american culture

Hardcover. NY, Harper Design, 1st, 2023, Hardcover in pictorial boards, 223 pages illustrated in color. From longtime fashion director, consultant, media personality, and author, Hal Rubenstein, comes a lush, full color, illustrated guide to the most influential fashion on television from the 1950s to today, revealing the surprising ways our favorite shows have significantly reflected and often shaped the way we dress. From Mary Tyler Moore's capri pants on The Dick van Dyke Show and Emma Peel's dominatrix jumpsuit on The Avengers to Olivia Pope's trademark white trench on Scandal and Don Drapers' grey sharkskin suits on Mad Men Dressing the Part is a rich history of popular American fashion and culture in the modern age. In this gorgeous compendium, the longtime fashion director and expert identifies the most stylish television shows of the past 70 years, highlighting the ways they have affected and often inspired ordinary Americans' wardrobes. Combining his decades of fashion expertise and insider knowledge with lush photographs, archival sketches, fascinating interviews with over two dozen of television's best costume designers, commentary from showrunners and co-stars, and little-known backstories, Rubenstein reveals with insight and wit how television has shaped everyday fashion, guiding and often elevating how we dress. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Montipelier, VT, Norbert J. Towne/H.J. Dodge, 1st Edition, 1954, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 98 pages. Hardcover. B/w illustrations throughout including frontispiece and foldout map. Black cloth cover boards, gilt title on spine and front cover board. Previous owner's inscribed bookplate on front endpaper and ID stamp on front flyleaf.

Hardcover. Boston, MA, Beacon Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 276 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket edges. A tight copy. Foxing to top edge of dust jacket.

Hardcover. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 480 pages. Although he is referred to as a "genius" more often than any other scholar of his period, Edward Sapir has received no full-scale biography since his death in 1939. At long last, Regna Darnell provides a comprehensive assessment of the life, ideas, and wide-ranging interests of this remarkable man. Sapir, the foremost linguist and anthropologist of his generation, contributed substantially to the professionalization of linguistics as an independent discipline. He was the first to apply comparative Indo-European methods to the study of American Indian languages, on which he conducted extensive fieldwork. His theoretical work on the relationship of the individual personality to culture remains fundamental to culture theory in anthropology, as does his insistence on the symbolic nature of culture and the importance of culture as understood by its members, in their own words.Sapir became the first professional anthropologist in Canada and teacher of a whole generation of linguists and anthropologists at Chicago and Yale. Holding to a humanistic view of anthropology (his own work included poetry and literary criticism), he was the most articulate spokesman for the interdisciplinary social science of the late 1920s and 1930s. In both linguistics and anthropology Sapir is a revered master whose ideas continue to inspire discussion and research. A sixteen-volume Collected Works is now in progress. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Just One Guy Press, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 64 pages. In his most recent body of work, Hollingsworth sends up his former home of Los Angeles, the vortex of American pop culture, playing the characters who populate and define it: personas ranging from the well-worn stereotypes to the forgotten and disenfranchised. Shot entirely on Polaroid film, the images have a mug-shot aesthetic, whereby each character seems to have been momentarily plucked from his immediate environment for scrutiny under the artist's no-holds-barred gaze.

Softcover. Durham NC, Duke University Press, 2nd pr., 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 342 pages. In Extended Play, one of the country's most innovative music writers conducts a wide-ranging tour through the outer limits of contemporary music. Over the course of more than twenty-five portraits, interviews, and essays, John Corbett engages artists from lands as distant as Sweden, Siberia, and Saturn. With a special emphasis on African American and European improvisers, the book explores the famous and the little known, from John Cage and George Clinton to Anthony Braxton and Sun Ra. Employing approaches as diverse as the music he celebrates, Corbett illuminates the sound and theory of funk and rap, blues and jazz, contemporary classical, free improvisation, rock, and reggae. Using cultural critique and textual theory, Corbett addresses a broad spectrum of issues, such as the status of recorded music in postmodern culture, the politics of self-censorship, experimentation, and alternativism in the music industry, and the use of metaphors of space and madness in the work of African American musicians. He follows these more theoretically oriented essays with a series of extensive profiles and in-depth interviews that offer contrasting and complementary perspectives on some of the world's most creative musicians and their work. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Oxford University Press;, 1st, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 288 pages. As an essayist and Village Voice columnist, Gary Giddins is widely known as a preeminent jazz writer. Walter Clemons, writing in Newsweek, hailed him as "the best jazz critic now at work," praising his "elegant prose" and "encyclopedic knowledge." Yet he has won a devoted audience for his reflections on popular culture, books, and movies as well--including a marvelous essay on Jack Benny that Gay Talese selected for Best American Essays of 1987. In Faces in the Crowd, Giddins once again demonstrates his graceful style and sharp wit in a brilliant collection of critiques,assessments, and profiles of major figures in the culture of our century.

Hardcover. Chicago, American Sheep Breeder Compny, 1st, 1910, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth covers with gilt lettering, 96 pages plus ads in rear. b&w illustrations. Gilt faded on cover and spine, clean copy. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the different types of cheese made in America, specifically focusing on cheeses made from cow, sheep, and goat milk. The author delves into the history of cheese-making in America, discussing the various techniques and methods used to produce cheese. The book also includes detailed descriptions of different cheese varieties, their flavors, textures, and uses. It is a valuable resource for cheese enthusiasts, historians, and anyone interested in the history and culture of cheese-making in America.

Softcover. NY, Oxford University Press, reprint, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 592 pages. Two-time Lincoln Prize-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo offers a marvelous portrait of the Civil War and its era, covering not only the major figures and epic battles, but also politics, religion, gender, race, diplomacy, and technology. And unlike other surveys of the Civil War era, it extends the reader's vista to include the postwar Reconstruction period and discusses the modern-day legacy of the Civil War in American literature and popular culture. Guelzo also puts the conflict in a global perspective, underscoring Americans' acute sense of the vulnerability of their republic in a world of monarchies. He examines the strategy, the tactics, and especially the logistics of the Civil War and brings the most recent historical thinking to bear on emancipation, the presidency and the war powers, the blockade and international law, and the role of intellectuals, North and South. Clean copy.

Hardcover. New York, Fifth Avenue Association, 1st, 1924, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 124 pages of text and full color and black & white illustrations followed by large section of advertisements. Book measures: 12.25" X 9.25". Light rubbing to cover corners. Clean, unmarked pages.

Softcover. New York, Peninsula Press, Reprint, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 103 pages. Spiral bound reprint edition privately printed by Peninsula Press in 1994. Previous owners name stamped at top of title page. Black & white illustrations. Clean, unmarked text.

Hardcover. Grafton, Grafton Historical Society, Revised and Expanded, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 224 pages. Hardcover. Revised and expanded edition. Illustrated with black & white photographs. Clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. New York, Crown Publishers, 1st Thus, 1971, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 239 pages. Hardcover. Black & white illustrations. Dust jacket in protective clear plastic cover. Clean, unmarked text.

Softcover. Zurich, Shedhalle Zurich, 1st, 1992, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, 112 pages. Softcover. Exhibition catalog. Text in German and English. Black & white photographs by Francesca Woodman. 3 pages with brief underlining in ink. Light wear to covers. Introductory essays by Harm Lux and Kathryn Hixson. Chronology, bibliography, list of exhibitions. Francesca Woodman "was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models. Many of her photographs show young women who are nude, blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured. Her work continues to be the subject of much critical acclaim and attention, years after she died by suicide at the age of 22, in 1981."

Hardcover. London, Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 96 pages, color illustrations. In publisher's shrinkwrap. No dust jacket issued. Leading photographer Martin Parr has put together another wonderful book from his personal collection. This time he shows us the American Christmas Card. These are a fascinating eye opener into American culture, as proud families everywhere (pets included) pose before the camera to send their Christmas Greetings across the nation.Magnum photographer Martin Parr's work features in newspapers and magazines worldwide and has been exhibited in every continent. A dedicated collector of cards, his books Boring Postcards and Boring Postcards USA have been major publishing successes.

Hardcover. London, Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 96 pages, color illustrations. In publisher's shrinkwrap. No dust jacket issued. Leading photographer Martin Parr has put together another wonderful book from his personal collection. This time he shows us the American Christmas Card. These are a fascinating eye opener into American culture, as proud families everywhere (pets included) pose before the camera to send their Christmas Greetings across the nation.Magnum photographer Martin Parr's work features in newspapers and magazines worldwide and has been exhibited in every continent. A dedicated collector of cards, his books Boring Postcards and Boring Postcards USA have been major publishing successes.

Hardcover. Kent OH, Kent State University Press, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 387 pages, b&w illustrations. Clean, unmarked in a bright dust jacket. The Lincoln images, originally appearing in such publications as Budget of Fun, Comic Monthly, New York Illustrated News, Phunny Phellow, Southern Punch, and Yankee Notions, significantly expand our understanding of the evolution of public opinion toward Lincoln, the complex dynamics of Civil War, popular art and culture, the media, political caricature, and presidential politics. Lincoln, appealed to illustrators because of his distinctive physical features. (One could scarcely conceive of a similar book on James Buchanan, his immediate predecessor.) Despite ever-improving techniques, Lincoln pictorial prominence competed favorably with any succeeding president in the nineteenth century.

Hardcover. Kent OH, Kent State University Press, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, The Lincoln images, originally appearing in such publications as Budget of Fun, Comic Monthly, New York Illustrated News, Phunny Phellow, Southern Punch, and Yankee Notions, significantly expand our understanding of the evolution of public opinion toward Lincoln, the complex dynamics of Civil War, popular art and culture, the media, political caricature, and presidential politics. Lincoln, appealed to illustrators because of his distinctive physical features. (One could scarcely conceive of a similar book on James Buchanan, his immediate predecessor.) Despite ever-improving techniques, Lincoln pictorial prominence competed favorably with any succeeding president in the nineteenth century. Historical illustrations throughout. 387 pages Including index.

Hardcover. NY, Assouline Publishing , 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 200 pages. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art acquired a wide range of George Lois's groundbreaking Esquire magazine covers and put them on display for a full year. The Esquire Covers at MoMA collects the entirety of that exhibit, many more covers, and unseen images from Lois's private collection, including personal photographs of the designer at work and outtakes of a shoot with Andy Warhol. George Lois, who led advertising's creative revolution in the 1960s, was hand-picked by the legendary editor Harold Hayes to convey visually that Esquire--a leading proponent of another creative revolution of the time, New Journalism--was on the cutting edge of profound changes in American culture. With images of JFK, RFK, and Martin Luther King, Jr. watching over Arlington National Cemetery; of Richard Nixon under the makeup-artist's powder-puff; and of Muhammad Ali as the martyred Saint Sebastian, he did just that.

Hardcover. New York , Assouline Publishing, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 200 pages, color illustrations. At the forefront of American advertising's creative revolution in the 1960s, George Lois was hand-picked by magazine editor Harold Hayes to visually convey that Esquire--a proponent of that era's New Journalism--was on the cutting edge of American culture. In 2008, New York City's Museum of Modern Art acquired a wide range of George Lois's groundbreaking, often controversial Esquire covers for its permanent collection. This fascinating catalogue presents the original exhibit, with additional covers and images from Lois's private collection, including photos of the designer at work and out-takes of the shoot that resulted in Andy Warhol "drowning" in one of his own tomato soup cans. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap.

Hardcover. Caldwell ID, Caxton Press, reprint, 1968, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 466 pages, illustrated throughout in b&w. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. This book considers the gold rushes, life in the camps, crime and justice, and the special situations and unique events that came out of this period. Heavily illustrated with black and white photographs. Endnotes, illustrations, indexed.

Hardcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, brick red cloth with a color photo illustrations on the front board with gilded and black letters to the front boards and spine, 168 pages. A fresh, comprehensive, and critical look at the California gold rush through the lens of the daguerreotype camera.The California gold rush was the first major event in American history to be documented in depth by photography. This fascinating volume offers a fresh, comprehensive, and critical look at the people, places, and culture of that historical episode as seen through daguerreotypes and ambrotypes of the era. After gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848, thousands made the journey to California, including daguerreotypists who established studios in cities and towns and ventured into the gold fields in specially outfitted photographic wagons. Their images, including portraits, views of cities and gold towns, and miners at work in the field, provide an extraordinary glimpse into the evolution of mining culture and technology, the variety of nationalities and races involved in the mining industry, and the growth of cities such as San Francisco and Sacramento. Still in publisher's shrinkwrap.

Hardcover. Columbia, University of Missouri Press, reprint, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 256 pages, illustrated in color and b&w. Like new in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. The definitive study of the painter.

Hardcover. NY, James Graham & Sons, 1st, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 176 pages. Color plates throughout. Color pictorial dust jacket. Blue cloth boards with silver lettering along spine. B&w frontispiece. clean, tight copy. A monograph on the work of Gu Pene Du Bois, an American painter known for his depiction of American culture in the early 1900s, with this book discussing his murals and portrait paintings, among other work.