Art & Photography Books

Book Synopsis''The rollicking adventures of an English garden designer in Provence'' Independent ''Escapist reading-magic'' The TimesAlex Dingwall-Main left London with his wife and dog nine years ago for the Luberon region of the South of France. A landscape gardener of international renown he was in search of a challenge - a new climate, a new way of gardening and a new way of life. This is his account of gardening his way round Provence, and in particular, of attempting to restore the secret garden of M-nerbes. Situated high on the plains of the Luberon region, M-nerbes is a famously beautiful village - but this garden had long been forgotten. It trailed down over seven levels, thick with brambles and hornets'' nests, almond blossom and ancient fig trees. It was an archetypal Proven-al garden and for one whole year it dominated Alex Dingwall-Main''s life. From distant dreams came growth and disasters, but ultimately, the garden is reclaimed. From truffle dealers to local mayors, film starTrade Review'The rollicking adventures of an English garden designer in Provence' Independent 'Escapist reading...magic' The Times

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SIR PAUL MCCARTNEYFirst published in 1964 and 1965, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works are a brilliantly inventive and offbeat collection of John Lennon's stories, drawings and poems.Trade ReviewLunatic humour... it defies description. It owes something to Lear's nonsense books, but from there on in Lennon is on his own... Zany, offbeat, and illustrated by his grotesque spidery pen. It jolts the reader into gusts of laughter * Guardian *Very funny... beautifully designed * Times Literary Supplement *Irresistible...the drawings are marvellous * Sunday Telegraph *Fascinating.... It goes down like pure whimsy and then back-kicks like a sick mule. * Sunday Times *Very inventive... It's all in Lennon's favour that despite the adulation and soft soap, he has remained as tough, arrogant and uncompromising * Observer *

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Book SynopsisLorenzo de'' Medici: The embodiment of Florence''s most powerful family, a brutal man who ruled the city with an iron fist, whilst protecting it from the shifting mire of Italian politics.Fra Girolamo Savonarola: An unprepossessing provincial monk whose sermons, filled with Old Testament fury, resonated with the disenfranchised population of the city.The battle between these two men would be a fight to the death, a series of sensational events - including a mighty foreign invasion, trial by fire, the ''Bonfire of the Vanities'', terrible executions and mysterious deaths - featuring a cast of the most important and charismatic Renaissance figures.Trade ReviewStrathern combines diligent archival research with an exemplary narrative verve and keeps the pages turning -- Ian Thomson * Financial Times *Grips the reader from the first page... it is an arresting and horrifying tale and Strathern tells it with immense skill and verve * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisPalladio (1508-80) combined classical restraint with constant inventiveness. In this study, Professor Ackerman sets Palladio in the context of his age - the Humanist era of Michelangelo and Raphael, Titian and Veronese - and examines each of the villas, churches and palaces in turn.

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Book SynopsisOne of the central texts of the Middle Ages, The Golden Legend deeply influenced the imagery of poetry, painting and stained glass with its fascinating descriptions of saints' lives and religious festivals. By creating a single-volume sourcebook of core Christian stories, Jacobus de Voragine (c. 1229-98) attracted a huge audience across Europe. This selection of over seventy biographies ranges from the first Apostles and Roman martyrs to near-contemporaries such as St Dominic, St Francis of Assissi and St Elizabeth of Hungary. Here, witnesses to the true faith endure horrific tortures; reformed prostitutes win divine forgiveness; while other women live disguised as monks or nobly resist lustful tyrants. Lucid and compelling, The Golden Legend offers an enthralling insight into the medieval mind.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics repreTable of ContentsIntroductionBibliographyTranslator's Note1. St. Andrew, Apostle: 30 November2. St. Nicholas, 6 December3. St. Ambrose, 7 December4. St. Lucy, Virgin, 13 December5. St. Thomas, Apostle, 21 December6. St. Anastasia, 25 December7. St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, 27 December8. St. Thomas of Canterbury, 29 December9. St. Hilary, 13 January10. St. Anthony, Abbot, 17 January11. St. Sebastian, 20 January12. St. Agnes, Virgin, 21 January13. St. Vincent, 22 January14. St. John the Almsgiver, 23 January15. St. Ignatius, 1 February16. St. Blaise, 3 February17. St. Agatha, Virgin, 3 February18. St. Amand, 6 February19. St. Juliana, 16 February20. St. Matthias, Apostle, 24 February21. St. Gregory, 12 March22. St. Longinus, 15 March23. St. Bendict, 21 March24. St. Mary of Egypt, 2 April25. St. George, 23 April26. St. Mark, Evangelist, 25 April27. St. Marcellinus, Pope, 26 April28. St. James the Less, Apostle, 1 May29. St. Petronilla, 31 May30. St. Barnabas, Apostle, 11 June31. St. Basil, Bishop, 14 June32. Sts. Quiricus and His Mother Julitta, 16 June33. Sts. Gervase and Protase, 19 June34. St. Peter, Apostle, 29 June35. St. Paul, Apostle, 30 June36. St. Alexis, 17 July37. St. Margaret, 20 July38. St. Mary Magdalene, 22 July39. St. Christopher, 25 July40. The Seven Sleepers, 27 July41. St. Martha, 29 July42. St. Germain, Bishop, 31 July43. St. Dominic, 4 August44. St. Laurence, Martyr, 10 August45. St. Bernard, 20 August46. St. Bartholomew, 24 August47. St. Giles, 1 September48. St. Theodora, 11 September49. St. Euphemia, 16 September50. St. Eustace, 20 September51. St. Justina, 26 September52. Sts. Cosmas and Damian, 27 September53. St. Jerome, 30 September54. St. Remy, 1 October55. St. Francis, 4 October56. St. Pelagia, 8 October57. St. Thais, Courtesan, 8 October58. Sts. Dionysius, Rusticus and Eleutherius, 9 October59. The Eleven THousand Virgins, 21 October60. Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria, 2561. Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles, 28 October62. St. Quentin, 31 October63. The Four Crowned Martyrs, 8 November64. St. Martin, Bishop, 11 November65. St. Brice, 13 November66. St. Elizabeth, 19 November67. St. Cecilia, 22 November68. St. Clement, 23 November69. St. Catherine, 25 November70. St. James the Mutilated, 27 November71. Sts. Barlaam and Josaphat, 27 NovemberExplanatory NotesTextual Variants

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Book SynopsisThis magnificant, bestselling reference book finally leaves its old look to join the modern Penguin subject dictionary series. Why exactly did Van Gogh cut off his ear? Was Warhol an original or just a copyist? The answers to all this and more are found in The Penguin Dictionary of Art and Artists, the essential guide to over 700 years of creative endeavour. Each entry features extensive cross-referencing and listings of galleries where the artist's work can be seen.

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Book SynopsisFrom Neil MacGregor, the author of A History of the World in 100 Objects, this is a view of Germany like no otherFor the past 140 years, Germany has been the central power in continental Europe. Twenty-five years ago a new German state came into being. How much do we really understand this new Germany, and how do its people now understand themselves?Neil MacGregor argues that uniquely for any European country, no coherent, over-arching narrative of Germany''s history can be constructed, for in Germany both geography and history have always been unstable. Its frontiers have constantly floated. Königsberg, home to the greatest German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, is now Kaliningrad, Russia; Strasbourg, in whose cathedral Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany''s greatest writer, discovered the distinctiveness of his country''s art and history, now lies within the borders of France. For most of the five hundred years covered by this book Germany has been composed of many separate political units, each with a distinct history. And any comfortable national story Germans might have told themselves before 1914 was destroyed by the events of the following thirty years.German history may be inherently fragmented, but it contains a large number of widely shared memories, awarenesses and experiences; examining some of these is the purpose of this book. Beginning with the fifteenth-century invention of modern printing by Gutenberg, MacGregor chooses objects and ideas, people and places which still resonate in the new Germany - porcelain from Dresden and rubble from its ruins, Bauhaus design and the German sausage, the crown of Charlemagne and the gates of Buchenwald - to show us something of its collective imagination. There has never been a book about Germany quite like it.Trade ReviewFrom sausages and porcelain to the glory days of Bauhaus, MacGregor has produced a dazzling history that goes far beyond the stereotypes of Nazis, forests and leather shorts. The illustrations alone - the glittering interior of Aachen Cathedral, the engravings of Albrecht Dürer - make you want to jump on the first flight to Berlin -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Unfailingly interesting and stimulating ... the book succeeds triumphantly -- Richard J Evans * TLS *

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Book SynopsisA landmark anthology on British art history, bringing together overlooked and marginalized perspectives from ''the critical decade''What is Black art? This vital anthology gives voice to a generation of artists of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage who worked within and against British art institutions in the 1980s, including Sonia Boyce, Lubaina Himid, Eddie Chambers and Rasheed Araeen. It brings together artists'' statements, interviews, exhibition catalogue essays and reviews, most of which have been unavailable for many years and resonate profoundly today. Together they interrogate the term ''Black art'' itself, and revive a forgotten dialogue from a time when men and women who had been marginalized made themselves heard within the art world and beyond.

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Book SynopsisDespite--or because of--its huge popular culture status, Peanuts enabled cartoonist Charles Schulz to offer political commentary on the most controversial topics of postwar American culture through the voices of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Peanuts gang.In postwar America, there was no newspaper comic strip more recognizable than Charles Schulz''s Peanuts. It was everywhere, not just in thousands of daily newspapers. For nearly fifty years, Peanuts was a mainstay of American popular culture in television, movies, and merchandising, from the Macy''s Thanksgiving Day Parade to the White House to the breakfast table.Most people have come to associate Peanuts with the innocence of childhood, not the social and political turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. Some have even argued that Peanuts was so beloved because it was apolitical. The truth, as Blake Scott Ball shows, is that Peanuts was very political. Whether it was the battles over the Vietnam War, racial integration, feminism, or the future of a nuclear world, Peanuts was a daily conversation about very real hopes and fears and the political realities of the Cold War world. As thousands of fan letters, interviews, and behind-the-scenes documents reveal, Charles Schulz used his comic strip to project his ideas to a mass audience and comment on the rapidly changing politics of America.Charlie Brown''s America covers all of these debates and much more in a historical journey through the tumultuous decades of the Cold War as seen through the eyes of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang.Trade ReviewBall has offered a wonderful lens through which to understand not only how Schulz's Christian faith and mildly liberal bent generated a beloved comic strip but also how the life and times of an angst-ridden boy named Charlie Brown and his motley group of friends mirrored the contours of postwar American political culture....Historians of twentieth-century political culture will find much to like about Ball's analysis...of Schulz's comic strip, one that invited readers such as Reagan to project their own political anxieties and concerns onto the lives of minimally sketched cartoon kids. * Robert Genter, Journal of American History *Ball makes a strong case that the world's foremost comic strip was very political, despite common belief to the contrary, its messages deftly shrouded in allegory, ambiguousness, and intentional vagueness by Charles Schulz ... this excellent book provides abundant new material and many fascinating insights. * J. A. Lent, CHOICE *This is a comics studies book that your parents and non-comics friends would also enjoy. Charlie Brown's America is mostly jargon-free and is a fun, fast read. It reprints a substantial number of Peanuts comics and Peanuts-related images, and these entertain readers and help illustrate Ball's ideas. This is an excellent example of how to write good history that a general audience will enjoy reading!.... One of the most impressive elements of Charlie Brown's America is how it presents Charles Schulz as a deeply thoughtful person and then shows how that translates into his work. Ball really does complicate the legacy of Schulz and Peanuts, but he does so in a way that enriches the strip and helps to firmly ground the seemingly timeless Peanuts gang in cold war America....Charlie Brown's America serves up nostalgia, makes you smile, and still manages to make you rethink and reconsider Peanuts and its legacy. * Dan Newland, The Comic Book Yeti *It's enlightening to read Ball's breakdown of where the strip captured the moment and where it strayed. * Heather Seggel, Progressive Populist *Peanuts reflects America, or America reflects Peanuts. Both were true in the case of America's favorite comic strip. For half a century Charles Schulz sent his missive out to the world in a love letter, and his readers loved him back with unparalleled affection. In this thoroughly researched and carefully considered study, Blake Scott Ball explores the reasons why Schulz may have been our best cartoonist. Like Mickey Mouse, Superman, and Chaplin's tramp, Charlie Brown has joined our list of icons who help us understand the human condition. He's a good man, Charlie Brown. * M. Thomas Inge, Randolph-Macon College *Blake Scott Ball's Charlie Brown's America uses the history of Charles Schulz's Peanuts as a medium for his fascinating tour of cold war American culture. * Grace Hale, University of Virginia *This valuable study provides essential context for our understanding of a pop-cultural masterpiece. Charles Schulz generally avoided making overt political statements in his comics. But as Blake Ball demonstrates, that doesn't mean that Peanuts was never a political text. In fact, Schulz cultivated a deliberately ambiguous, even polysemic approach when addressing the most hot-button issues of his day—from Women's Liberation to Civil Rights and Environmentalism. * Ben Saunders, University of Oregon *A cultural history with the narrative drive of a well-crafted biography, Blake Scott Ball's Charlie Brown's America unlocks the mysteries behind Schulz's comic masterpiece. Drawing on interviews, speeches, and correspondence between the cartoonist and his fans, Ball offers deftly historicized close readings of Schulz's strip, showing how Peanuts' ideological flexibility made it a 'Rorschach test' for American readers during the Cold War. A tour de force of comics scholarship and an engrossing read! * Philip Nel, author of Was the Cat in the Hat Black? *The book succeeds nicely as both a fresh treatment of Schulz's work and career and as a survey of popular political currents in the mid-twentieth century United States... [It] will interest scholars of mid-twentieth-century cultural history as well as fans and students of comics, comedy, and popular culture. * Kerry Soper, American Historical Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Ch 1 Bless You for Charlie Brown: Evangelicalism, Civil Religion, and Peanuts in Postwar America Ch 2 Crosshatch Is Beautiful: Franklin, Color-Blindness, and the Limits of Racial Integration in Peanuts Ch 3 Snoopy Is the Hero in Vietnam: Ambivalence, Empathy, and Peanuts' Vietnam War Ch 4 I Believe in Conserving Energy: Personal Responsibility, Consumer Politics, and Peanuts' Pro-Capitalist Environmental Ethos Ch 5 I Have a Vision, Charlie Brown: Gender Roles, Abortion Rights, Sex Education, and Peanuts in the Age of the Women's Movement Conclusion Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe historical trajectory of decadent culture runs from ancient Rome, to nineteenth-century Paris, Victorian London, fin de siècle Vienna, Weimar Berlin, and beyond. The first of these, the decline of Rome, provides the pattern for both aesthetic and social decadence, a pattern that artists and writers in the nineteenth century imitated, emulated, parodied, and otherwise manipulated for aesthetic gain. What begins as the moral condemnation of modernity in mid-nineteenth century France on the part of decadent authors such as Charles Baudelaire ends up as the perverse celebration of the pessimism that imperial decline, whether real or imagined, involves. This delight in decline informs the so-called breviary, or even bible, of decadence from Joris-Karl Huysmans''s À Rebours, Oscar Wilde''s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Aubrey Beardsley''s drawings, Gustav Klimt''s paintings, and numerous other works. In this Very Short Introduction, David Weir explores these conflicting attitudes towards modernity present in decadent culture by examining the difference between aesthetic decadence -- the excess of artifice -- and social decadence, which involves excess in a variety of forms, whether perversely pleasurable or gratuitously cruel. Such contrariness between aesthetic and social decadence led some of its practitioners to substitute art for life and to stress the importance of taste over morality, a maneuver with far-reaching consequences, especially as decadence enters the realm of popular culture today.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Reviewincisive survey * Matthew Reisz, Times Higher Education *entertaining * ANZLitLovers *Weir does us a service by bringing into one accessible book the decadences of different ages for comparison. * Jad Adams, The Wildean *In Decadence: A Very Short Introduction, David Weir helps students, scholars, and the general public to think more critically about decadence by introducing a lens that could serve as a starting point for understanding the concept: modernity and conflict.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction 1 Rome: Classical Decadence 2 Paris: Cultural Decadence 3 London: Social Decadence 4 Vienna and Berlin: Socio-cultural Decadence Conclusion: Legacies of Decadence References Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Streets and Buildings Chapter 2: The Suburban Solution Chapter 3: Experts and Citizens Chapter 4: Saving the Center Chapter 5: Metropolis and Megaregion Chapter 6: Nature in the City Chapter 7: Unnatural Disasters and Resilient Cities Epilogue: Imagining Future Cities List of Illustrations References Further Reading

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Book SynopsisThe amazing discovery of the ''first European civilization'' in Crete, Greece and the Aegean islands during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was beyond what anyone had imagined. Beginning with the Neolithic period, before 3000 BCE, and ending at the close of the Bronze Age and the transition to the Iron Age of Hellenic Greece (c.1000 BCE), this is the first comprehensive introduction to the visual arts and architecture of this extraordinary era. This book introduces the reader to the historical and social contexts within which the arts - pottery, gold, silver, and ivory objects, gravestone reliefs, frescoes, and architecture - of the Aegean area developed. It examines the functions they served, and the ways in which they can be read as evidence for the interactions of many different peoples and societies in the eastern Mediterranean. It also provides an up-to-date critical historiography of the field in its relationship to the growth of ancient art history, archaeology, and museology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, giving a contemporary audience a clear appreciation of what has been at stake in the uncovering and reconstruction of this ancient society.Trade Reviewa compact and attractive introduction to the subject * John Bennet, THES, 9/6/00 *This powerful account of 2,000 years of Aegean culture is a must for pilgrims and sun-worshippers * The Observer, 24.10.99 *Table of Contents1. Introduction: Aegean Art and Architecture ; The environment; Discovering the Aegean World; Art and art history; Objectives; Organization. ; 2. The Neolithic Period and the Prepalatial Early Bronze Age ; Settlements; Burial practices. ; 3. The First Palace Period ; Middle Bronze Age palaces and villas; The vernacular tradition in Greece and Crete; Ritual practices; Summary. ; 4. The Second Palace Period ; Public art, private art, and the palatial architectural style; The Second Palaces: Knossos, Phaistos, Gournia, and Kato Zakro; Minoan villas: function and design; The terminology and typology of Minoan palatial buildings; The Minoan and Mycenaean spheres of influence; Religious practices; Burial practices. ; 5. Mycenaean Domination and the Minoan Tradition ; The Mycenaean palace at Pylos; The Mycenaean palace at Knossos; Haghia Triadha and Kommos; The continuation of Minoan building techniques in the Third Palace Period; Burial practices; The Mycenaean shrine at Phylakopi; The circuit walls at Mycenae and Tiryns. ; 6. Conclusion: Disruptions, (Dis)Continuities, and the Bronze Age ; The eastward migration of Aegean traditions; The international style; Cyprus, Palestine, and the Peoples of the Sea; Tradition and transformation; What goes around comes around: Daedalus returns to Crete. ; Notes; List of Illustrations; Bibliographic Essay; Timeline; Index

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring British Architecture: A Very Short Introduction presents an original and engaging overview of the architecture of the British Isles, from medieval times to the present day. Avoiding the traditional approach of a chronological survey of architects and architectural style, each chapter presents a thematic exploration of key aspects of British architecture that endure across time and still have relevance today. Arnold uses illustrated chapters to aid appreciation of the artistic and cultural significance of British architecture and how it operates as a barometer of social trends. Arnold also highlights the ways in which architecture can project national and regional identities.British architecture tells of the intrinsic nature of Britishness and is an important means of understanding Britain''s connection with the rest of the world. There is no doubt about the international significance of the work of recent and contemporary

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Book SynopsisSomewhere between 1910 and 1970, architecture changed. Now that modern architecture has become familiar (sometimes celebrated, sometimes vilified), it''s hard to imagine how novel it once seemed. Expensive buildings were transformed from ornamental fancies which referred to the classical and medieval pasts into strikingly plain reflections of novel materials, functions, and technologies. Modern architecture promised the transformation of cities from overcrowded conurbations characterised by packed slums and dirty industries to spacious realms of generous housing and clean mechanised production set in parkland. At certain times and in certain cultures, it stood for the liberation of the future from the past.This Very Short Introduction explores the technical innovations that opened-up the cultural and intellectual opportunities for modern architecture to happen. Adam Sharr shows how the invention of steel and reinforced concrete radically altered possibilities for shaping buildings, transforming what architects were able to imagine, as did new systems for air conditioning and lighting. While architects weren''t responsible for these innovations, they were among the first to appreciate how they could make the world look and feel different, in connection with imagery from other spheres like modern art and industrial design. Focusing on a selection of modern buildings that also symbolize bigger cultural ideas, Sharr discusses what modern architecture was like, why it was like that, and how it was imagined. Considering the work of some of the historians and critics who helped to shape modern architecture, he demonstrates how the field owes as much to its storytellers as to its buildings.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewAdam Sharr has succeeded in making modern architecture modern again, with this refreshing and original account of the technological revolutions and individual designers that shaped our world from the 1850s to the 1970s. Rather than concentrate on questions and debates over style and ideology, or follow the self-promotional versions of the architects themselves, he has preferred to go to the root of the revolution: the technologies and their innovative utilization. This little book will have an effect far beyond its size, providing more than an introduction for students and the public, and for architects themselves a salutary set of careful worked case studies, from Miess IIT Campus to Rogers and Pianos Centre Pompidou. * Anthony Vidler, Professor of Architecture, The Cooper Union *The great strength of Adam Sharr's book is that it relates modern architecture to wider cultural, philosophical, and technological trends. It is also written in a very accessible style and, despite its brevity, covers a wide territory. * Jeremy Till, Head of Central Saint Martins, Pro Vice-Chancellor University of the Arts London *Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: Iron and steel 3: Reinforced concrete 4: Brick 5: Light and air 6: Conclusion Further reading Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhat would an anatomy of the book look like? There is the main text, of course, the file that the author proudly submits to their publisher. But around this, hemming it in on the page or enclosing it at the front and back of the book, there are dozens of other texts--page numbers and running heads, copyright statements and errata lists--each possessed of particular conventions, each with their own lively histories. To consider these paratexts--recalling them from the margins, letting them take centre stage--is to be reminded that no book is the sole work of the author whose name appears on the cover; rather, every book is the sum of a series of collaborations. It is to be reminded, also, that not everything is intended for us, the readers. There are sections that are solely directed at others--binders, librarians, lawyers--parts of the book that, if they are working well, are working discreetly, like a theatrical prompt, whispering out of the audience''s ear-shotBook Parts is a bold anTrade Reviewan engaging work of "book history as anatomy" ... each of the contributors to Book Parts finds their own metaphorical vocabulary to describe the relationship between book part and main text. * James Waddell, Times Literary Supplement *...a Gray's Anatomy for the bookish * Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal *For making us think about the elements of which a book is comprised, and making us reflect on their long histories - and for doing so with intelligence, learning and wit - this book is to be greatly welcomed...It is rarely less than fascinating and sometimes hugely entertaining. * Mathew Lyons, The Author *Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. * M. C. Cohen, CHOICE *Duncan and Smyth contextualize their undertaking with an unusually self-conscious introduction that does not spend time giving us synopses of each chapter ... There is little need to speak of the whole collection when it is this well edited and each part feels in concert with the others ... It is the drama of this shadowy realm that Smyth and Duncan's collection, both in whole and in part, demonstrates for us. * Nicholas D. Nace, The Book Collector *Table of Contents1: Adam Smyth and Dennis Duncan: Introductions 2: Gill Partington: Dust-jackets 3: Luisa Calè: Frontispieces 4: Whitney Trettien: Title Pages 5: Shef Rogers: Imprints, Imprimaturs, and Copyright Pages 6: Joseph Howley: Tables of Contents 7: Meaghan J. Brown: Addresses to the Reader 8: Helen Smith: Acknowledgements and Dedications 9: Hazel Wilkinson: Printer's Ornaments and Flowers 10: Tamara Atkin: Character Lists 11: Daniel Sawyer: Page Numbers, Signatures, and Catchwords 12: Nicholas Dames: Chapter Heads 13: Rachel Sagner Buurma: Epigraphs 14: Tiffany Stern: Stage Directions 15: Claire M. L. Bourne: Running Titles 16: Alexandra Franklin: Woodcuts 17: Sean Roberts: Engravings 18: Jenny Davidson: Footnotes 19: Adam Smyth: Errata Lists 20: Dennis Duncan: Indexes 21: Sidney Berger: Endleaves 22: Abigail Williams: Blurbs Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisDürer''s Lost Masterpiece tracks the history of a turning point in the career of the celebrated German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), when he stopped painting altarpieces after arguing with a merchant patron over payment. As an eloquent homage to Dürers life, it brings us closer to the creation and meaning of his paintings than ever before.Dürer''s Lost Masterpiece considers the celebrated German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), his time and his legacy. It tracks the history of a crucial, and often overlooked, turning point in his career, when Dürer stopped painting altarpieces after falling out with the Frankfurt merchant Jacob Heller over a commission. The story of this painting, as Dürers lost masterpiece, functions as a lens through which to view the new relationship developing between art, collecting and commerce in Europe up to the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) when global trade and cultural exchanges were increasing. At the heart of the book is the argument that merchants, and their mentalities, were crucial for the making of Renaissance art and its legacy for modern art. The book draws on a decade of research, and uniquely draws the reader into the rich emotional worlds of three merchants each of whom typified the evolving relationship between art and commerce in that entrepreneurial, and often ruthless, age. It brings to life Dürers determined fight for creative makers to be adequately paid and explores the big questions about how European societies came to value the arts and crafts that remain relevant to our time.Trade ReviewUlinka Rublack's new book successfully combines a close reading of the sources for the life and work of Albrecht Dürer with a wide-ranging account of art as a luxury commodity at a time when the trade in luxuries was going global. * Peter Burke, Emmanuel College Cambridge *Ulinka Rublack masterfully recontextualizes Albrecht Dürer's lost Heller Altarpiece, it production, and its fate. Yet her fascinating account is equally about German material culture, the rise of artistic advisors and agents, notably Hans Fugger and Philipp Hainhofer, the emerging global marketplace, and discerning collectors in Bavaria and England. Rublack recenters German creativity and tastes within the broader movement of art, ideas, and individuals across Europe. * Jeffrey Chipps Smith, Kay Fortson Chair in European Art and Professor, University of Texas, Austin *A stunning achievement by a historian at the pinnacle of her craft-at once a sensitive portrait of Dürer's emotional life that allows us to understand as a whole his desire to show what he could do with and for art at a time of transformative change and conflict in German society, and a vivid depiction of the merchants and nobles locked in fateful embrace who fueled the burgeoning world of global commerce, awash in material things and exotica, and who made Dürer who he was both in his day and in ours. Quite simply a tour de force. * Pamela H. Smith, Columbia University *Ulinka Rublack's fascinating study reminds us of this rich interconnectedness of people, ideas, and the material world during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. * Jeffrey Chipps Smith, University of Texas, Austin, Historian of Netherlandship Art Reviews *Ambitious and impressive... a remarkable story. * Peter Marshall, Literary Review *[Dürer's Lost Masterpiece] lays out methodically, with academic brilliance, the marketplace, techno-aware basis of the 'Dürer Renaissance' and the artist's rise to immortal fame. With a glorious accumulation of detail, assiduous research...a deluxe book. * Philip Hoare, The Spectator *Illuminating... In [Rublack's] hands, the narrative of Dürer's success...becomes something far more nuanced... A novel biography of an artist. * Francesca Peacock, Prospect *An outstanding portrayal of the merchant as a creative agent and a remarkable contribution to the history of the European art market as a whole. * Jenny Uglow, New York Review of Books *A rich cornucopia of the period, when art was joining exotic shells, potions, and unguents as an international commodity ... it has much to tell about how Dürer and his contemporaries lived. * David Platzer, New Criterion *Dürer's Lost Masterpiece, which analyzes that era minutely, is the product of over fifteen years of research in archives and collections...it is precisely that amassing and marshaling of detail that makes her book such an outstanding portrayal of the merchant as a creative agent and a remarkable contribution to the history of the European art market as a whole. * Jenny Uglow, The New York Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: Letters to Heller 1: What Few Can Do 2: Herr Jacob Heller 3: Dürer´s Revenge 4: A Trio of Unconventional Friends 5: Preparing to Paint 6: Apelles AD 7: Letter 3 8: Who Will See It? 9: Oil and Pigment 10: Colour 11: Delivering 12: Journey to the Netherlands 13: Becoming Lutheran Part Two: Tastemakers 1: Hans Fugger and the Age of Curiosity 2: Fugger´s Taste for Painting 3: In Style! 4: Spending on Style 5: The Court of Bavaria 6: The Flow of Things 7: The Debt Crisis Explodes 8: Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria Part Three: Trading Art 1: The Lives of Northern Painters 2: The Art Agent 3: Becoming Philipp Hainhofer 4: Networks for Success 5: Visiting Wilhelm´s Court 6: Trading Silks and a Fragile Career 7: The Old Lord 8: Material Presence 9: Agent for the Duke of Pomerania 10: The Garden of Eichstätt 11: The Age of Maximilian I 12: Hunting Dürer 13: The Chase: Buying the Heller Altarpiece 14: Special Things 15: A British Spy? Part Four: Shopping for Dürer in the Thirty Years´ War Epilogue

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Book SynopsisStudies in the History of the Renaissance is a highly influential defence of aestheticism. Pater redefined the practice of criticism through his readings of some of the paintings, sculptures, and poems of the Renaissance, and shocked contemporaries for sponsoring a hedonistic ethic with his infamous 'Conclusion'.Table of ContentsPreface; Aucassin and Nicolette; Pico della Mirandola; Sandro Botticelli; Luca della Robbia; The Poetry of Michelangelo; Leonardo da Vinci; Joachim du Bellay; Winckelmann; Conclusion; Appendix A: The School of Giorgione; Appendix B: Diaphaneite

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Book SynopsisLandscape architecture, which includes the planning of parks and gardens and the design and siting of buildings and roads, plays an important role in shaping the world around us. In this Very Short Introduction, Ian Thompson uses real-life examples from around the world to examine its impact throughout history and in contemporary society.Trade ReviewA great gift for the landscape architect to give to their in-laws who still call them a 'landscape designer' * Historic Garden Review, Aaron Suiter *Table of Contents1. Misconceptions and Origins ; 2. Place-making and Improvement ; 3. America and the Turn to Modernism ; 4. The Invisible Hand versus the Grand Gesture ; 5. Use and Beauty ; 6. Professional Environmentalists ; 7. Landscape Architecture as Art ; 8. Social Workers in Green Wellingtons ; 9. Under the Carpet ; 10. Landscape and Urbanism ; Further reading

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Book SynopsisReyner Banham was a pioneer in arguing that technology, human needs, and environmental concerns must be considered an integral part of architecture. No historian before him had so systematically explored the impact of environmental engineering on the design of buildings and on the minds of architects. In this revision of his classic work, Banham has added considerable new material on the use of energy, particularly solar energy, in human environments. Included in the new material are discussions of Indian pueblos and solar architecture, the Centre Pompidou and other high-tech buildings, and the environmental wisdom of many current architectural vernaculars.

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Book SynopsisContains 27 essays and reviews defining the contours of late modernism in the visual arts. Ranging from brief reviews to extended essays, the writings establish a set of basic terms for understanding key issues in high modernism. An extended introductory essay by the author clarifies his views.

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Book SynopsisThis work, originally published in 1994, reshapes the direction of landscape studies by considering landscape not simply as an object to be seen or a text to be read, but as an instrument of cultural force, a central tool in the creation of national and social identity.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"It is chock-full of exciting and provocative ideas, but it is also just plain fun — something akin to Freedman leading the reader by the hand on a tour of a cultural landscape that he knows like the back of his hand." * Los Angeles Review of Books *"This is a profoundly important book in Jewish Studies, as well as among the cultural and literary criticism of its artistic subject." * Religion and the Arts *"Erudite, gossipy, nuanced, funny, and moving. . . Freedman serves as collector culling materials from a wide array of sources, arranging them into an often dizzying but unfailingly interesting and almost always entirely persuasive account that supports his thesis, each time from a different direction." * Victorian Studies *"Overall, The Jewish Decadence is a richly rewarding read, blending deep knowledge, provocative insight and unsparing honesty to the role Jews have played in fin-de-siècle culture of Europe and the USA. Barely a page goes by with an insight into cultural production and consumption and unexpected links between creators, places and ideas. This book will be of value to anyone wishing to under early Modernism and Jewish contribution to vanguard art." -- alexanderadamsart: Reviews of art, culture and literature"Freedman’s argument, that Jewish novelists, poets, actors, and philosophers reworked the discourse of decadence, which often linked Jewishness to decline, to their own ends in order to generate a Jewish response to the conditions of modernity, is compelling. More importantly, it offers a model of how work on afterlives and transnational circulation can avoid the trap of thinking in terms of unidirectional influence and attend to the agency and creativity of those influenced." * Journal of British Studies *Bringing his capacious cultural expertise and scholarly rigor to a wide-ranging exploration of the association between Jews and decline and degeneracy, Jonathan Freedman performs an erudite, original, and wonderfully chutzpadik act of reclamation. -- Alisa Solomon, Columbia University“This book takes us on an extraordinary journey through what the author calls ‘something like modernity,’ as it is to be found in dance, literature, song, painting, theatre, film, and history. Decadence turns out to mean what it seems to mean, and an almost unimaginable range of other things as well. Its richness, as well as its constant entanglement in ideas of Jewishness, would have caused any other writer either to simplify or get lost, but Freedman wittily and resolutely does neither. His book is ‘example-drunk,’ as he says, but it doesn’t stumble. It celebrates complication and reflection and masquerade, and we find ourselves wishing the show—the one he is evoking and the one to be seen in the fabulous evocation itself—would never end.” -- Michael Wood, Princeton University“Freedman reconceives of Jews as architects rather than victims of modernity. Although Jews were often demonized as sexual and artistic deviants, they also entered into dialogue with their detractors by contesting or reshaping the prejudices of the day. Most important, Jews played a central role in European culture as artists, critics, sponsors, networkers, and entrepreneurs; throughout the book, Freedman spots Jews where none have been discerned before, testifying to their ubiquity among the avant-garde.” -- Maud Ellman, University of Chicago"A book that transforms our experiences of familiar works and encourages us to carry on the work of Jewish cultural studies, following the example of one of its most gifted practitioners." * Reading Religion *Table of ContentsPreface, by Daniel Hack and Amy Hungerford Introduction: “Our Two-Step Is the Modern Decadence!” 1 Qu’est-ce que c’est la décadence? And What Does It Have to Do with Jews? 2 Oscar Wilde among the Jews 3 Salomania and the Remaking of the Jewish Female Body from Sarah Bernhardt to Betty Boop 4 Coming Out of the Jewish Closet with Marcel Proust 5 Pessimism, Jewish Style: Jews Reading Schopenhauer from Freud to Bellow 6 Walter Benjamin’s Paris, Capital of Jewish Aesthetic Modernity 7 Dybbuks, Vampires, and Other Fin-de-Siècle Jewish Phantasms Conclusion: The Deca-danse; or, The Afterlife of the Jewish DecadentNotes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Little is known about the Dutch painter Frans Hals: no letters or diaries survive, and the only contemporary documents are unrevealing. But Nadler manages to construct a satisfying quasi-biography by using the milieu of seventeenth-century Haarlem. . . . Though Hals has long been overshadowed by his contemporary Rembrandt, Nadler demonstrates why his peers held him to be 'the modern painter par excellence.'" * New Yorker *“Hals may have become famous for his lifelike portraits, but the only way to depict his own life, Nadler suggests in The Portraitist, is to paint a picture of the social world in which he was embedded. As Nadler acknowledges, this is a book whose subject ‘all too often . . . disappear[s] from view.’” * New York Review of Books *"Splendid." -- Ian Buruma * Times Literary Supplement *"Nadler laments the absence of biographical material about Hals, but does a wonderful job of bringing the social context of his art to life in intricate and lively detail. In so doing, he brings this incomparable artist to life as well." * Literary Review *Named one of the best books of 2022. * New Yorker *"In The Portraitist, [Nadler] closes in on his subject, as it were. By sketching the artistic, social, political and religious milieus and the elite subjects who came to Hals for portraits and civic guard pieces, Nadler sketches a sharp picture of the politically turbulent first half of the seventeenth century and Hals’ position therein. This results in a quasi-biography which brings Hals to life in a refined way." * NRC Handelsblad *"[The Portraitist] is stylistically much like a portrait by the master: broadly sweeping strokes situate the geopolitical context and are embellished by microhistorical details relating to the art market and to Hals’s family and his patrons. The paintings serve as focal points along the way. Though much about Hals’s life remains unknown, Nadler’s portrait of the age in which he worked is clearly and astutely evoked. . . . Recommended." * Choice *"Nadler’s biography of Frans Hals discusses the life and legacy of the Dutch 17th-century painter against the backdrop of his thriving adopted city of Haarlem, delving into the artistic, social, political, and religious worlds of the time." * The Art Newspaper *"Nadler is particularly adept at illuminating the details of the lives of Hals’s sitters and how they connect to the ebbs and flows of religious power struggles, inside and outside the Dutch Republic. The resulting image is one of a flexible artist willing to work for individuals of different faiths. At the same time, Nadler casts Hals as an artist who had to navigate a complex, and frequently shifting, religious environment in a never-ending search for commissions and sales. Nadler’s illumination of Hals’s network is particularly useful in the various passages related to the painter’s family. Nadler expertly gathers information about Hals’s grandparents, parents, and their relations in Antwerp before the young Hals relocated to Haarlem by 1591. . . . Nadler’s book is an informative volume crafted in engaging prose. " * Historians of Netherlandish Art Reviews *"Framed by the religious upheavals of the era, situated solidly in the art world of the Dutch Republic, and defining Hals’ accomplishments, Nadler’s accessible and convincing portrait presents a politically pliant and religiously ambiguous man with loose narrative brushstrokes similar to those used by the genius himself." * Booklist *“Nadler has made 17th-century Holland his own special province. This polymath historian of philosophy has already built onto his expertise about Spinoza and Descartes with truly interdisciplinary studies, including Rembrandt’s Jews and Menasseh Ben Israel. Now he makes his own portrait of Rembrandt’s contemporary, Frans Hals, and his Haarlem society. Nadler’s deep research provides the first thorough biography of Hals, the painter who for half a century boldly fashioned lively likenesses of his fellow citizens onto his canvases.” -- Larry Silver, author of Rembrandt’s Holland“This welcome new book on Frans Hals situates the artist, his patrons, and his city in a broader perspective than any previous study. We learn about circumstances in his life and milieu that were surely of influence on Hals’s paintings. Much to our benefit, Nadler delves into matters that we tend to take for granted.” -- Gary Schwartz, author of Rembrandt’s Universe“Nadler has masterfully brought Frans Hals to life much as this remarkable seventeenth-century Haarlem artist animated sitters in his portrait paintings. Nadler’s engaging narrative draws the reader close to the artist and captures the essence of his distinctive manner of painting. He introduces us to Hals’s family, enumerates Hals’s financial woes, and assesses the personalities of his sitters, among them merchants, ministers, officers in militia companies, and directors of charitable institutions. Seamlessly fusing these narratives, Nadler evokes the ambiance of Haarlem’s rich and varied culture, but he also explores how broader political and religious developments in the Dutch Republic impacted Hals throughout his career.” -- Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., author of Clouds, Ice, and Bounty: The Lee and Juliet Fund Collection of Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish PaintingsTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction 1. Exile 2. Haarlem 3. Master Painter 4. Citizen Hals 5. In a Rough Manner 6. "Very Boldly Done after Life" 7. Debts and Disputes 8. Pandemics 9. "A Pleasing, Good and Sincere Peace" 10. Denouement Acknowledgments Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisA fascinating look at artistic experiments with televisual forms. Following the integration of television into the fabric of American life in the 1950s, experimental artists of the 1960s began to appropriate this novel medium toward new aesthetic and political ends. As Erica Levin details in The Channeled Image, groundbreaking artists like Carolee Schneemann, Bruce Conner, Stan VanDerBeek, and Aldo Tambellini developed a new formal language that foregrounded television's mediation of a social order defined by the interests of the state, capital, and cultural elites. The resulting works introduced immersive projection environments, live screening events, videographic distortion, and televised happenings, among other forms. For Levin, the channeled image names a constellation of practices that mimic, simulate, or disrupt the appearance of televised images. This formal experimentation influenced new modes of installation, which took shape as multi-channel displays and mobile or split-sTrade Review"[An] essential, revelatory examination of intermediality and politics in the 1960s. . . Erica Levin’s assured study of artists and experimental filmmakers confronts what she labels the ‘media politics’ of television." * Art History *"The Channeled Image offers keen insights into the artists in the 1960s and how they marshaled a variety of media to both engage with and challenge the norms of commercial and public television. Levin’s clear and forceful critique illuminates the intentions of these artists, their successes, and their failures, drawing attention to a number of works that have received relatively scant scholarly attention and placing those works in conversation with one another. This book will be a boon to the fields of art history and media studies alike." -- Gregory Zinman, author of Making Images Move: Handmade Cinema and the Other Arts"The Channeled Image boldly redraws the map of the 1960s, a time when television news mediated social upheaval and artists critically engaged the medium’s power and immediacy. In crisp and assured prose, Levin reveals the era to be messier and more complex than previous studies have allowed it to be. This is a brilliant and necessary book for understanding art’s entanglements with mass media, both then and now." -- Genevieve Yue, author of Girl Head: Feminism and Film MaterialityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Tuning In 1 Network Media/TV Nation 2 Movement Media/War on Television 3 We Interrupt this Program . . . 4 Public Television/Nervous System Conclusion: TV Now? Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Making a case for the abandoned shopping cart as a life force in itself, designer and photographer Julian Montague's updated edition of this 2006 publication is required reading for anyone who's ever been to a grocery store." * Hyperallergic *“As someone who worked in many grocery stores, chasing down stray carts was both a frustration and delight, depending on the day, or time, or weather. I adore Stray Shopping Carts not only for its transportive qualities, but for how it reaches for—and achieves—beauty in the examination of an object that is both beautiful and sometimes burdensome.” * Hanif Abdurraqib *“Montague’s sly masterpiece is back, a Baedeker equal parts Ballard, Borges, and Buffalo, New York. Don’t leave home without it.” * Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams *“A field guide to shopping carts is really a field guide to shopping: Montague’s poignant classifications reveal the often bleak, sometimes beautiful landscapes in which we acquire and dispose of goods. By the end of the book, the carts come to embody urban brokenness in a deeply human way.” * Alexandra Lange, author of Meet Me by the Fountain *“One of the funniest books I’ve seen.” * Stefan Sagmeister, graphic designer *“Montague’s playful taxonomy of urban blight encourages us to look closer, and look differently, at the landscape around us; to take notice, indeed celebrate, that which accumulates in the margins. In accounting for that which is overlooked or framed out, a quiet, humanizing empathy emerges.” * Jordan Tannahill, author of The Listeners *“Thoughtfully conceived and beautifully designed, this field guide is a one-of-a-kind example of multidisciplinary engagement and originality. It’s a sociological study as much as it is a sharp eco-cultural critique of our time.” * Giovanni Aloi, School of the Art Institute of Chicago *“The cover text. . . offers a unique vision of how we classify and understand our urban environment. It is also, of course, a playful look at one aspect of modern capitalism narrowed down to the retail industry.” * Third Coast Review *"The unquestioned, definitive classification guide to shopping carts found in the wide world beyond their home stores or parking-lot corrals. . . . The project of classifying the carts by their condition and location—'A/2, Plaza Drift,' 'A/3, Bus Stop Discard,' 'B/13, Complex Vandalism'—is brilliantly pointless, a triumph of form without function that nevertheless got me to see my environment in a new way." * Commonweal *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisMillions of photos are taken every day across the world. Some are just snapshots. Others are more carefully crafted and have the capacity to deepen our vision and sharpen our sense of what life is truly about. Spirituality in Photography explores how photography can offer unique perspectives on the self, the world and what we live by. Readers are invited to take photos more slowly, reframe their gaze, allow themselves to be fully present, and let their photos tell a story - this includes a section on how photography can offer new perspectives on the Bible. The book also explores how photography can help readers meditate on mystery and tune into their own rule of life'. Spirituality in Photography offers a range of ideas for readers to try out with their camera or camera phone and invites them on a journey of discovery, as they allow their photography and their spirituality to inspire each other.Trade Review‘This book should encourage and challenge a wide audience to engage spiritually in something that is now an everyday activity in a digital age.’ -- Dr Bex Lewis‘Philip Richter’s insights can be of assistance to the amateur photographer and the personal quest for meaning in the contemporary environment.’ -- Brother Patrick Moore‘A deceptively simple book, in which technical knowledge is made accessible and spiritual life made to seem more possible.’ -- Vernon White

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Book SynopsisThe illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages are among the greatest works of European art and literature. We are dazzled by them and recognize their crucial role in the transmission of knowledge. But we generally think much less about the countless men and women who made, collected and preserved them through the centuries, and to whom they owe their existence.This entrancing book describes some of the extraordinary people who have spent their lives among illuminated manuscripts over the last thousand years. A monk in Normandy, a prince of France, a Florentine bookseller, an English antiquary, a rabbi from central Europe, a French priest, a Keeper at the British Museum, a Greek forger, a German polymath, a British connoisseur and the woman who created the most spectacular library in America - all of them were participants in what Christopher de Hamel calls the Manuscripts Club.This exhilarating fraternity, and the fellow enthusiasts who come with it, throw new light on how manuscripts have survived and been used by very different kinds of people in many different circumstances. Christopher de Hamel''s unexpected connections and discoveries reveal a passion which crosses the boundaries of time. We understand the manuscripts themselves better by knowing who their keepers and companions have been.In 1850 (or thereabouts) John Ruskin bought his first manuscript ''at a bookseller''s in a back alley''. This was his reaction: ''The new worlds which every leaf of this book opened to me, and the joy I had in counting their letters and unravelling their arabesques as if they had all been of beaten gold - as many of them were - cannot be told.'' The members of de Hamel''s club share many such wonders, which he brings to us with scholarship, style, and a lifetime''s experience.Trade ReviewReading the Posthumous Papers is like taking a walk in excellent company ... an exceptional book, and itself an object worth cherishing. -- Daniel Brooks * Sunday Telegraph *This book can be enjoyed on so many levels. The illustrations are exquisite and the writing ... is intelligent, illuminating, voluptuous and mischievous. The members of the club are brought to life with sensitivity; we can't help but find their nerdiness endearing. ... The most delightful feature of this book is, however, the author. I've never encountered one so willing to bare his soul, without ever explicitly setting out to do so. He throws open the doors to his world, exposing its beguiling nature. Sit at my table, he says, feast on what I adore. "The Club is still open for membership . . . All applicants are warmly admitted."' -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *In this stunningly beautiful book, Christopher de Hamel constructs an imaginary club of people who adore mediaeval manuscripts; bibliophiles whose obsession he shares. The 12 delightfully eccentric members span eight centuries - de Hamel imagines meeting them, sharing precious discoveries, trading gossip. The illustrations emit a light of their own, but what shines even brighter is the author's boyish enthusiasm for his subject. * Times Books of the Year *a beautifully produced and magnificently surprising journey through the history of how and why people have wanted to collect manuscripts. An impossibly recondite subject, you might think; but it turns out to have a lot to do with all sorts of things about how we make sense of our histories and cultures - and it introduces us to a gallery of unforgettable characters. -- Rowan Williams * New Statesman Books of the Year *Christopher de Hamel ... has the rare capacity to turn a scholarly specialism into a humane and humorous adventure. ... De Hamel retains an almost lyrical sense of wonder as he unclasps each groaning tome, opens its parched pages and lightly steps into the alternative world painted by its illuminators. ... he speaks of "meeting a beautiful manuscript" rather than reading it and his own book makes you feel you've spent time - a very long but absorbing time - in his convivial company. -- Peter Conrad * Guardian *Christopher de Hamel's great gift is to tell life stories without taking anything away from the manuscripts, which remain the star of the show. Thanks to the beautiful illustrations in this wonderful book, we can see for ourselves how spellbinding an encounter with them must have been. Five years ago de Hamel entranced the world with his Meeting with Remarkable Manuscripts. This time the meetings are with remarkable manuscript owners, and the result is equally precious -- Kathryn Hughes * Sunday Times *gloriously engaging and readable ... De Hamel wears his erudition lightly, and the reader is taken deeply into the worlds of individuals who lived across almost a thousand years of history -- Richard Ovenden * Financial Times *The story of the people who created, saved and collected Europe's most sumptuous manuscripts, it's beautifully illustrated, a rich feast of scarlet and gold. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times Books of the Year *an eccentric but charming and instructive book which is oddly difficult to put down -- Jonathan Sumption * Spectator *

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Book Synopsis''A collection of intimate and heartfelt confessions of what love means, each with a wonderfully expressive colour portrait'' Guardian ''Will restore your faith in the world'' New York Post Award-winning journalist and documentary maker Stefania Rousselle had stopped believing in love. She had covered a series of bleak assignments, from terrorist attacks to the rise of the far right. Her relationship had fallen apart. Her faith in humanity was shaken. She decided to set out alone on a road trip across France, sleeping in strangers'' homes, asking ordinary men and women the one question everyone wants to know the answer to: what is love? From a baker in Normandy to a shepherd in the Pyrénées, from a gay couple estranged from their families to a widow who found love again at 70, Amour is a treasure trove of poignant and profound stories about love, accompanied by beautiful photographs.''Astonishing. BeautifuTrade ReviewThis is one of the best things I have read for a very long time. These wonderful stories really bring out what is important in life * Guardian reader response *These stories make my heart ache * Guardian reader response *Coming back to this again after re-reading it and finding it just as moving the second time - if not more so. Thank you Stefania Rouselle for this gift. * Guardian reader response *These are beautiful, heart-rending stories of small, great truths * Guardian reader response *This is exceptional photojournalism. Wonderful * Guardian reader response *These short stories and accompanying photos capture the human spirit with raw honesty * Guardian reader response *Beautiful. Made me cry a little. Thank you for such honest, diverse and open stories * Guardian reader response *Will restore your faith in the world * New York Post *A collection of more than 80 (...) intimate and heartfelt confessions of what love means... each with a wonderfully expressive colour portrait. Some are illustrated with additional photos by Rousselle, revealing an unerring eye for colour, composition and the unexpected beauty to be found in the mundanity of life, reminiscent of William Eggleston's images... Taken as a whole, these frank statements reveal a diverse account of love in the 21st century * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisYou have just gotten the keys, unpacked the boxes, and officially moved into your new apartment. Or maybe you have lived in your home for a couple years and it is in need of some extra love and care to make it into the place you always dreamt it would be. But where do you start? Should you repaint the walls or replace the floors? Are you a minimalist or a maximalist? What is missing?In this beautiful book, from the authors and creators of the award-winning blog All Up In My Space, Robyn Donaldson and Emma Hopkinson share their abundance of knowledge on interior design to help you figure out how to make your space your own. Learn about how to decorate a rental property without losing your deposit, discover how to switch things up in your home without having to change everything, and identify what type of interior design style suits you.With practical tips for things like painting and vintage shopping and advice on where to purchase classy yet budget-conscious furn

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Book SynopsisSuper Hero. Leader. Avenger. One of Marvel Comics most inspiring characters is all this and so much more. With a foreword by the equally legendary Stan Lee, Captain America: The Ultimate Guide: New Edition celebrates the 80th Anniversary of the iconic Captain America. Delve into the long and storied history of the First Avenger, from his service in World War II through to the earth-shattering events of the Infinity Wars and Empyre.Discover the origins of Captain America and how he joined the Avengers. Learn about his first encounters with his courageous allies, including Peggy Carter, Winter Soldier, and Falcon, and his epic clashes with villains such as Baron Zemo and Red Skull. Iconic, brave, and principled, Captain America has become one of Marvel Comics'' most beloved Super Heroes. Expertly written and lavishly illustrated, no Marvel or Captain America fan will want to miss this indispensable guide. 2021 MARVEL

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Book SynopsisThe sagas and stories that shook the DC Multiverse. Explore the main events that have shaped and reshaped the DC Multiverse. From the groundbreaking debuts of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to The Flash of Two Worlds, from Crisis on Infinite Earths to The Death and Return of Superman, and from DC Comics: The New 52 to Infinite Frontier, DC Greatest Events delves into the epic crises, iconic battles, and unforgettable milestones that have reinvented and refreshed DC Comics. Expert essays reveal the context, connections, and consequences of more than 80 pivotal events, showcasing crossover series and key issues, brought to vivid life through stunning artwork and presented in a sumptuous coffee-table format. Across DC Comics'' celebrated 80-year history, these are the moments that matter, the stories that made a difference.All DC characters and elements & DC Comics. (s22)

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Book SynopsisAn exquisite collection of artefacts, sculptures, and historically significant treasures from across India. If the captivating bronze dancing girl of Harappa denoted sophisticated early civilisation, the stunning Sanchi Stupa symbolized the peak of Buddhist religion in India. If the world-renowned Taj Mahal was a testament to the wealth of the Mughal empire, Tipu''s Tiger, an intricate, almost life-sized mechanical toy, represented the king of Mysore''s resistance against the East India Company. Whether it is the striking sculptures of the famed city of Hampi, the beautiful folios from religious texts, the breathtaking Konark wheel, the famous Koh-i-Noor, or the elegant paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, these artefacts, monuments and artworks are intimately woven into the history and culture of India and revered for their beauty and artistry. Dive deep into the culturally rich history of India to explore:- A curated showcase of more than 100

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Book SynopsisAn argument for the centrality of the visual culture of waste—as seen in works by international contemporary artists—to the study of our ecological condition.Ecological crisis has driven contemporary artists to engage with waste in its most non-biodegradable forms: plastics, e-waste, toxic waste, garbage hermetically sealed in landfills. In this provocative and original book, Amanda Boetzkes links the increasing visualization of waste in contemporary art to the rise of the global oil economy and the emergence of ecological thinking. Often, when art is analyzed in relation to the political, scientific, or ecological climate, it is considered merely illustrative. Boetzkes argues that art is constitutive of an ecological consciousness, not simply an extension of it. The visual culture of waste is central to the study of the ecological condition. Boetzkes examines a series of works by an international roster of celebrated artists, including Thomas Hirschhorn, F

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Book SynopsisUnpublished writings of Colin Rowe—letters, essays, lectures, and a postcard—clarify his thinking on key concepts while revealing his wit and erudition.Colin Rowe (1920–1999) was one of the great architectural historians of the twentieth century, publishing the influential works The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays (1976) and Collage City (1978). While his written work was rigorous and authoritative, his lectures and letters were more casual, “carefully careless,” both witty and erudite. I Almost Forgot gathers twenty-three such writings—letters, essays, lectures, a postcard, and a eulogy. Both edifying and entertaining, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, occasionally scathing, they fill in personal details and clarify key concepts in Rowe’s work.In these writings, Rowe tells of the “Corbu superstructure upon a beaux-arts base” that refugee Polish architects and their st

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Book SynopsisHow ecological design emerged in Scandinavia during the 1960s and 1970s, building on both Scandinavia’s design culture and its environmental movement.Scandinavia is famous for its design culture, and for its pioneering efforts toward a sustainable future. In Ecological by Design, Kjetil Fallan shows how these two forces came together in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Scandinavian designers began to question the endless cycle in which designed objects are produced, consumed, discarded, and replaced in quick succession. The emergence of ecological design in Scandinavia at the height of the popular environmental movement, Fallan suggests, illuminates a little-known reciprocity between environmentalism and design: not only did design play a role in the rise of modern environmentalism, but ecological thinking influenced the transformation in design culture in Scandinavia and beyond that began as the modernist faith in progress and prosperity waned.&nbsp

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Book SynopsisOne of the first book-length publications on contemporary artist Cheyney Thompson, whose work is known for its radically forward-looking intellectualism and formal rigor.Cheyney Thompson’s (b. 1975) work responds to a long history of debates about how art depicts the world, and about how we come to know the world visually. In these meditations on the artist’s work, Christian Schaernack shows that for Thompson, reality is something that we can know only in terms of probabilities, not absolutes. Thompson often produces work that explores contingency at the formal level, sometimes in his artistic process itself (as Jackson Pollock once did), and sometimes through the use of external constraints such as computer algorithms, which he subverts as often as he follows.The meaning of observation has changed time and time again in the history of art, just as it has in the history of science. Delving into art history, intellectual history, and contemporary conti

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