art history

Hardcover. NY, Scribner, 2nd pr., 2025, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 458 pages. Robert Crumb is often credited with single-handedly transforming the comics medium into a place for adult expression, in the process pioneering the underground comic book industry, and transforming the vernacular language of 20th-Century America into an instantly recognizable and popular aesthetic. Now, for the first time, Dan Nadel, delivers a "gripping and essential account" (The Boston Globe) of how this complicated artist survived childhood abuse, fame in his twenties, more fame, and came out the other side intact. Braiding biography with "cultural history and criticism...that honors the complexity of [its] subject, even, perhaps particularly, when it gets ugly" (Los Angeles Times), Crumb is the story of a richly complex life at the forefront of both the underground and popular cultures of post-war America. Including forty-five stunning black-and-white images throughout and a sixteen-page color insert featuring images both iconic and obscure. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Hatje Cantz, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 511 pages. Clean, unmarked copy in excellent condition. From the earliest days of the Cuban Revolution, the Revolutionary High Command was intensely aware of the power of the photographic image to advance the ideals of the Revolution, at home and abroad. If portraying the human side of its leaders was an important part of the Revolution's visual ideology, so too was its conception and depiction of the Cuban populace: as early as 1959, the High Command organized mass rallies in Havana assembling more than a million Cubans from throughout the island to celebrate the victory of the Revolution. Cuba in Revolution captures the complexity and the energy of this moment in all its contradictory beauty. It gathers a colossal array of photographs by both known and anonymous photographers into five thematic, chronologically overlapping sections: "Pre-Revolutionary Cuba: 1933-1959"; "The Years of Struggle and Victory: 1953-1957"; "Sierra Maestra: The Revolutionary Movement: 1956-1959"; "Bay of Pigs 1961"; and "Picturing the Revolution: 1959-1968." From Constantino Arias' portraits of poverty and wealth in pre-revolutionary Havana to the photographs of the dead Che Guevara in Bolivia, this volume offers an epic photo-narrative of the Cuban story. Iconic pictures of Che Guevara by Alberto Korda and Rene Burri are complemented by snapshots of Fidel Castro playing golf or hunting in the Soviet Union. Raul Corrales' pictures of revolutionaries playing the conga drums during the Cuban Missile Crisis also reveal a different face of the Revolution; portraits of individual Cubans by Henri Cartier-Bresson present an equally fluid vision of everyday life in Cuba; and the political and the personal merge in startlingly intimate portraits of Che Guevara by Andrew Saint-George and images of the forbidden pop culture of the mid-1960s by Jose Figueroa. Throughout the publication there is an exhilarating tension between the heroic portrayal of the leaders-Castro, Guevara and Cienfuegos-and the dramatic portrayal of a people in the midst of revolutionary transformation.

Softcover. US, Prestel, 1st, 2009, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 424 pages, color and b&w illustrations. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap. No dust jacket, as issued. From the exhibition produced by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in partnership with the Museo Nacional de Belias Artes and the Fototeca de Cuba in Havana. A comprehensive history of Cuban art and design.

Hardcover. Vista CA, Ibis Publishing, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 315 pages. As Financial Advisor to China, Arthur N. Young had an intimate insight as an on-the-spot observer of events during the critical 18 years leading to the fall of the Nationalists and the Communist takeover. Along with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Dr. Young worked closely with the highest-ranking officials of the National Government in carrying out monetary and fiscal reforms prior to World War II, and stayed through the war to aid with problems of war finance, including procurement of American aid. As the Pacific Rim gains increasing international prominence, this book will prove to be of particular importance to students, scholars, business and political leaders with an interest in Asian affairs. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Philadelphia, Nottingham Society, Ltd Ed., 1900, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, marbled boards with 3/4 leather, gilt lettering on spine, top edge gilt. B&w frontis. The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of The d'Artagnan Romances, following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. It appeared first in serial form between 1847 and 1850. Third volume from the set. Limited to 1000 copies.

Hardcover. Philadelphia, Nottingham Society, Ltd Ed., 1900, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, marbled boards with 3/4 leather, gilt lettering on spine, top edge gilt. B&w frontis. The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of The d'Artagnan Romances, following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. It appeared first in serial form between 1847 and 1850. Third volume from the set. Limited to 1000 copies.

Softcover. Urbana IL, University of Illinois Press, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 295 pages, b&w illustrations. INSCRIBED BY BECK on the title page. A daughter of freed African American slaves, Daisy Turner became a living repository of history. The family narrative entrusted to her--"a well-polished artifact, an heirloom that had been carefully preserved"--began among the Yoruba in West Africa and continued with her own century and more of life. In 1983, folklorist Jane Beck began a series of interviews with Turner, then one hundred years old and still relating four generations of oral history. Beck uses Turner's storytelling to build the Turner family saga, using at its foundation the oft-repeated touchstone stories at the heart of their experiences: the abduction into slavery of Turner's African ancestors; Daisy's father Alec Turner learning to read; his return as a soldier to his former plantation to kill his former overseer; and Daisy's childhood stand against racism. Other stories re-create enslavement and her father's life in Vermont--in short, the range of life events large and small, transmitted by means so alive as to include voice inflections. Beck, at the same time, weaves in historical research and offers a folklorist's perspective on oral history and the hazards--and uses--of memory. Clean copy.

Softcover. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 144 pages. An illustrated history of the fabulous pulp magazines from 1896 to 1953. After tracing the birth of the pulps back to the 1882 launching of Golden Argosy magazine, printed on pulpwood pages, Server organizes his unwieldy subject into categories of pulps: adventure, romance and sex, horror and fantasy, private eye, weird menace, science fiction. Each receives a lively capsule history that covers trends, reader (and sometimes, as in the case of the ``Spicys,'' government) response, and writers' bios--which, though sketchy (Hammett's Hollywood experience gets one sentence), resurrect a number of relatively obscure but seminal and fascinating figures, like Conan- creator Robert E. Howard, who shot himself dead at age 30 on the day his mother died, and Frederick Faust (a.k.a. Max Brand), who sometimes wrote around the clock, piling up two or three million words a year. Server attributes the pulps' demise to, among other factors, the advent of TV, paperbacks, and comic books, and he winds up with a note on pulp-collecting. For all of the author's savvy, though, it's above all the eye- popping illustrations (100 color, 57 b&w) that will have readers beaming. Magazine covers (some lurid, some of eerie beauty), sample pages of text and ads (``Raise Giant Frogs'')--the pulps come alive once again here, in all their eccentric glory.

Hardcover. London, Arthur Baker, 1st, 1967, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a dust jacket with partial fading, 449 pages, b&w illustrations. The definitive biography of the larger-than-life figure of the French Revolution who was found guilty of loyalist inclinations and executed at the guillotine. Name on front fly leaf otherwise clean.

Hardcover. Atglen PA, Schiffer Fashion Press, 1st, 2017, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. This nostalgic look at children's costume, from 1860 to 1920, reveals diverse cultural influences on its manufacture and design. More than 300 historic photographs, fashion plates, and selections from vintage catalogs and magazines, plus 115 color images, show examples of costume and accessories. See infants in period dress plus school-aged and teen fads and trends. Learn about the history of clothing use and development, fabric types, conservation and storage of textiles, and artistic inspiration, all arranged by decade. All types of clothing are represented, including christening gowns; boys' breeches, knickerbockers, and sack suits; swimwear and underwear; bloomers and blouses; fur, feather boas, and frocks; sailor suits and uniforms; collars and belts; capes and hoods; lingerie and dresses; sweaters and cardigans; overalls; and many more. Whether you are interested in clothing children wore in 1920 or to church in the Victorian era, this reference is a fun and evocative collection. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Rome, Institut Suisse De Rome, 1st Edition, 1976, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, 159 pages followed by 46 plates in black & white. Hardcover limited edition to 800 copies in German Text. White cloth boards with brick titles to spine. Previous owner's name to front flyleaf. Spotting, foxing to preliminary pages & edges. Dust jacket with light foxing, now protected with plastic cover. Plates detail fresco cycle of the Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato in Rome commissioned by the Florentine confraternity of the Misericordia, related drawings & sculptures. Clean, unmarked copy.

Softcover. Bennington VT, Bennington Historical Museum and Art Gallery, 1st, 1945, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, cream color card wrappers, 67 pages, frontispiece of the author. "From several points of view, I think the strange story of David Redding, the mystery surrounding his trials and condemnation, is as interesting as any in our history. From my study I can look out upon the place where stood the gallows upon which David Redding was executed. These pages contain the result of many years' study of this man's tragic story." - from the Foreword. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, DK Publishing, 1st, 2017, Book: Very Good, Hardcover, glossy pictorial boards, 72 pages. Embark on an amazing, visually dazzling adventure across the Golden Age of DC Comics history! The Golden Age heralded the birth of the Super Hero, and DC Comics paved the way. From the big bang debut of Superman in 1938 to the sensational arrival of the Amazon Princess, Wonder Woman in 1942, the face of comics books was to change forever. Profusely illustrated in color. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. New York, DC Comics, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Hardcover, 352 pages, a visual history of the DC comics line from the 30s to the present, color illustrations throughout. No dj issued. In a bright, very good slipcase.

Hardcover. Amsterdam, Schetern & Giltay, 1st, 1915, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, color illustrated boards, 190 pages. A collection of b&w (a few 2-color) political cartoons preceding WW I. Dutch text. Scarce.

Softcover. NY, Abbeville Press, 3rd printing, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 255 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. a Clean, tight copy. Third printing of this large trade paperback published for the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for the 1982 exhibition. Illustrated with 205 b&w and color plates.

Softcover. NY, Abbeville Press, 3rd printing, 1982, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 255 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. a Clean, tight copy. Third printing of this large trade paperback published for the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for the 1982 exhibition. Illustrated with 205 b&w and color plates.

Hardcover. NY, Harry N Abrams, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. A groundbreaking presentation of rarely seen photographs, history, social observation, and pictorial analysis provides an entirely new perspective on male friendship in the nineteenth century and suggests a surprisingly broad-minded attitude toward physical intimacy between men. The book collects more than 100 portraits -from daguerreotypes to cartes des visites and early photographic postcards--depicting affectionate male friendships whose precise nature, whether platonic or sexual, will never be known. Editor David Deitcher, who teaches art and critical theory at the Cooper Union, reflects on the history of these images and their possible significance. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 158 pages. Design writer Siegel takes us on a inspiring tour of the history, stylistic concerns and uses of tiles. Though their cool, hard surface might seem best suited to Mediterranean climates, tiles have enjoyed wide use as far afield as the Netherlands, and any area subject to heavy foot-traffic could benefit from their easily cleaned faces. Lavishly illustrated with color photographs supplied by Country Floors, a well-known tile importing company, the book emphasizes the traditional "country" look; a brief, less successful foray into modern styles relies heavily on simple geometric patterns. In his introduction, Country Floors owner Norman Karlson tells how his fascination with tiles developed. Seemingly meant as a sourcebook for designers and tile enthusiasts, the volume offers scant information on the proper application of tiles--only instructions for care and maintenance. Installation, it is hinted, should be left to a specialist.

Hardcover. Philadelphia, Macrae Smith Company, 1st thus, 1929, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, black cloth with bright blue, green and gilt design to front cover and spine. Romance of America's History series. Stated First Edition. Includes 8 color plates by N.C. Wyeth, Frank E. Schoonover, Stanley Arthurs and Charles Hargens. Many b&w drawings in text by various artists. Includes chapters by Washington Irving, Herman Melville, Jack London, J.F. Cooper, et al. Woodcut engraved endpapers, color frontis, 506 pages. Clean copy.

Softcover. US, Yale University Press with Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 192 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Light edgewear and rubbing to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy. This beautiful book is the first full-length study of Degas`s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, one of the most famous and beloved of all nineteenth-century sculptures. The book surveys the history, character, and significance of the sculpture, as well as its social context and the mixed reactions to it over the years.

Hardcover. Boston, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1st, 1979, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 357 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Faint foxing to dust jacket flaps and top edge, else a nice, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Reinhold, 1st US, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 104 pages, many b&w illustrations and diagrams. A handbook of scenic design written by the designer of the LAMDA Theatre, opened in London in 1963 . Part one, illustrated with 60 designs including four in color, includes a survey of five centuries of scenic art, and a history of worldwide theater practice. Part two includes line drawings and diagrams in an explanation of planning, building, painting, and setting up stage scenery: with advice on open stage and arena productions, and the use of new materials. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Washington, D.C., Prestel, 1st, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 408 pages, illustrated throughout in color. Large oversized book. Devi, the Great Goddess of India is beautiful, beneficent, terrifying, all-powerful, and glorious. Ubiquitous in India's social and spiritual fabric, she has, over the millennia, been painted, sculpted, carved, and wrought from silver and bronze in a myriad of shapes and forms. Devi: The Great Goddess brings together one hundred and twenty of these diverse examples of Devi and a group of distinguished essayists who explore facets of Devi worship and tradition, including ritual, architecture, literature, history and contemporary issues such as feminism and gender politics. Light edgewear to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy. PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO SIZE & WEIGHT, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.