in no time flat! I highly recommend this book.



4. I am brand new to beading, so I found the information in this book extremely helpful: starting and finishing a necklace, the importance of gluing your knots, knotting in between beads, the usefulness of wire-wrapped loops. All of this (an a lot more) was new to me, and I found it quite valuable as I did my first two beading projects.

   Now, the reasons why I only gave it 3 stars. I took away one star because the production and editing aspects of the book are quite poor, making it difficult to read at times. For example, the color photos (samples of completed jewelry) are not sharp, making it very difficult and sometimes impossible to decipher what kinds of techniques and beads were used. There was also poor page formatting and layout. The editing is just as bad, with poor sentence construction, incorrect punctuation usage, and poor grammar and word usage throughout.

   I took away another star because there was just not enough information. The authors were very selective about what they included as "basic information" for the beginner. As a beginner, I would have liked to have seen several more topics: the names and descriptions of the basic kinds of beads, more information about bead sizes.

   Overall, a good source for the beginner, but needing better editing and production, and more content.




5. This book is not necessarily the best beading book for a novice but for anyone who has done any kind of beading or jewelery making at all, it is an valuable resource. It provides quick access to what really are the fundamentals of beading, it's a good reminder for the person who hasn't made anything with, for example, the brick stitch in a couple of years and just needs a brief guide to get her started again or for the person who needs to remember how to attach a beadtip and clasp.

   The first section explains how to begin and finish a necklace (or bracelet) including information on beadtips, jump rings and clasps; using crimp beads and clam shells; knotting beads; and the double needle method. This is followed by a section on using wire and pins for earrings and pendants and includes instructions on how to make wrapped wire loops, how to attach cones, how to use memory wire and how to wrap cabs and beads. Next is a brief section on knotting and finishing leather and satin cords. This is followed by instructions on weaving, stitching and finishing designs that incorporate the daisy chain, brick and peyote stitches. The remainder of the book includes descriptions of available jewelery-making materials including types of bead cord, wire, findings, clasps and chains with examples of each as well as a section on tools including descriptions of the various kinds of pliers, cutters, glues, bead boards, vises and reamers.

   The only problems I had with the book were minor: the author clearly favors one type of beading wire over the others, there is no mention of the usefulness of split rings plus the section on how to attach a crimp bead doesn't explain that this is a two-step process (hence the two separate sections of a crimping plier). It also would have been a better book had the author included a list of major suppliers. Still, as a quick reference, it's a solid, dependable book.

No comments about Art of the Renaissance Bronze: The Robert H. Smith Collection, Expanded Edition.

1 comments about Papier Mache (Step-by-Step Children's Crafts).

1. This book is written to be able to be followed easily by children. This makes for an easy read and lots of pictures. Both a plus in my book. You can never have to many pictures. The instructions are easy to follow, even if you've never done papier mache before. The projects are not the most creative (things like goblets, trinket box and Native American headbands), but they are simple and create a nice finished project. This is a great book to start out on or just to get a few new ideas.

2 comments about The Art of Netsuke Carving.

1. There are good many photographies, description of different techniques, styles. This book is very helpful for any carvers!



2. This book captures both the beauty of ivory and the art form of Netsuke carving. The artist Masatoshi is a superb carver and the photgraphs of his works and others in this collection epitomize the "best of the best" in the field of this unique Japanese art form. If you like oriental art, this book is a must for the true collector. The book itself is highly collectible, although the First Edition is impossible to find.

1 comments about Flemish Art and Architecture, 1585-1700 (The Yale University Press Pelican Histor).

1. I had to buy this for an art class on Northern Baroque Art. I wasn't really into Flemish art, and had not known a lot about this area of art, but this book really helped me to learn a lot about Flemish paintings and painters. The best thing about it is the way that it is organized. It goes by different areas of painting, such as portraits, genre, landscapes, etc. I found this setup more helpful. I also have another book by this company, called Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700 by Blunt and that is categorized by century. I guess that makes some sense, but for me it was a little more confusing. In that book I had to keep skipping around to find the portraits and landscapes. Maybe it was the way the class was set up, but I really found the book on Flemish painters a lot better in composition and organization. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone taking a Northern Baroque art class, whether or not the class calls for this book. It really adds a lot to the course because it has many of the well known and the lesser artists. I would also recommend this book to anyone already interested in this area of art because it goes into great detail without getting boring.

4 comments about The Complete New Router Book For Woodworkers: Essential Skills, Techniques & Tips.

1. This is a well-thought out, well-presented book that answers pretty much any question you have about routing. For a weekend woodworker like myself, it cleared up a lot of questions I had about using a router as a hand tool and in a table.
   
   One of the best features are the full color pictures - it's much easier for me to understand what's going on if I can see the actual operation or item, rather than a drawing of it.
   
   If you are an intermediate woodworker who is trying to learn more about how to use a router, or a beginner looking to set up your own shop, this is an excellent book.



2. This book has many full color photos, but lacks in terms of content. The cover page photos are representative of instructiveness of the inside ones: well presented but not much more. The "Woodworking with the Router" by Hylton has, at the very least, double the content, and the new edition has some color photos and illustrations as well.



3. Either I am very smart or this "New Router Book" isn't. Very disappointing purchase. If you have not read any router book, this one may be just OK. If you have used a router even a little bit, this book may be barely OK.



4. The Router Book has material and projects to make the experience of using the router satisfying and productive.

4 comments about Sanfords'Guide to McCoy Pottery.

1. I never buy these guides for the price guides. This one has the price guide in the back of the book and in very small print. I discovered years ago that price guides were mainly for bragging rights: "I have this piece and it's worth umpty million dollars according to Sanford's". However they are good for relative value. And it would be a really good idea if more emphasis was placed on condition and it's effect on value. McCoy Pottery after all was mass produced and finding glaze pops, glazing defects and glazed over errors in production is just part of owning McCoy, but still the perfect piece is far more desirable than the imperfect, all else being equal.
   
   Lots of good pictures and pictures of the bottoms of some pots-- oh, yes, this is very helpful because how items are finished on the bottom is some very valuable hints to who made it.
   
   The only think I would like to see more of (given the fact that McCoy has become the target of fakers) is pictures of reproductions and fantasy pieces with the McCoy mark that are currently in circulation.



2. this book tells you all the things you need to know about mcoy pottery



3. This is the best book I have seen on McCoy pottery. It is very complete and has great pictures. I do not like the pricelist in the back of the book, alot of page turning needed. I copied the price pages to use while browsing the book. Highly recommended.



4. This book is the most complete book written on McCoy pottery. Over 4,000 pictures referenced to line/type, a picture line finder, glossary of terms, complete index and table of contents, it is easy to use for the novice as well as the expert collector. A great cross referenced guide to all McCoy Items including 500 Cookie Jars, Kitchenware, Dinnerware, etc. A excellent in depth history of McCoy pottery from beginning to present, original catalog sheets, personal Quotes from Nelson McCoy. Absouletly the most you can get for your money. Truly a complete collectors guide.