Books - Page 5

Superman: The Complete History

Les Daniels

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Hardly the True Story of Superman 2 out of 5 stars.
31 of 37 people found this review helpful.

There is no doubt the comic book industry owes a great debt to Superman, or rather, to Siegel and Shuster who created him, but in his book, Les Daniels frequently looks for ways to minimize, rather than credit, their contribution. DC Comics made millions of dollars on the movies, TV Shows, cartoons, and other merchanising over the decades, while Siegel and Shuster shared in hardly any of it. The most shocking thing now is, this book, written with the cooperation of DC - rather than apologize to the two men, or even express any kind of gratitude, it actually takes stabs at Sigel and Shuster. Rather than simply state the facts regarding to Superman's history, Daniels frequently assails the characters of the two men, claims they took most of their ideas from other places, assigns poor motives to both men, even mentions extra-marital affairs they may or may not have had. The book is supposed to be about Superman, who cares about any of that? Of course Daniels would never turn a critical eye towards DC, who seem to have hired him, it's surprising they still seem to be bitter about two men that made them so much money for the last sixty years. There is no doubt, DC has been the best comic book company when it comes to promoting their characters, but they have also been very lucky in the courts. Not only did they force Superman's creators to relinquish all rights to the character, their lawsuits also managed to force Captain Marvel, a character more popular than Superman at the time, out of business. They claimed they were too much alike, but anyone who knows comics could see their differences. Later, DC took over Captain Marvel and actually began publishing him themselves (!). This story is only touched on briefly here. I give the book two stars because the illustrations are good, but the text deserves one, if even that. Everyone is entitled their opinion, but, in a book like this, people don't want to hear about it, they expect a decent read about the character of Superman. The true history of Superman is really not told here, it actually involves greedy businessmen sitting back and counting their money, while the creators that were the ones to make these characters, end up dying peniless.

Editorial Review:

The super-powered trilogy that captured the world's greatest superhero triumvirate of all time is now available in paperback. Relive the adventures of Krypton's favorite son inside and outside the comic book world in Superman: The Complete History. Uncover the Caped Crusader's mysterious real-world origin and his evolution into a hugely successful TV and movie franchise in Batman: The Complete History. Follow the Amazon Princess as she evolves from curiosity to feminist icon in the Eisner Award winning Wonder Woman: The Complete History. Each book is filled with enough archival comic book art, photographs, and in-depth history to satisfy the most demanding fan—and is now priced to appeal to the most casual reader.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and all related characters, names, and indicia are trademarks of DC Comics 2004.

The Lindisfarne Gospels (Illuminated Gift)

Janet Backhouse

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Easy to read study of an illuminated manuscript 5 out of 5 stars.
57 of 59 people found this review helpful.

The scope of this book is best described by the chapter titles: 1) Lindisfarne and Saint Cuthbert 2) The men who made the manuscript 3) The text of the Gospels 4) The script 5) How the manuscript was made 6) The great decorated pages 7) The smaller initials 8) Some comparisons (with contemporary works) 9) The later history of the manuscript

The text is lively, including, for example, an old riddle describing the wax table used for sketches. The Anglo-Saxom instruments used in illuminations are shown in a photograph; you aren't expected to have detailed knowledge of medieval tools. The color plates of the Gospels are magnificant. The art shown for comparison includes not only other manuscripts but metalwork etc.

This book is not only an introduction to the Lindisfarne Gospels but is a good starting point for illuminated manuscripts in general.

Editorial Review:

"The Lindisfarne Gospels" is one of Britain's greatest artistic treasures, a surviving example of Anglo-Saxon book painting of the late-seventh century. Written and illuminated in honour of God and St Cuthbert, in about AD 698 by the monk Eadfrith, afterwards Bishop of Lindisfarne, it is famous for the quality and intricate design of its decorated pages. In this gift book, Janet Backhouse describes how the manuscript was made, placing it in the context of early Christian Northumbria. With all the major pages and many details reproduced in colour, this work represents an introduction for anyone interested in manuscript illumination, insular art and design and the early history of the book in Britain. An accompanying video, narrated by Kevin Whately, is available, ISBN 0-7123-0423-1 (PAL), 0-7123-0401-0 (NTSC).

Reading Matters: Five Centuries of Discovering Books

Margaret Willes

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Editorial Review:

It is easy to forget in our own day of cheap paperbacks and mega-bookstores that, until very recently, books were luxury items. Those who could not afford to buy had to borrow, share, obtain secondhand, inherit, or listen to others reading. This book examines how people acquired and read books from the sixteenth century to the present, focusing on the personal relationships between readers and the volumes they owned. Margaret Willes considers a selection of private and public libraries across the period—most of which have survived—showing the diversity of book owners and borrowers, from country-house aristocrats to modest farmers, from Regency ladies of leisure to working men and women.

 

Exploring the collections of avid readers such as Samuel Pepys, Thomas Jefferson, Sir John Soane, Thomas Bewick, and Denis and Edna Healey, Margaret Willes also investigates the means by which books were sold, lending fascinating insights into the ways booksellers and publishers marketed their wares. For those who are interested in books and reading, and especially those who treasure books, this book and its bounty of illustrations will inform, entertain, and inspire.

Wonder Woman: The Complete History

Les Daniels

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

Les Daniels is no fan of Wonder Woman 2 out of 5 stars.
13 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I have always enjoyed Les Daniels and his carefully researched books of comics history, but everyone has a blind spot. Wonder Woman is obviously his. This book, beautifully designed as it is, fails to capture what has made Wonder Woman such an enduring character and icon. It's clear on almost every page, Daniels is unimpressed by her. It's fine if he doesn't like her -- no one character can be everyone's favorite -- but it does make for a frustrating read at times when one wishes to celebrate Wonder Woman's unique place in comics history. His fascination with her creator is evident to the point that it seems clear Daniels would much rather write about Marston than Diana. His heavy emphasis on the bondage subtext of the Golden Age incarnation undercuts the more postive surface elements of those stories. Indeed, he sneers at Gloria Steinem's endorsement of those early years, casting great disbelief that there could be anything of substance taken from them.

Also, as another reviewer points out, Daniels gives short shrift to George Perez's post-Crisis revamp. Widely acknowledged by fans as the high point of her modern career, it's strange to see Daniels blandly note the support Perez got from female collegues in overhauling Wonder Woman's character and deride it by calling the later issues akin to ADVENTURES OF MENOPAUSAL MOM (I'm paraphrasing but only slightly). Daniels here suffers from the same fanboy syndrome that infuses the industry these days -- the idea that if HE doesn't appreciate it, it must be terrible. Meanwhile, Mike Deodato's art is viewed favorably, despite that being universely considered a lower point in the post-Crisis stories.

At the end of the book, it really seems as if Daniels only reluctantly churned it out because of a contractual obligation. His Superman and Batman books are excellent and filled with total respect for the characters and their appeal. If only he could've retained enough objectivity for the Wonder Woman assignment. Despite it all, it is a beautiful book and the history is thorough and still fascinating if somewhat subjective. Good for historical nuts, not so good for WW fans.

Editorial Review:

The super-powered trilogy that captured the world's greatest superhero triumvirate of all time is now available in paperback. Relive the adventures of Krypton's favorite son inside and outside the comic book world in Superman: The Complete History. Uncover the Caped Crusader's mysterious real-world origin and his evolution into a hugely successful TV and movie franchise in Batman: The Complete History. Follow the Amazon Princess as she evolves from curiosity to feminist icon in the Eisner Award winning Wonder Woman: The Complete History. Each book is filled with enough archival comic book art, photographs, and in-depth history to satisfy the most demanding fan—and is now priced to appeal to the most casual reader.

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and all related characters, names, and indicia are trademarks of DC Comics 2004.

The Care of Fine Books

Jane Greenfield

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent Buy 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I wish everybody had the enthusiasm for caring for books that Jane Greenfield does. Too many are classic, valuable tomes thrown into used bookstores and decimated over time. This book is an excellent guide to caring for your books, and making them valuable over time.

Editorial Review:

Jane Greenfield, advisor in rare book conservation at Yale University Library, is a leading authority on preservation and repair. After attending the New York School of Applied Design, she operated her own bindery for several years, enabling her to write from an unusual level of both education and experience. Here she offers a concise yet thorough discussion of book construction, storage, handling, cleaning, and repair, as well as essential expert advice on how to properly store and handle books of value in order to protect them from fire, flood, theft, and common wear and tear. With a new introduction by bestselling author Nicholas A. Basbanes, this is an indispensable volume for bibliophiles of every description.

The Book on the Bookshelf

Henry Petroski

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

He has been called "the poet laureate of technology" and a writer who is "erudite, witty, thoughtful, and accessible." Now Henry Petroski turns to the subject of books and bookshelves, and wonders whether it was inevitable that books would come to be arranged vertically as they are today on horizontal shelves. As we learn how the ancient scroll became the codex became the volume we are used to, we explore the ways in which the housing of books evolved. Petroski takes us into the pre-Gutenberg world, where books were so scarce they were chained to lecterns for security. He explains how the printing press not only changes the way books were made and shelved, but also increased their availability and transformed book readers into books owners and collectors. He shows us that for a time books were shelved with their spines in, and it was not until after the arrival of the modern bookcase that she spines faced out.

In delightful digressions, Petroski lets Seneca have his say on "the evils of book collecting"; examines the famed collection of Samuel Pepys (only three thousand titles: old discarded to make room for new); and discusses bookselling, book buying, and book collecting through the centuries.

Richly illustrated and wonderfully written, this is the ultimate book on the book: how it came to be and how we have come to keep it.

A French Alphabet Book of 1814: For Alfred Bourdier De Beauregard, Created by his uncle Arnaud at the Chateau DeBeaumoont De Beauregard

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

Great images 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Really a wonderful book with great graphics. Got the title from the Movable Book Society. If you like pop-ups JOIN.

The title is a mouthful ... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

but the drawings are a delight.

Uncle Arnaud created this charming volume of water colors in 1814 as an alphabet primer for his two-year-old nephew Alfred. Napoleon was on Elba, and the formerly exiled King Louis XVIII was in power. The views include the family chateau and its surrounding landscape and the elegantly furnished interior: kitchens, chapel, workshops, wine cellar, and stables. The book includes detailed drawings of other types of buildings - palaces, churches, cottages and barns.

The book also focuses on nephew Alfred. His clothing and pastimes are illustrated. There are images of his instruction in polite manners, music, and the arts. Altogether Uncle Arnaud drew nearly 300 watercolors.

The pages are filled with puns and French captions. Many of these have been translated into the English, and the book contains an excellent French to English dictionary of words and terms of the period.

Charles Plante, a London art and antique dealer, acquired the book from a Parisian dealer who "bought it directly from one of the family members of the chateau." Plante writes: "I think it did more than train the young nephew about life in the chateau. It's telling him about the larger picture and perhaps things to come in his life, and that's one of the reasons why it survived. It was very much a treasured object within the family."

Plante's researches lead him to believe their limited militaristic flavor speaks to the alienation of the French aristocracy from the Revolution.

Wordplay and visual humor abound. A theater is placed next to a metal bathtub, or "baignoire", a word that also meant "theater pit." A chamber pot looms under a bed. An infant, an aged man, a skeleton with a scythe, an hourglass and other objects seem to warn of the fleeting nature of time. A whip and a razor in a grouping of toys convey an ominous note.

Plante writes that juxtaposition of many of the objects doesn't make sense to him or to other historians. "The picture may become clearer as more research is done. Or in fact it may be rather simplistic and they're all things that the nephew would have come in contact with in the chateau or come to learn about in life. The more I look at it the more I learn from it. I think that's what has given a lot of people pleasure. And its naive charm adds a whole other dimension to one's interpretation of what is art."

I found this a fascinating insight into the life of the aristocracy after the French Revolution.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Editorial Review:

This charming primer on the alphabet captures the essence of everyday life among the French aristocracy in 1814 in a uniquely detailed series of watercolor drawings made as an alphabet book for a young French aristocrat by his uncle. The drawings give fascinating views of the family chateau and its grounds, its elegantly appointed interiors, the private chapel, as well as the kitchen, workshops, and stables. The boy's clothing and pastimes are all minutely illustrated as are his instruction in polite manners, music, and the arts. The pages are full of amusing puns and now obscured meanings-the French captions translated into the English of the period-preserving a life of enchantment and privilege which has long since vanished.

A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict

John Baxter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the rural Australia of the fifties where John Baxter grew up, reading books was disregarded with suspicion, owning and collecting them with utter incomprehension. Despite this, by the age of eleven Baxter had 'collected' his first book - The Poems of Rupert Brooke. He'd read the volume often, but now he had to own it. This was the beginning of what would become a major collection and a lifelong obsession.His book-hunting would take him all over the world, but his first real find was in London in 1978, when he spotted a rare copy of a Graham Greene children's book while browsing on a stall in Swiss Cottage. It was going for 5 pence. This would also, fortuitously, be the day when he first encountered one of the legends of the book-selling world: Martin Stone. At various times pothead, international fugitive from justice, and professional rock musician, he would become John's mentor and friend.In this brilliantly readable and funny book, John Baxter brings us into contact with such literary greats as Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, J.G. Ballard and Ray Bradbury. But he also shows us how he penetrated the secret fraternity of 'runners' or book scouts - sleuths who use bluff and guile to hunt down their quarry - and joined them in scouring junk shops, markets, auction rooms and private homes for rarities.In the comic tradition of Clive James's Unreliable Memoirs, A Pound of Paper describes how a boy from the bush came to be living in a Paris penthouse with a library worth millions. It also explores the exploding market in first editions. What treasures are lying unnoticed in your garage?

Warman's Children's Books: Identification and Price Guide

Steve Santi

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Editorial Review:

*Highlights the beauty and artistry associated with childhood fairy tales

Children's books delight generations of young and the young at heart with their morally wise fables and beautiful illustrations. Although it's hard to put a price on timeless treasures there's definitely tangible collector values associated with these bookshelf beauties. You'll find updated secondary market prices, 2,500+ color photos to assist with identification of pieces, history and collector tips in this extensive reference. Inside you'll find details for books including:

*Big Golden Books, Deluxe Golden Books, Giant Golden Books
*Tell-A-Tale
*See Saw Books
*Fuzzy Books
*Wonder Books
*Elf & Jr. Elf

Sixpence House

Paul Collins

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Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A bibliophile's pilgrimage to where book lovers go when they die-Hay-on-Wye.

Paul Collins and his family abandoned the hills of San Francisco to move to the Welsh countryside-to move, in fact, to the little cobblestone village of Hay-on-Wye, the 'Town of Books' that boasts fifteen hundress inhabitants-and forty bookstores. Antiquarian bookstores, no less.

Hay's newest citizens accordingly take up residence in a sixteenth-century apartment over a bookstore, meeting the village's large population of misfits and bibliomaniacs by working for world-class eccentric Richard Booth-the self-declared King of Hay, owner of the local castle, and proprietor of the world's largest and most chaotic used book warren. A useless clerk, Paul delights in shifting dusty stacks of books around and sifting them for ancient gems like Robinson Crusoe in Words of One Syllable, Confessions of an Author's Wife, and I Was Hitler's Maid. He also duly fulfills his new duty as a citizen by simultaneously applying to be a Peer in the House of Lords and attempting to buy Sixpence House, a beautiful and neglected old tumbledown pub for sale in the town's center.

Taking readers into a secluded sanctuary for book lovers, and guiding us through the creation of his own book, Sixpence House becomes a meditation on what books means to us, and how their meaning can still resonate long after they have been abandoned by their public. Even as he's writing, the knowledge of where his work will eventually end up-rubbing bindings with the rest of the books that time forgot-is a curious kind of comfort.