Posts tagged ‘art’
Get a Recession-Busting Discount on The Art of the Market, Now 60% Off
Weekly Book Special: October 19th-October 25th
The United States economy has gone through some lean periods but, given time, it always seems to bounce back. However rough today’s economic seas may feel, we would do well to remember that they have been worse. Today marks the 23rd anniversary of Black Monday, the steepest single day fall in market history. To commemorate the resilience of the U.S. stock market, we present you with a recession-proof sale.
The Art of the Market:
Two Centuries of American Business As Seen Through Its Stock Certificates
By Bob Tamarkin and Les Krantz, Hardcover, 176 pages
List Price: $35.00, Lowest Amazon.com Price: $23.75, OUR PRICE: $14.95
Allow us introduce you to “scripophily:” the collecting of old stock certificates that have no monetary value. If you’re wondering why anyone would ever do such a thing, take a look at the beautiful hand-engraved image below.
Richard Drezen of the Washington Post News Research Center hails The Art of the Market for “successfully remind[ing] us that ‘business art’ need not be an oxymoron.”
This book is discounted only through October 25th. Purchase it for $14.95 (list price $35.00):
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In addition, let your loved one, relative or friend choose a unique gift from our extensive selection of nearly 40,000 hard-to-find books and prints. Give a gift certificate in any amount. |  |
Eggs-traordinary Chicken Gift Book, Now 67 Percent Off
Weekly Book Special: September 14th-September 20th
September is National Chicken Month. To commemorate, this week’s book special is:
Complete Chicken:
An Entertaining History of Chickens
by Pam Percy, Hardcover, 144 pages, 2002, ISBN: 0896585573
List Price: $30.00, Lowest Amazon.com Price: $29.99, OUR PRICE: $9.95
The book provides a colorful, egg-straordinarily entertaining account of chicken history; breeds; the world of chicken collectibles; and the chicken’s role in art, pop culture, myth, legend, religion, and folklore.
You’ll also find a wide selection of words and phrases inspired by chicks, technical poultry terms, instructions on how to say “cock-a-doodle-doo” in different languages, as well as other trivia.
The lighthearted yet informative text is complemented by photos of different breeds, images of chickens in ads, and photos of chicken collectibles (also known as “chickenalia”).
Our favorite section is on chickens in advertising (click to enlarge):
“The author, an avowed chicken afficionado, presents the lowly chicken in a brand new light in this entertaining book,” writes John Trapp, a retired wildlife biologist, on his Birds Etcetera blog. “I found this book to be highly readable, visually appealing, entertaining, and educational. What more could you want in a book?”
This book is discounted only through September 20th. Purchase it for $9.95 (list price $30.00):
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In addition, let your loved one, relative or friend choose a unique gift from our extensive selection of nearly 40,000 hard-to-find books and prints. Give a gift certificate in any amount. | |
Weekly Book Special: Manhattan Within, Sketches of the New York Skyline from Central Park by Matteo Pericoli
Weekly Book Special: September 7th-September 13th
Last Friday, September 3rd, marked Skyscraper Day — a celebration of the world’s tallest buildings. To commemorate, this week’s book special focuses on New York’s world-famous skyline:
Manhattan Within
Written and Illustrated by Matteo Pericoli
Slipcase in original shrinkwrap, 72 pages, 2003, ISBN: 0375508686
List Price: $30.00, OUR PRICE: $9.95
This set by Matteo Pericoli, the best-selling artist-architect of “Manhattan Unfurled” (Our Price: $30.00) includes: A full-color 22-foot-long drawing, in an accordion fold-out format, which provides an amazing 360-degree view of the Manhattan skyline as seen from within Central Park.
Includes a separate, enlightening personal journal about the method, philosophy, and evolution of the work — an unprecedented, dramatic re-envisioning of the relationship between the city and its geographical center and escape. A visual legend and diagram identifies the city’s landmarks and streets.
Watch the CBS Sunday Morning clip on Pericoli’s artistic process (click to watch):
“[Pericoli’s] prose, as it turns out, is as evocative as his art,” writes Booklist in a review.
Pericoli writes: “When I was working on the skyline along the edge of the island, [the buildings] were giving their backs to me as if they didn’t care. From the park all the buildings seem to look at me. I think this is the real skyline of Manhattan.”
This book is discounted only through September 13th. Purchase it for $9.95 (list price $30.00):
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In addition, let your loved one, relative or friend choose a unique gift from our extensive selection of nearly 40,000 hard-to-find books and prints. Give a gift certificate in any amount. | |
John Neagle: Philadelphia Portrait Painter (Historical Society of Pennsylvania)
John Neagle:
Philadelphia Portrait Painter
by Robert W. Torchia, foreword by Peter J. Parker (Historical Society of Pennsylvania)
(Paperback, 195 pages, 1989, ISBN: 1422358283, $25.00)
This catalog records an exhibition held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP).
In 1861, John Neagle himself recorded on canvas his earliest-known association with the HSP. When he captured the appearance of three Plains Indians visiting Philadelphia in 1821, he was an artist functioning as a historian.
The Society has collected 15 of Neagle’s paintings, and its manuscript holdings on the artist were most impressively augmented in 1985 through the generosity of the Barra Foundation.
Torchia has done much to restore a long-underrated painter to his proper place in American art history. In planning the exhibition upon which this catalogue is based, Torchia selected paintings and related material from 14 private and public collections in the Delaware Valley. Illustrations.
Peter Collinson and the Eighteenth-Century Natural History Exchange (American Philosophical Society Memoir 264, ISBN: 9780871692641)
Peter Collinson and the Eighteenth-Century Natural History Exchange
(American Philosophical Society Memoir 264, ISBN: 9780871692641)
by Jean O’Neill and Elizabeth P. McLean
(Paperback, 216 pages, 2008, $75.00)
Collinson’s life is a microcosm of 18th-century natural history. A gardener and naturalist by avocation, he was what we would now call a facilitator in natural science, disseminating botanical and horticultural knowledge during the Enlightenment.
He influenced the Comte de Buffon and Linnaeus. He found clients for the Philadelphia naturalist John Bartram. American plants populated great estates like those of the Dukes of Richmond, Norfolk, and Bedford, as well as the Chelsea Physic Garden, and the nurseries of James Gordon and Robert Furber. Botanic painters such as Mark Catesby and Georg Dionysius Ehret painted American plants in Collinson’s garden.
He had an unprecedented effect on the exchange of scientific information on both sides of the Atlantic, being credited for introducing more than 150 plans to horticulture. Illustrations.
“One man can make a difference,” co-author Elizabeth McLean tells Green Scene [PDF] in the September/October 2009 issue. “[Collinson] did it for love. He was self-educated, yet he made enormous contributions to natural history in the eighteenth century.”
This book has been indexed by H.W. Wilson in their “Essay and General Literature Index” for June 2009.
H.W. Wilson writes: “These essays describe the life and achievements of the Quaker Peter Collinson, an 18th century London draper and naturalist whose interest in horticulture led him to establish contact with the Philadelphia Quaker farmer and naturalist John Bartram and to import Bartram’s American plants to England.
“The consequent popularity of American plants in English gardens, reflected even in the botanic paintings of the period, have earned Collinson a place in the history of botany as a facilitator between English and American horticulture.”
Lionel Gossman’s Making of a Romantic Icon: The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeck’s “Italia und Germania” (American Philosophical Society Transaction 97-5; ISBN: 0871699753)
Making of a Romantic Icon: The Religious Context of Friedrich Overbeck’s “Italia und Germania”
(American Philosophical Society Transaction 97-5, ISBN: 0871699753)
by Lionel Gossman (Paperback, 101 pages, 2007, $29.00)
Winner of the American Philosophical Society’s 2007 John Frederick Lewis Award for Best Book or Monograph.
In this original and thought-provoking book, Princeton University Prof. Emeritus Lionel Gossman, focuses on Johann Friedrich Overbeck’s “Italia and Germania” to discuss the importance of religious conversion in Romantic thought.
It treats the evolution of the Nazarene artists’ preoccupation with religious issues in an engaging manner and offers a social-historical and theological context to Overbeck’s painting by looking interestingly at a wide range of issues and contacts in his early Nazarene period. Illustrations.
“I was led to the once-influential Nazarene artists while preparing the Burckhardt section of my book on Basel,” author Lionel Gossman tells the American Philosophical Society. Burckhardt condemned them as retrograde, but I found their rejection of realism refreshing. The rigorous composition, pronounced linearity, and flat colors of their paintings and frescoes, and the strength, yet delicacy of their drawings appealed to me.
“They also struck me as quite close to the the neo-classical artists, with whom they are sometimes contrasted, but with whom several of them had in fact studied and who, like them, denounced the subservience of baroque and rococo art to the desires and pleasures of the rich and powerful.
“The painting now known as ‘Italia und Germania’ by Friedrich Overbeck, was the culmination of a series of drawings and paintings executed by Overbeck and his close friend Franz Pforr. But the preliminary works were entitled “Sulamith und Maria.”
“In view of the keen attention the Nazarenes paid to the literary and symbolic aspects of their work, and the important role religion played in their art and lives, I was intrigued — and moved — by this title and I wondered what it might have meant to the artists. The Making of a Romantic Icon resulted from my attempt to find out.”
Book News writes in a review: “In this well-illustrated essay, Gossman discusses Overbeck’s well-known painting to show layers of religious and philosophical context. Details concerning the artist’s life and the artistic and intellectual circle around him in Rome are described in the account.”
Father’s Day Book Special: Ultimate Tie Kit: Everything You Need to Create a Wearable Masterpiece (ISBN: 0762412259)
Weekly Book Special: June 8th-June 14th
Father’s Day is fast approaching on Sunday, June 20th. Looking for the perfect gift for Dad? Well, look no further! This week’s special is:
Ultimate Tie Kit:
Everything You Need to Create a Wearable Masterpiece
Written by Conn McQuinn, Illustrated by Corinda Cook
(Tie Kit with Paperback Book, 48 pages, 2002, $20.00)
Inside this kit is everything you need to create a one-of-a-kind necktie for your friend or family member.
Have fun with painting, stenciling and stamping techniques from the 48-page illustrated book, which includes: the history of the tie, how-to instructions for decorating a tie and creative ideas to spark your imagination.
This kit also includes four non-toxic water-based fabric paints, stencil sheet, tie template, two paintbrushes, stencil brush, sponge, gift box and one yellow necktie.
Take a look at the complete kit:
“Just follow the easy instructions to paint, stamp, or stencil a unique design on the yellow necktie, then present your wearable masterpiece in the included gift box,” writes the Flowers and Gifts blog. “We bet dad never got a tie like this before!”
Purchase this book for $20.00:
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In addition, let your Dad choose his own unique gift from our extensive selection of nearly 40,000 hard-to-find books and prints. Give him a gift certificate in any amount. | |
50% Off Easter Cookbook with Family Activities
Weekly Book Special: March 29th-April 4th
Sunday is Easter, an important religious holiday and a fun family time to hunt for painted eggs. This week’s special is:
Easter Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family
Written by Jill O’Connor, Illustrated by Mikyla Bruder, Photographs by Jonelle Weaver
(Paperback, 96 pages, 2000, $15.00)
Catch a healthy case of Spring Fever with nearly 50 festive recipes and craft ideas in this book!
These tantalizing confections and easy craft projects revel in the Easter spirit — from Chicken Little Cookie Pops to fuzzy Peter Cottontail Finger Puppets.
Simple, whimsical craft ideas will keep kids busy dyeing and decorating eggs, adorning baskets, and creating springtime decorations. Full-color photos.
Our favorite recipe is for the Easter Bunny Cake (click to enlarge):
“Anyone who enjoys the Easter holiday will love this,” writes Calissa Leigh at the Curled Up with a Good Kid’s Book Web site. “[T]he lovely decorations you could use for a number of different occasions; the recipes themselves could be used at any time of the year. Easter Treats is a nice addition to your recipe collection and would make a nice gift around holiday time.”
“Author Jill O’Connor emphasizes fun over artistic perfection,” writes reviewer Jill Lightner. “She makes it easy to enjoy yourself, with thorough instructions, fresh ideas, and an easygoing presentation.”
All orders include a special spring-themed gift!
Books on American Photography, Daguerreotypes and Tintypes in the 1800s
In February 2010, our affiliate the American Philosophical Society (APS) hosted a lecture on early American portraits in the form of silhouettes, miniatures and early photographs called daguerreotypes. We offer two books on the topic:
Tintype in America, 1856-1880
by Janice G. Schimmelman
American Philosophical Society Transaction 97-2, 2007
(Paperback, 270 pages, $29.00)
A history of the ferrotype or tintype in American photography, from its origin in the 1850s until 1880.
Read more >>
American Photographic Patents 1840-1880:
The Daguerreotype and Wet Plate Era
by Janice G. Schimmelman
(Carl Mautz Publications, 2002, Paperback, 119 pages, $25.00)
Identifies all of the nearly 1,000 United States patents related to photography during the Wet Plate Era. Read more >>
Weekly Book Special: New York Artist Keith Haring’s Books Dogs and Babies
February 8th-14th Weekly Book Special
Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the death of legendary New York artist and social activist Keith Haring. Haring’s style of simple outline drawing combined Disney cartoons and the sophisticated “primitivism” of artists such as Pierre Alechinsky and Jean Dubuffet.
In the 1970s-1980s, Haring was swept into New York’s Downtown culture of Punk and New Wave music, and he translated the street culture into his art. His art continues to inspire people today. This week’s specials are two of his small format books. These books are in perfect condition. We ship in 24 hours.
Dogs
by Keith Haring (Hardcover, 68 pages, 2000, $13.00)
The dogs in the art of Keith Haring are anthropomorphic: dancing, laughing, ogling and showing off — they were on occasion an alter-ego of sorts. Here paired with quotes from Haring’s journals, we can see in these drawings the joy and inspiration he found in his friends. These drawings provide a touching and funny counterpoint to his more monumental work.
Babies
by Keith Haring (Hardcover, 64 pages, 2000, $13.00)
Keith Haring loved children and treasured their purity and innocence. The “radiant baby” was a signature images and appeared in many incarnations in his work: pregnant women dancing giddily, babies with halo and wings, cradled mother’s arms or playing with their dad. Matched with insightful entries from his writings, these joyful drawings continue to entertain, inspire and provoke.
Dogs and Babies
Purchase these books together for $26 combined:
