ancient art

Hardcover. New York, Aperture, 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 96 pages, color photographs, Like new in publisher's shrinkwrap. Doors of the Kingdom is a unique collection of photographs depicting the ancient and disappearing craft of doormaking in Arabia. The Islamic concept of hurma, or sanctity of a place of dwelling or worship, is recurrent throughout Arabic poetry and literature. The door (bab), preserver of sanctity, becomes symbolic of the boundary between public and private space, and between the profane and the sacred. In 1995, Haajar Gouverneur traveled throughout the Arabian Peninsula photographing each region's distinctive doorways and the remaining artisans who make them. The doors of Arabia, painstakingly hand-carved from the wood of the Al-Athel trees, last in their exquisite variety for hundreds of years. This ancient craft, passed down from generation to generation in the central and northern regions of Saudi Arabia, is now nearly extinct. Modern materials, technology, and changing priorities threaten the continuity of the sacred and artisanal tradition of doormaking.

Softcover. New York, Universe Pub, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 138 pages. Softcover. Color photographs. Light edgewear to wrappers otherwise clean, unmarked copy. Hotchkiss (1833-69), an American painter and intimate of Asher B. Durand and Elihu Vedder, is the quintessential delicate artist who dies, underappreciated, at a young age. The title refers not only to his romantic landscapes but also to his sketchy career. This catalog accompanies an exhibition that opens this fall at the National Academy of Design. Novak, a premier art historian of the Hudson River School, provides a provocative essay on Hotchkiss as the fragile, poetic artist fixated on capturing evocative images of the ancient past. Felker, the exhibition curator, provides an insightful catalog of works arranged by subject matter. Appendixes include an exhibition checklist, a chronology of the artist's life, and transcriptions of selected manuscript material. Recommended for academically oriented art history collections.

Hardcover. New York , privately printed, 1st, 1882, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover. large folio, maroon cloth with gilt stamping. Covers worn, especially corners. Internally clean. 187 pages plus 51 full-page plates: 32 artotypes, 18 engravings, 1 chromo-lithograph. Some plates with light foxing, small water stains to some margins.In 1879, Gorringe won the contract to move the obelisk of Thutmosis III from Alexandria to Central Park for $75,000. This book is about the expedition to retrieve the obelisk and a study of the other standing obelisks in Paris and London. Frontispiece portrait of William Vanderbilt who financed the acquisition of the monument. Scarce in original printing.

UK, Cambridge University Press, 1st, 1927, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth with gilt decoration, lettering, 56 pages plus 111 b&w plates. This 1927 book presents an accessible guide to Gothic foliage sculpture, aimed at visitors to ancient English churches. 186 pages total. Decorative bookplate inside front cover otherwise clean copy.

Softcover. NY, Stewart Tabori & Chang, reprint, 1997, Softcover, 169 pages, illustrated in color. An authority on Pompeii and the ancient Roman Empire takes readers on a tour of Pompeii, examining every aspect of the city and its people. This presentation of over 80 amazingly diverse works of erotic art from Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum accompanies a meticulous text which discusses the works in detail, emphasizing elements of composition, style, origin, and the mythological or real-life influences that inspired their creation. 159 color photos by Antonia Mulas.

Softcover. Detroit MI, Wayne State University Press, 5th pr., 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 289 pages, b&w illustrations. As Bonfante explains in the introductory chapter, "The Etruscans provide an excellent opportunity of turning archaeology into history: this we tried to do, in our chapters, according to our individual directions. Nancy Thomson de Grummond traces the interest in and knowledge of the Etruscans from the earliest days. Mario Torelli provides an independent account of Etruscan history, based on monuments and sources. Jean MacIntosh Turfa belies the cliche of the Etruscans' traditional 'isolation' by surveying the material evidence for their trade with the Phoenicians, Greeks, and other neighbors in the Mediterranean. Marie-Francoise Briguet, Friedhelm Prayon, David Tripp, and I survey Etruscan art, architecture, coinage, and daily lives, respectively, Emeline Richardson contributes what she calls a 'primer' in the Etruscan language, a basic archaeological introduction to the Etruscan language, meant to help newcomers read the inscriptions on many of the monuments illustrated and to see these with the interdisciplinary approach so characteristic of, and necessary in, Etruscan studies." Clean copy.

Softcover. Athens, Benaki Museum, 1st, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 334 pages, softcover exhibition catalog, b&w illustrations. Printed on glossy stock. Sculpture, pottery, vases, jewelry and other art from ancient Greece and the Cycladic civilization. Previous owner's embossed stamp on front fly leaf, otherwise clean, very good.

Hardcover. NY, Oxford University Press, 2nd pr., 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 197 pages. Forged explores art forgery from ancient times to the present. In chapters combining lively biography with insightful art criticism, Jonathon Keats profiles individual art forgers and connects their stories to broader themes about the role of forgeries in society. From the Renaissance master Andrea del Sarto who faked a Raphael masterpiece at the request of his Medici patrons, to the Vermeer counterfeiter Han van Meegeren who duped the avaricious Hermann G?ring, to the frustrated British artist Eric Hebborn, who began forging to expose the ignorance of experts, art forgers have challenged "legitimate" art in their own time, breaching accepted practices and upsetting the status quo. They have also provocatively confronted many of the present-day cultural anxieties that are major themes in the arts. Keats uncovers what forgeries --and our reactions to them-- reveal about changing conceptions of creativity, identity, authorship, integrity, authenticity, success, and how we assign value to works of art. The book concludes by looking at how artists today have appropriated many aspects of forgery through such practices as street-art stenciling and share-and-share-alike licensing, and how these open-source "copyleft" strategies have the potential to make legitimate art meaningful again. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Dublin, Dolmen Editions, First Edition, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 78 pages. Hardcover. Limited to 650 copies. Black cloth boards with white printed decoration & white titles to spine. Ink paintings by Louis le Brocquy in black & white throughout. Previous owner's bookplate to front endpaper. Clean, unmarked, tight copy. No dust jacket.

Softcover. NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1st, 1979, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 238 pages. Illustrated profusely in b&w and 16 plates in color. An exhibition sponsored by the government of the Republic of Greece and the Musee du Louvre. Metalwork, bronze, clay, marble: all manner of objects 4th millennium B.C. to 4th century B.C.

Hardcover. NY, Thames & Hudson Ltd, reprint, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 480 pages illustrated in color and b&w. first published in 1970, this is the new enlarged edition. The miniaturist art of gem engraving is the least familiar of the major arts of ancient Greece, yet we know it to have been practiced by the greatest artists. This book presents a comprehensive account of the art in Greek lands from the early Bronze Age down to the Hellenistic period. The gems are related to history and to the artistic achievements in other media of their day, and the subject matter of the scenes engraved upon them is examined and found to hold much that will be new to students of Greek myth and iconography. The development of the Bronze Age studios in the Minoan and Mycenaean world is discussed, and the works of the great period of Classical gem engraving are resolved into their styles and schools, with a special chapter devoted to Greek works within the Persian Empire. Clean copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. London, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, reprint, 1929, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green boards with beige buckram spine, black lettering on spine and front cover. 425 pages with index. The Artistic Crafts Series of Technical Handbooks. Diagrams by the author and numerous illustrations, colored lithographs and collotype reproductions from ancient examples. Gutter cracked at half-title page, previous owner's name otherwise clean.

Hardcover. London/NY, John Lane/ Harper & Brothers, 1st UK, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth with embossed rules, gilt decoration and lettering. The letter code D-D appears on copyright page, probable first English edition. B&w halftones throughout, 306 pages plus additional pages with index, synoptic tables. Small signature on front fly leaf otherwise clean. Well preserved copy.

Hardcover. NY, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 118 pages. SIGNED BY CHAST on the blank prelim page. Ancient Greeks, modern seers, Freud, Jung, neurologists, poets, artists, shamans-humanity has never ceased trying to decipher one of the strangest unexplained phenomena we all experience: dreaming. Now, in her new book, Roz Chast illustrates her own dream world, a place that is sometimes creepy but always hilarious, accompanied by an illustrated tour through "Dream-Theory Land" guided by insights from poets, philosophers, and psychoanalysts alike. Illuminating, surprising, funny, and often profound, I Must Be Dreaming explores Roz Chast's newest subject of fascination-and promises to make it yours, too.

Hardcover. NY, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 118 pages. Ancient Greeks, modern seers, Freud, Jung, neurologists, poets, artists, shamans-humanity has never ceased trying to decipher one of the strangest unexplained phenomena we all experience: dreaming. Now, in her new book, Roz Chast illustrates her own dream world, a place that is sometimes creepy but always hilarious, accompanied by an illustrated tour through "Dream-Theory Land" guided by insights from poets, philosophers, and psychoanalysts alike. Illuminating, surprising, funny, and often profound, I Must Be Dreaming explores Roz Chast's newest subject of fascination-and promises to make it yours, too.

Hardcover. NY, Bloomsbury Publishing, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 118 pages. Ancient Greeks, modern seers, Freud, Jung, neurologists, poets, artists, shamans-humanity has never ceased trying to decipher one of the strangest unexplained phenomena we all experience: dreaming. Now, in her new book, Roz Chast illustrates her own dream world, a place that is sometimes creepy but always hilarious, accompanied by an illustrated tour through "Dream-Theory Land" guided by insights from poets, philosophers, and psychoanalysts alike. Illuminating, surprising, funny, and often profound, I Must Be Dreaming explores Roz Chast's newest subject of fascination-and promises to make it yours, too.

Hardcover. London, Oxford University Press, 1st, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 401 pages. VOLUME 2 ONLY. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Include ornamental designs from the circle of Giorgio Vasari, Renaissance machinery, and the ancient brick tombs of the Roman Campagna as drawn by Giovanni Battista Montano, etc.PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO WEIGHT, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. NY, W. W. Norton & Company, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Written by two members of archaeological expeditions which have excavated at Caesarea, the ancient city on the coast of Israel built by Herod the Great, this book tells the story of the great city, from its beginnings to its destruction in the 13th century. Readers discover this past through archaeologists' eyes, as the text considers not only artifacts and written sources but the processes by which archaeologists reconstruct the past. A companion volume to a traveling exhibition of Caesarean artifacts, this is very highly recommended for both its clarity and creativity. 244 pages illustrated in color plus index. Clean.

Hardcover. Los Angeles, World Hapkido Federation, 2nd pr., 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 300 pages, b&w illustrations. First published in 1976. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. Boulder CO, Bala Kids, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, gorgeous color art by Wen Hsu. Two sisters discover the power of love and the true meaning of compassion in this princess-adventure story based on an ancient Chinese tale. Miao Shan isn't your typical princess. She likes to spend her time quietly meditating with the creatures of the forest or having adventures with dragons and tigers. Miao Shan's heart is so full of love that her dream is to spread happiness throughout the land and help people endlessly. But her father has other plans for her--he intends to have her married and remain in the palace. With the help of her little sister Ling, Miao Shan escapes and begins her journey to discover the true meaning of compassion. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Dover Publications, reprint, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 48 pages illustrated in color by Gorey. A new approach to the ancient fables of Aesop features charming rhymes and winsome images by a beloved illustrator. Artist Edward Gorey sets the scenes for poet Ennis Rees's modern interpretation of Aesop's verses, which recount how animals with all-too-human failings receive their just desserts. Memorable renderings of familiar and lesser-known vignettes include the fable of the industrious ant, who prepares for the hardships of the coming winter, and the feckless grasshopper, whose laziness proves fatal. A mighty lion is amused at the notion of a tiny mouse coming to his rescue, a naive young crustacean admires the bright red shell of a boiled lobster, and a swarm of flies are undone by their attraction to a pool of spilled honey. These and other timeless tales provide humorous insights into the folly of greed and vanity and the rewards of virtuous behavior. Originally published in 1971 by Young Scott.

Hardcover. NY, Dover Publications, reprint, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 48 pages illustrated in color by Gorey. A new approach to the ancient fables of Aesop features charming rhymes and winsome images by a beloved illustrator. Artist Edward Gorey sets the scenes for poet Ennis Rees's modern interpretation of Aesop's verses, which recount how animals with all-too-human failings receive their just desserts. Memorable renderings of familiar and lesser-known vignettes include the fable of the industrious ant, who prepares for the hardships of the coming winter, and the feckless grasshopper, whose laziness proves fatal. A mighty lion is amused at the notion of a tiny mouse coming to his rescue, a naive young crustacean admires the bright red shell of a boiled lobster, and a swarm of flies are undone by their attraction to a pool of spilled honey. These and other timeless tales provide humorous insights into the folly of greed and vanity and the rewards of virtuous behavior. Originally published in 1971 by Young Scott.

Hardcover. NY, Artisan, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. 145 pages. A master craftsman provides timeless wisdom from working with stone. Beautifully illustrated with color and black and white photographs from the work-field. In his highly anticipated second book, Vermonter Dan Snow once again proves that he is not just one of America's premier artisans, but also one of our most articulate voices on the natural world and our relationship to it. Snow's medium is stone: He is the nation's premier drystone wall builder. Schooled in this ancient craft, he painstakingly creates structures as breathtaking as sculpture with nothing but gravity as their glue. In Listening to Stone, Peter Mauss's tactile photographs of Snow's artistry are matched by the artisan's quietly compelling prose. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. This book curates 125 unputdownable entries from a list of names that are as eclectic and intriguing as its contents, which include myriad reasons given by ancient Egyptians for missing work, Albert Einstein's demands of his estranged wife, F. Scott Fitzgerald's extensive conjugation of "to cocktail," and many more. Rarely intended for the public eye, these lists reveal hopes, priorities, and musings in a most engaging and entertaining way. Each transcript is accompanied by an artwork, most a captivating facsimile of the list itself. Clean copy.