Renaissance Books

Touch the Art: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair (Touch the Art)

Julie Appel, Amy Guglielmo

Amazon Price: $9.95 List Price: $9.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sterling Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $4.35

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Schools, Periods & Styles -> Baroque
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Wonderful for art lovers and their children 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

A lovely book from a lovely series of four--my favorites are this one and "Make Van Gogh's Bed." If you are an art lover and want your child to share your enjoyment, this is a great way to pass on some culture in a fun and low-pressure way. They will recognize the art works just because they have seen them in a book, and you will enjoy reading these books again and again. Wish there were more.

Better concept that realization 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I ordered these books for my niece and nephew based on online descriptions only. I had hoped for truly interactive books, based on titles like "Brush Mona Lisa's Hair". Imagine, a full head of hair on Mona Lisa, with a little brush attached. Hours of fun for a little girl. Instead, there's a tiny little window in which the hair can be felt, though no chance of brushing it. Same goes for the other titles. Mediocre pop-up books, at best. Great concept, poor execution.

Editorial Review:

The mysterious Mona Lisa could use a little grooming—so go ahead and brush her long black hair! Continue with the Old Masters by touching the large, lacy collar of Frans Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier, petting the horse’s tail in Velazquez’s Prince Baltasar Carlos on Horseback, and arranging the snappy elastic hair in Boticcelli’s The Birth of Venus. Other paintings come from Vermeer, de la Tour, Raphael, and Van Eyck.

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? (Who Was...?)

Roberta Edwards

Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $4.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Grosset & Dunlap Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $0.68

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Schools, Periods & Styles -> Renaissance
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

i can't wait to get the whole series 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best biographies aimed at children that I have ever read. The main narrative is interspersed with sidebars about different historical explanations about relevant topics such as the invention of paper, ranking of workers within the guild system, Copernicus, The illustrations by True Kelley are light-hearted, accessible, and they carry the text. How else do you explain a painting?

Great subject for a children book. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great subject for a children book. I got this series of books for my daughter and she really enjoyes reading them. Great read and educational too.

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The friends at my school read Who Was? Books too. so, i decided to read them and they're SO COOL! I Own 12 Who Was? Books and have read 18. Who Was? Books are so popular at my school. My friend that i was talking about read all the Who Was? Books and has 16.

Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself (Build It Yourself series)

Maxine Anderson

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Nomad Press Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $8.24

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Schools, Periods & Styles -> Renaissance
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Hands on History 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

We are homeschoolers using this book in part of a unit on Inventors. My eight year old is able to read and enjoy the history behind the different inventions. I thought it would just be a "how to" book, but we are both really enjoying the well written historical information in this book. It really makes Leonardo and the world he lived in come alive. I like to just browse through the book and look at all of Leonardo's sketches as well.

The pictures and instructions are fairly easy to follow. The inventions do use common items, but we don't always have the right "common" items at the right times. We have modified most of the directions to use what we actually have in our house. Today we wanted to make the camera obscura, but we just threw out our last empty Pringles can... guess we'll be eating lots of chips in the next week :)

Editorial Review:

From armored tanks and gliders to "plastic glass" and drawing machines, this interactive book explores the incredible mind of Leonardo da Vinci through hands-on building projects and activities. Most of Leonardo's inventions were never made in his lifetime and remained sketches in his famous notebooks; kids examine some of these original sketches and learn about the models he made of his inventions. From there they delve into detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for each project, which are interspersed with historical facts, biographical anecdotes, and trivia. Most of the building can be done using simple household supplies: construction paper, tape, markers, glue, cardboard tubes, aluminum foil, and cardboard boxes. Background about the Renaissance as a period of remarkable achievement in art and science appears throughout the book.

Utopia

Thomas More

Amazon Price: $4.99 List Price: $4.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Filiquarian Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $4.10

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> History & Criticism -> Movements & Periods -> Renaissance
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> United States -> Collections & Readers
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Philosophy -> Medieval Thought

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

$2.39 for a book from the 1500s? 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Assuming copyright law hasn't gone totally haywire since I last checked, Amazon is asking money for something in the public domain. This book is almost 500 years old. It belongs to the culture at large. So what does this $2.39 cover? Packaging and distribution? Can't be. This is a digital copy so there are no associated costs.

For the end consumer, you are better off going to Project gutenberg (google it) then running the free version through the Mobipocket creator or using Amazon's DRM email serivice.

Sorry, one last admonishment... Almost done... Shame on you amazon for charging money for part of our cultural commons.

Editorial Review:

Utopia, written by Sir Thomas More, depicts a fictional island with its own unique religion and customs. Sir Thomas More's work introduces readers into the concept of a perfect society with utopian, or perfect, ideas and beliefs. This timeless classic, originally written in 1516 and heavily influenced by Plato's Republic, is often read in schools as a required reading.

The Consolation of Philosophy: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)

Ancius Boethius

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Classics Amazon Marketplace: 81 new & used starting at $5.25

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Classics -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> History & Criticism -> Movements & Periods -> Renaissance
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Foreign Language Nonfiction -> Latin

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

truly consoling 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 20 people found this review helpful.

I don't read a lot of philosophy texts, but I read this one after my father died and was surprised to find it very meaningful and truly consoling.

A Literary and Philosophical Masterpiece 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful.

Boethius, in his "Consolation" written in prison shortly before his death, turns to the pre-Christian philosophers and the tradition of Rome and Greece for aid and comfort. The work is one of the most historically important works ever written: it is through Boethius that we had knowledge of Aristotle during the middle ages.

The work takes the form of a Platonic dialogue, mixing prose and poetry as the author slowly convalesces with the aid of Philosophy, his "nurse." This literary style has been imitated many times since.

The work ought to be read not only for its historical and literary appeal, but for its arguments, which are as cogent as they were nearly two thousand years ago.

Editorial Review:

Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric, and an exceptional Greek scholar. When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. "The Consolation" was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. "The Consolation" was extremely popular throughout medieval Europe and his ideas were influential on the thought of Chaucer and Dante.

The Praise of Folly and Other Writings (Norton Critical Editions)

Desiderius Erasmus

Amazon Price: $10.69 List Price: $11.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $3.94

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> World -> Medieval
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Classics -> General
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Classics -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"Great Guide to Enter the Mind and Times of Erasmus" 4 out of 5 stars.
32 of 34 people found this review helpful.

This edition has "some" of Erasmus' most influential works; namely, "The Praise of Folly", the political "Complaint for Peace", "Forewords to the Latin New Testament", "Julius Excluded from Heaven", the "Colloquis", and excerpts from his finest letters. These works are selected more to understand the humanistic side of Erasmus rather than the scholarly doctrinaire who labored for the peace of christendom. With these selections - entailed by fotenotes, the editor's prefaces, and critcical commentaries - this edition will invariably enhance a more intimate impression of the mind of Erasmus at the dawn of the reformation.

Editorial Review:

Erasmus (1466-1536) of Rotterdam was Northern Europe's leader of Renaissance learning. This great Christian humanist and scholar was the founder of the school of thought that anyone who had a good university education and was well-read in literature and theology would be morally virtuous and intellectually disciplined. Erasmus was well-known for his wit, satire and irony and was regarded as one of the best Latin prose stylists since Cicero. His most famous and widely read work, "The Praise of Folly", is a dramatic monologue on the futility of all human thought and aspiration. This new Norton Critical Edition of "The Praise of Folly" also includes selections from his other works such as "The Complaint of Peace", "The Colloquies" and "The Abbot and the Learned Lady", and two versions of Erasmus's foreword to his translation of the New Testament.

Pensees (Penguin Classics)

Blaise Pascal

Amazon Price: $9.60 List Price: $12.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Classics Amazon Marketplace: 130 new & used starting at $1.38

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Classics -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Essays -> General
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Essays -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Religion of the Heart and of the Head 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Before actually reading "Pensees," I knew Blaise Pascal and his "Pensees" only from snippets of quotes such as, "The heart has its reason of which reason knows nothing" and from "Pascal's Wager": better to risk believing in God and living with Him for all eternity and being wrong, then risk not believing in God and living apart from Him in all eternity and because you were wrong.

Having read him, I know now that the quote and wager just mentoned, though only snippets, do summarize his brilliance and his beauty. Like few others, Pascal fuses head and heart in his defense of Christianity. His ability is likely due to his brilliant mind that on November 23, 1654, from 10:30 PM to 12:30 AM encountered God in a mysterious, mystical experience that he could only describe with the one-word epitaph: "Fire."

For the rest of his brief life (he died at age 39), the fire in his soul and the genius of his mind merged in the "writing" of "Pensees." I place "writing" in quotation marks because Pascal's early death never allowed him to finish "Pensees." What we have is akin to his outline (though 325 pages in length!). Imagine if he had actually finished it. Pascal, ever the absent-minded professor, would have a thought run through his mind, write it down, cut it in a strip, and splice it in with other similar subject headings.

It's helpful to understand this before reading "Pensee" for what you find is brilliant disorder--an incomplete sentence here, half a thought there, then long and insightful paragraphs here. In other words, you do need to wade through the unusual design of the book, but in the wading you will find oceans of depth that flood both your heart and your head with passion and reason to love and know God.

Pascal's "real world" arguments for God are the most rationally and personally compelling ones that I have ever read. Pascal honestly faces the reality that we see God only in part and that by evidence alone, whether of reason or nature or both, we might just as well conclude that there is no God (the atheists), or that He is not loving, or not powerful, or that He is disinterested (Deism), or dispassionate (the Greek philosophers). He then explains that God reveals enough in nature to cause us to perceive His existence and to perceive that we are finite and fallen. Nature, according to Pascal, points more to the Mediator--Christ--the One who reveals the hidden God as a God of holiness and love, and the One who reveals us as God's prodigal children who need to come home.

Reviewer: Dr. Robert W. Kellemen is the author of "Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," and the forthcoming "Sacred Companions: A History of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction."

Editorial Review:

The "Pensees" are the unfinished notes which the French mathematician and physicist, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), jotted down in preparation for a reasoned defence of Christian belief. They display a vision of humanity's weakness and the futility of worldly life. Whether his subject is the human heart or the famous wager of faith, Pascal writes with a blend of lucidity and eloquence. This translation is unedited, and includes a concordance to the Sellier edition.

Michel de Montaigne - The Complete Essays (Penguin Classics)

Michel de Montaigne

Amazon Price: $16.50 List Price: $25.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Classics Amazon Marketplace: 66 new & used starting at $6.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Classics -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Essays -> General
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Essays -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Essays 5 out of 5 stars.
23 of 23 people found this review helpful.

Montaigne. He has lessons for us all, I've found.

Some of the lessons are hard. He writes about everything, but most of all, he writes about himself. There is a painful clarity to his work - but that cliche term does nothing to properly explain what it is he accomplishes with his writing.

At thirty-three, Montaigne decided to retire to his home and write. He had vague ideas about writing a gentleman's book on warfare, and the first few essays reflect that. But, as he progressed, he kept going on little side journeys into his own thoughts and opinions. At first, Montaigne reigned himself in, struggling to stay true to the path he had decided for himself.

Happily for us, he failed.

He abandoned the idea of writing for gentlemen - though there are still slight evidences of this throughout the work. Instead, he decided to focus on the one thing he knew better than anybody else in the entire world - Montaigne. Who else could know more, or would bother to take as much time exploring this one man than the man himself? And why not explore his own mind - every day, he has to live and deal with the advantages and disadvantages, the habits and the thoughts, the opinions and the ironies of being Montaigne. Thus, he decided, it was worth exploring. In his view, there was nothing more important than understanding one's self. If you cannot understand yourself, how can you expect to understand anybody else?

There are moments of 'painful clarity', as I said above. Montaigne discusses (his) impotence, his imperfect marriage, the disappointments he has created in others, the times when he did not do what he should. But he also talks about how he can make himself a better person, and how, in a lot of ways, he is an admirable person. It is important to realise that Montaigne is not writing an apology for himself. He is putting himself on to paper, 'warts and all', and declaring it true. There is a point in one of the essays where he declares that he wouldn't want anyone to lie about the person he is, even if they flattered him or praised him. This is, in a nutshell, Montaigne's thinking. He is not concerned with being the greatest person ever known - he is concerned with understanding himself.

Four hundred years on, what is there to offer us, the modern reader, in Montaigne? An infinity of wisdom. Could I, in honesty, completely and unwaveringly disect myself for the consumption of both myself and others? I don't think so. I very much fear that the answer is no. And yet - why not? Is it shame? I don't think so, as I have nothing major to hide. Perhaps, then, it is simply the fear of unrealised ideas and thoughts. If I am unaware of myself, I cannot present it. Montaigne was and is aware of himself and thus manages to accurately describe the person that he is.

Montaigne's essays are invaluable not only for the man that they portray, but for the wisdom in what is spoken. Montaigne has thought about so many aspects of what it is to be a human and alive, and we can all learn from this. The topics he discusses go beyond mere 16th century issues, and deal with concepts, ideas and concerns that affect us now, and will affect us always. Absolutely essential reading.

Editorial Review:

In 1572, Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'essays', inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience. He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience. Above all, Montaigne studied himself to find his own inner nature and that of humanity. The Essays are among the most idiosyncratic and personal works in all literature. An insight into a wise Renaissance mind, they continue to engage, enlighten and entertain modern readers.

Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings (Penguin Classics)

Thomas Aquinas

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Classics Amazon Marketplace: 76 new & used starting at $4.18

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Germany -> General
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Germany -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Classics -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Compilation Work 5 out of 5 stars.
59 of 61 people found this review helpful.

This is a compilation of works written by Aquinas. The book is edited by Ralph McInerny (Notre Dame) and contains all the important works of Aquinas. For instance, some of the works (or parts of works) included are: On Being and Essence, Theology, Faith, and Reason. On Boethius, The Meanings of Truth, On Creation, On Human Choice, On Law and Natural Law, The Virtues, The Logic of the Incarnation, Exposition of Paul's Epistle to Philemon, and much, much more. Moreover, McInerny includes a nice introduction that discusses Aquinas's life, works, and the impact of Thomism through the centuries. There is also a Chronology that includes important dates and events. This book is 841 pages of total Thomas. It is a great work to have if you are wanting to simply read some of the more important works by Aquinas or if you are wanting to dig a little deeper into the works of Aquinas. ... I highly recommend this book.

Editorial Review:

In his reflections on Christianity, Saint Thomas Aquinas forged a unique synthesis of ancient philosophy and medieval theology. Preoccupied with the relationship between faith and reason, he was influenced both by Aristotle's rational world view and by the powerful belief that wisdom and truth can ultimately only be reached through divine revelation. Thomas' writings, which contain highly influential statements of fundamental Christian doctrine, as well as observations on topics as diverse as political science, anti-Semitism and heresy, demonstrate the great range of his intellect and place him firmly among the greatest medieval philosophers.

Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

Bartolome de Las Casas

Amazon Price: $10.40 List Price: $13.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Classics Amazon Marketplace: 83 new & used starting at $3.67

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> South America -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> South America -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> Military -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A dark episode in the History of Spain and America 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I wanted to read this book in order to know some of the history in the conquest of america in the early years. Despite that perhaps some of the atrocities where not commited with that violence and some never happened, I think most of them are true. All this violence in the name of gold and the Inquisition.

Now, for the people who came to America, it was not an easy task. Far away from home, most of the people uneducated and indians that you cannot trust completely, the death of people was something inevitable but resulted in massacre.

A dark episode in the History of Spain and America. Finally, you realized that other colonizations were not that violent and more prosperous, it was just the "fortune" of America to receive these spaniards.

Editorial Review:

Bartolome de las Casas was born in Sevilla in 1474. At the age of 18 he left Spain for the new world, where he managed his father's ranch and subsequently became a priest. After many years of witnessing the ravages and atrocities of Spanish colonial policy and experiencing the failure of his own attempts at the peaceful colonization of Cumana, he wrote a brief account of the destruction of the Indies in 1542. This work was investigated at the instigation of Charles V by a committee of lawyers and theologians, and the findings rejected. Colonial apologists also rejected las Casas' view that the Indian was by nature virtuous and peacable, but corrupted by an alien civilization. This book examines this work.