Antiques, vintage and collectables: iI Books

Book SynopsisThe fountain pen as we know it today developed over thousands of years, from the simple stylus used for cutting marks into clay tablets, to the brush, through the reed, the quill and the steel-nib dip pen, and finally to the self-contained fountain pen. The advent of electronic communication of the written word has failed to dim the appeal of the fountain pen, and names such as Parker, Waterman and Sheaffer remain household names. Fountain Pens covers the complete history of the fountain pen with useful advice on how to build a collection and where best to look for fountain pens, from car boot sales to the internet.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrace the evolution ofautomatic Morse code devicesfrom the early 1800s to today through this informative text and over1,100 photos. Beginning with an overview of telegraphy and early key history, fifteensections explore the equipment usedto sendmessages over long distances. Featured arecode readers, oscillators, Morse trainers, electronic keyers,single- and dual-lever paddles,portable paddles, automatic mechanical keys, accessories, andmore. Eachdevice is presented in text and images,somewithclassicadvertisements; this combination allows the readerto appreciate devicedevelopmentand better understand the thinking that went into the design. Paddle and keymaintenance and adjustment are also examined, as well ascomputer interfacing and use of the Internet. The book also includes the results of patent studies and historical research, with many new findings presented, making ita must-have for collectors, ham operators, or anyone interested in the history of these communication devices.

Read more less

Book Synopsis“Absolutely essential for all the connoisseurs and Rolex lovers.” — Laura Astrologo Porché, celebremagazine world Why do we collect? For some, it is a pursuit of pure passion – those who appreciate the wristwatch as an artform: the intricacy of its mechanics, the finesse of its form. Yet for others, collecting is an investment, and a watch’s value is of as much importance as its appearance. All collectors ought to have a guide to models and market value. Rolex: Investing in Wristwatches offers detailed insights into the world of authenticating and pricing high-value wristwatches, which will be of use to collectors from amateur to connoisseur. This publication includes the vast majority of key Rolex models, along with their relevant auction results. The timepieces featured have been carefully selected by Senior Horological Expert, Osvaldo Patrizzi. These wristwatches excel for a diverse range of reasons, including technical excellence, auction records, design and anecdotal history. A description of each watch is accompanied by its picture, reference and sales values (rights included). A comparative analysis of auction results, compiled through close collaboration with the Sotheby's auction house, shows, by brand and timepiece, the evolution of prices over time, leading from the Eighties up to the present day. A system to calculate the currency exchange rate at the time of auction sales will also be included in this vital work of reference. Trade Review"Absolutely essential for all the connoisseurs and Rolex lovers." - Laura Astrologo Porché, celebremagazine world"Published by ACC Art Books, this 320-page volume traces, through more than 390 models, the complete history...of the brand and of the phenomenon of its collecting, thanks also to the contribution of Sotheby's." - Micol Bozino Resmini, GQ ItaliaPosted on Instagram stories by Influencer Justin Hast. - InstagramTable of ContentsPreface: From Past to Future by Osvaldo Patrizzi 5 The Wristwatch Comes of Age by Daryn Schnipper 7 Rolex, Building Icons by Mara Cappelletti 10 Highlights on Rolex by Daryn Schnipper 14 A Special Relationship by Osvaldo Patrizzi 16 PRINCE 21 Sporting Prince 27 CHRONOGRAPH 29 Single-button Chronograph 30 Centregraph 32 Chronograph 33 ‘Pre-Daytona’ Chronograph 55 COSMOGRAPH DAYTONA 63 OYSTER PERPETUAL 145 DATO COMPAX 153 MOONPHASE 163 SUBMARINER 177 TURN-O-GRAPH 213 MILGAUSS 219 GMT-MASTER 227 GMT-Master II 241 SEA-DWELLER 247 EXPLORER 259 Explorer II 264 TRU-BEAT 275 DAY-DATE 281 BETA 21 309 YACHT-MASTER II 313 Rolex Models - Production years 316 Comparative values of currencies 318 Bibliography 319

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince the eighteenth century Antonio Stradivari has been universally regarded as the greatest of all violin makers. Stradivari provides a fascinating biography of this legendary maker, as well as a detailed study of the tools he used. Lavishly illustrated throughout, the book includes colour photographs of 16 famous Stradivari instruments.Trade Review'… this is a masterly study by an acknowledged expert …' The Tablet' … for practitioners and teachers of any of the instruments investigated - the book is an extremely important tool in understanding the history and development of those instruments. It contains a great deal of useful resources: three appendices, extensive routes on primary and secondary sources, and a splendid bibliography. it is very much a book to be dipped into time and time again. Music TeacherTable of ContentsPreface; 1. Historical background; 2. Stradivari's workshop materials; 3. The violin forms and patterns; 4. Violin fittings and setup; 5. The dance master's kit; 6. The viola da gamba and viola d' amore; 7. The lute; 8. The mandola and mandolino; 9. The guitar; 10. The harp; 11. The workshop; Appendices: 1. The Hill Bass-Bar collection; 2. Thomas Salmon's 'The Theory of Musick Reduced to Arithmetical and Geometric Proportions' from Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1705; 3. A case study: The 'Messiah'; Color plates.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisBefore television and MTV, the radio was central in the home, a way for the family to gather to hear the news or listen to music. Over 175 images provide an impressive visual journey through the radio's aesthetic history, reflecting all the major design changes across the years. The images also reveal the diversity of materials, textures, colors, shapes, and sizes of radios of earlier ages. RETRO RADIO ranges from the 1920s tabletop wooden console models in the classic bread box, cathedral, and tombstone styles, to the wooden and early Bakelite and Catalin plastic art deco models of the 1930s to the 1950s, on to the thermoplastic models' cutting-edge styling, and the transistors that ascended to prominence in the 1950s and beyond. Reintroducing machines that few people see anymore and perhaps hardly know existed, this fascinating book restores the once state-of-the-art machines' aesthetic glory.

Read more less

Book SynopsisCaptured in this volume in over 700 striking color photos are many historically significant musical instruments created by some of the most important and iconic makers of the last 400 years. Six hundred instruments are presented, including keyboards, flutes and whistles, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. Each instrument is described in the text, including unusual characteristics, rarity, number of known instruments by the same maker, historical provenance when known, former ownership, citations of relevant patents, and bibliographic citations with more information and associated photos. Early and historically significant instruments made in Italy, England, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, the United States, and other parts of Europe are examined. Several world cultures are also represented by instruments. Indexes by maker, city, and country are provided for easy reference.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is intended for museum administrators, curators, and conservators, private collectors, as well as musical instrument makers, repairmen, technicians, and musicians. It is the first book to combine museum-based conservation techniques with practical instructions on the maintenance, repair, adjustment, and tuning of virtually every type of historical musical instrument.Trade Review'As usual with Pollens's writings, this [book] is impeccably researched and thorough … [It] provides a reliable guide to various materials and techniques, from moulding to soldering and dealing with chemical treatments and solvents. It has the potential to improve and develop all techniques, and help us to understand and handle materials and methods with greater confidence. Few of us will ever have to tackle the problem of bronze disease on a bugle, but it's nice to know I now have access to that information, not far away from the immediately helpful entry on 'cleaning: soaps and detergents' … I am very happy and grateful to be able to add [this book] to my reference shelf …' John Dilworth, The Strad'The Manual of Musical Instrument Conservation is a clearly written and practical guide to a complex subject, with an abundance of useful photos illustrating the techniques described. Anyone involved in preserving a historic musical instrument will undoubtedly want to keep this book in a handy location on their bookshelf, in the same way Pollens must have done for his 'shop notebook' during his tenure at the Metropolitan Museum.' Robert Adelson, NotesTable of ContentsIntroduction; Entries A-Z: Acoustics; Benzotriazole; Bleach; Boxwood; Brass, bronze, and nickel silver alloys; Brass and nickel silver cleaning; Brass instrument conservation; Bronze disease; Calendar; Cents conversion; Chemical analysis; Cleaning: soaps and detergents; Clavichord maintenance; Compo or pastiglia; Conservation reports; Dendrochronology; Dictionary of common and obsolete chemical terms; Disinfestation; Drill bits; Ebony and ebonizing; Electroplating and electro-cleaning; Epoxy removal; Ethics; Flutes; Fortepiano maintenance; French polishing; Frets, tied and fixed; Gilding; Glues, pastes, and other adhesives; Grain painting and marbling; Grit size comparison chart; Guitar stringing; Gut strings; Handling, storage, and transporting musical instruments; Harp maintenance and stringing; Harpsichord maintenance; Helmholtz resonator; Historical metrology; Humidity control; Hurdy gurdy stringing; Illumination level; Inscriptions, faded; Intervals; Iron and steel; Ivory; Japanning; Keyboard instrument conservation; Labels; Lacquer; Lakes; Lead and lead alloys; Leather; Lute stringing; Measurement; Measurement system conversion; Mersenne's Law; Metallurgy; Metalworking; Mold making; Mother-of-pearl and abalone; Nickel silver cleaning; Oddy test; Organ restoration; Overspun strings; Paper, pencil, and ink; Parchment, vellum, and slunk; Patination; Pegs; Piano action regulation (modern grand); Pitch; Proportion; Recording; Relative humidity; Retouching; Rosin; Safety equipment; Scaling; Sealing wax; Sharpening tools; Silver cleaning; Soldering; Solvents and solvent cleaning; Specific gravity; Staining wood; Stain removal; Stradivari's varnish; Stringed keyboard restoration; Tap drill sizes; Tapers; Temperature; Tempering steel; Textile cleaning; Tinning; Tortoiseshell, horn, and whalebone; Tuning and temperament; Vapor-phase inhibitor paper; Varnish; Viola da Gamba strings; Violin adjustment; Violin, baroque fittings and strings; Violin sizes; Violin and viola strings, modern; Vulcanite and ebonite; Wax cleaning emulsion; Wire gauge systems for early keyboard instruments; Wheat paste; Wood; Woodwind instrument conservation; Woodworking.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe beautiful illustrated story of our globe and the creations it has inspired, told by the only truly bespoke globemakers in the world, Bellerby & Co. Globemakers 'The untold story of the globe, this book is a glorious spyhole into a forgotten art' - Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking Peter Bellerby is the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, the world’s only truly bespoke makers of globes. His team of skilled craftspeople make exquisite terrestrial, celestial and planetary globes for customers around the world. The story began after his attempt to find a special globe for his father’s 80th birthday. Failing to find anything suitable, he decided to make one himself which took him on an extraordinary journey of rediscovering this forgotten craft. The chapters of The Globemakers take us through the journey of how to build a globe, or ‘earth apples’ as they were first known, and include fascinating vignettes on history, art history, astronomy and physics, as well as the day-to-day craftsmanship at the workshop itself. This beautiful book uses illustration, photography and narrative to tell the story of our globe and many different globes it has inspired. --------- 'A book as beautiful as the craft it describes, The Globemakers is an inspirational story of a craftsman’s dogged pursuit for perfection. It’s written with the intricacy of someone who can capture the fine details of our vast planet in something small enough to sit on your desk' - Rebecca Struthers, author of The Hands of Time 'Absolutely fascinating from beginning to end - an adventure like no other!' - Alice LoxtonTrade Review'A book as beautiful as the craft it describes, The Globemakers is an inspirational story of a craftsman’s dogged pursuit for perfection. It’s written with the intricacy of someone who can capture the fine details of our vast planet in something small enough to sit on your desk' * Rebecca Struthers, author of The Hands of Time *'The untold story of the globe, this book is a glorious spyhole into a forgotten art' * Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking *'Absolutely fascinating from beginning to end - an adventure like no other!' * Alice Loxton *'The Globemakers is a lovely object, beautifully conceived and skillfully executed. With its digressive text boxes, sketches and photographs, it encourages the reader to linger and explore. In that sense the rectangular book echoes the round object it chronicles…Globes are like other anachronisms that reflect the way things were: solid, durable, based on a knowable past instead of an uncertain future. A beautiful globe in a handsome library is the essence of romance. In this sense, it is right that a book should be the medium to commemorate Bellerby & Co’s unlikely success. Yet artisanship of this type does something else: It rewards a desire for tactile engagement in a digital era, when so much daily ephemera comes and goes with our hands never touching it. Mr. Bellerby captures this basic human impulse by reporting what many visitors to his studio request. After admiring a globe and then tentatively stepping closer, they often ask—to his delight—'May I spin it?’” * Wall Street Journal *'Beautiful…Bellerby’s love of globes is contagious…Interspersed with Bellerby’s account of his progress are interesting factoids about the planet, the heavens, the need to update maps, the tilt of the earth, the role of the equator in both the earth and on globes, and many other tidbits' * Washington Independent Review of Books *'The Globemakers brings us inside Bellerby's gorgeous studio to learn how he and his team of cartographers and artists bring these stunning celestial, terrestrial, and planetary objects to life. Along the way he tells stories of his adventure and the luck along the way that shaped the company…an enlightening exploration of globes and their ability to show us ourselves and our place in an infinite universe…As fascinating as it is informative' * Midwest Book Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMany books have been written about how to build cigar box guitars and other unique hand-made instruments… but few have touched on why. This book presents the authentic stories of American DIY music with step-by-step projects, photo studies of antique instruments, interviews with music legends and historical accounts. Shane Speal, the “King of the Cigar Box Guitar,” brings the making of music and musical instruments back to its roots. From a simple two-string tin can guitar to an electrified washtub bass, Shane shows how anyone can build amazing musical instruments from found items. Sidebars present the fascinating backstory of the music, capturing struggle, poverty and the blues within the artistic side of cigar box guitar building. Featuring an introduction from the New Orleans Museum of Jazz, this DIY musical instrument book is as inspirational to read in the living room as it is in the workshop.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat do thousands of kids, makers, poets, artists, steampunks, hipsters, activists and musicians have in common? They love typewriters—the magical, mechanical contraptions that are enjoying a surprising second life in the 21st century, striking a blow for self-reliance, privacy and coherence against dependency, surveillance and disintegration. The Typewriter Revolution documents the movement and provides practical advice on how to choose a typewriter, how to care for it and what to do with it—from National Novel Writing Month to letter-writing socials, from type-ins to typewritten blogs, from custom-painted typewriters to typewriter tattoos. It celebrates the unique quality of everything typewriter, fully-illustrated with vintage photographs, postcards, manuals and more.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe classic, comprehensive reference to the subject features a biographical dictionary of craftsmen, along with many of their signatures and marks. The new foreword by music scholar Benjamin Hebbert explains the important role British violin makers played in the development of the instrument.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPart science and part personal preference, collecting and restoring cast-iron cookware is a complex art. For instance, what makes each company's cast iron unique? Do chemicals used during restoration leech into food? When it comes to surface finish, is textured or smooth better?In Skilletheads, the highly anticipated follow-up to Modern Cast Iron, Ashley L. Jones dives deeper than ever into the world of cast iron. In these pages, which feature over 100 full-color photos, you'll find expert advice on purchasing cast iron from some of the most active collectors in the field today; side-by-side comparisons of the major manufacturers in the US and interviews with each company; and detailed how-to guides for restoring cast iron, including such methods as lye baths, electrolysis tanks, and chemical products, all compiled with input from devoted Skilletheads. And because no book on cast iron is complete without a little cooking, Jones includes 35 mouth-watering recipes contributed by foodies who know cast iron best—everything from Sunday Frittata to Braised Chicken to Skillet S'mores.Whether you're interested in finding the perfect pan for your kitchen or starting a new hobby restoring cast iron, Skilletheads is here to help.Trade ReviewObviously Ashley has a problem, and thankfully she's kind enough to share it with us! This book really is for everyone. The home cook to the Michelin chef. The newbie collector to the seasoned pro (ha!). A must-have for the cast iron user in your life! -- Kevin Fogarty, Content Creator Cast Iron KevTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Collecting Vintage Cast Iron2. Collecting Modern Cast Iron3. Restoring Cast Iron4. Meet the Skilletheads5. RecipesNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisSt Cecilia's Hall is Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall and home to the University of Edinburgh's world-famous musical instrument collection. Comprising over 500 rare and beautiful instruments from across the globe - many of which are still played as part of the Hall's lively programme - the collection is housed in the newly refurbished Music Museum. This selection of highlights brings these fascinating instruments to a wider audience than ever.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis publication illustrates all the viols and the violins in the Ashmolean Museum, mainly from the (1939) gift of Arthur and Alfred Hill, the Hill Collection. Instrument for instrument this is one of the world's most impressive collections.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThere are names in horological history that echo much more than just watches... Such is the case of Jaquet-Droz, 18th Swiss watchmakers with an international horizon, whose ceremonial clocks, prodigious androids, fashionable birdcages, pocket watches with moving scenes or collector’s snuffboxes remain the stuff of dreams for passionate enthusiasts. Today, the Maison Jaquet Droz continues to draw its inspiration from this rich heritage in order to reinterpret techniques and aesthetics, pushing back the boundaries of watchmaking and representing a perpetual source of fascination for collectors. Based on the latest research on the subject and published on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-2021), this book offers a deep dive into the history of characters with a captivating journey. Born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, in what was then the principality of Neuchâtel, Pierre Jaquet-Droz founded a watchmaking workshop and developed it through a combination of technical, artistic and commercial skills enabling it to reach international markets. His son Henry-Louis developed the family business and further diversified production, a significant portion of which found its way to China and its dignitaries, devotees of luxurious and ingenious mechanical marvels. This richly illustrated book aims to enable a rediscovery of their mechanical masterpieces as well as those of the Maison Jaquet Droz, whose rebirth and recent history are recounted here. These splendid historical and contemporary pieces embody a love of technical challenges and a taste for artistic refinement, adhering as much as possible to the sources of inspiration offered by nature. The Worlds of Jaquet Droz thus reveals part of the expansive universe of pre-industrial watchmaking while drawing parallels between past and present productions.

Read more less