art history

Softcover. NY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 48 pages illustrated in color and b&w. Clean copy.

Hardcover. New York, Weybright and Talley, 1st US, 1969, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 248 pages. Hardcover. Illustrated with 370 black & white plates and a color frontispiece. Introduction by Henry Moore. Photographs by Ilario Bessi in collaboration with Henry Moore. Brown canvas, spine lettered in gilt, upper cover blocked in gilt with publishers' device, Dust jacket with light surface wear to back cover. Clean, tight copy.

Softcover. Oakland CA, PM Press;, 1st, 2017, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 336 pages. The first comprehensive account of how the rise of postwar youth culture was depicted in mass-market pulp fiction. As the young created new styles in music, fashion, and culture, pulp fiction shadowed their every move, hyping and exploiting their behavior, dress, and language for mass consumption and cheap thrills. With their lurid covers and wild, action-packed plots, these books reveal as much about society's deepest desires and fears as they do about the subcultures themselves. Featuring approximately 400 full-color covers, many of them never before reprinted, along with 70 in-depth author interviews, illustrated biographies, and previously unpublished articles, the book goes behind the scenes to look at the authors and publishers, how they worked, where they drew their inspiration and--often overlooked--the actual words they wrote. It is a must read for anyone interested in pulp fiction, lost literary history, retro and subcultural style, and the history of postwar youth culture.

Hardcover. NY, Orion Press/ Trianon Press, 1st, 1961, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. 180 pages, profusely illustrated in b&w. 112 pages of photos, 3 fold-outs. The definitive study of the 12th-century French sculptor, responsible for almost all the sculpture and reliefs in the medieval cathedral in Burgundy. Spine cracked at preliminary spread before title page. No markings, clean copy.

Hardcover. Richmond, Va., Candela Books, 1st, 2010, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, 100 pages. Hardcover. Extensive b&w photography throughout. Tipped in plate on front cover. Small stain to front cover, otherwise clean, tight copy. Working primarily from the 1940s through the early 1960s, the American photographer Gita Lenz (1910-2011) made documents of New York street life that won her early recognition and inclusion in two group shows curated by Edward Steichen for The Museum of Modern Art, a three-person show at the Brooklyn Museum and numerous articles and features in photography magazines of the time. Equally given to inflecting her portraiture with hints of social realism one on hand, and surrealism on the other, and also influenced by her close friend Aaron Siskind, Lenz produced abstract compositions, city still lifes, surreal still lifes and intimate portraits. She receded from view in the 1960s as financial demands impeded her practice, but in 2002, a chance meeting with photographer Gordon Stettinius led to the retrieval of this small but charming body of work, and the publication of this superbly printed first monograph.

Hardcover. NY, Abrams, 1st, 2024, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 330 pages. A visually captivating history of the evolution of Glamour magazine and the brands legendary decades at the forefront of female empowerment in an incredible photographic volume For more than 80 years, Glamour has been the preeminent women's empowerment brand in America. But until now, no one has told the extraordinary story of its origins, the famous names who helped shape the magazine into the global powerhouse it is today, and Glamour's many historic firsts. Glamour was the first American fashion magazine to feature a Black cover star, the first to present Gloria Steinem's writing, and the first to feature groundbreaking reporting on reproductive rights. In a gripping journey, follow the group of women editors and journalists who spearheaded the magazine as World War II transformed the female landscape with over 7.5 million working women suddenly in the US workforce in 1940 and repositioned the title from charting Hollywood glamour to the magazine for the girl with a job.

Softcover. NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 330 pages illustrated in color. Islamic glassmakers were not only brilliant technicians and innovators in their own right, but they also preserved many of the methods of their Sasanian and Roman predecessors, passing them on centuries later to Venetian and other masters. Glass of the Sultans is the first comprehensive study of the accomplishments of these craftsmen, which are of lasting significance both to Islamic and to world art. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. Shelton CT, The Greenwich Workshop Press, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 144 pages. Illustrated with 69 full color reproductions of the art of Mort Kunstler, some double page. First edition, first printing - stated and with full number line. America's premier Civil War artist, Mort Kunstler, is joined by the nation's leading Civil War historian, Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr., in this extraordinary visual history of the Civil War's dramatic first two years. A companion history to the motion picture of the same name, Gods and Generals is based on the best-selling Jeff Shaara novel, and surveys a crucial period in the War Between the States through incomparable art-work and a matchless narrative. Clean copy.

Hardcover. New York, Harry Abrams, 1st, 1983, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 216 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED ON TITLE PAGE. Clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Rizzoli, 1st US, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 220 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Light edgewear and tanning to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy. Covers the rise of travel thanks to the development of roadways, railways, luxury ocean liners and trains, and eventually the airliner. Wonderfully illustrated with photos, travel posters, luggage tags, and more.

Hardcover. NY, McGraw-Hill, 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 127 pages. Gold, red, green and black (old Lucky Strike colors) boards, no dust jacket. A history of cigarette smoking. Great photos of smoking in films, antique ads and packages, etc. Laid in are publicity photos of author and designer. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, McGraw-Hill, 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 127 pages. Gold, red, green and black (old Lucky Strike colors) boards, no dust jacket. A history of cigarette smoking. Great photos of smoking in films, antique ads and packages, etc.

Hardcover. NY, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1st, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 499 pages, profusely illustrated throughout with 562 plates, including 148 in full color. Previous owner's blind stamp on front end paper. Light shelf-wear to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1st English, 1972, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 527 pages. Hardcover. Previous owners name and brief inscription on front endpaper. Illustrated with black & white photographs. Dust jacket with light wear. Clean, tight copy.

Softcover. US, Lund Humphries Publishers, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap. Over 35 years, alongside his paintings and prints, Francisco Goya expressed his creative genius in eight albums of drawings. Split up after his death, their pages scattered across various collections, the albums remain little known. This book reunites over 100 of the drawings, almost all in colour at actual size, including both sides of double-sided sheets, and there are detailed commentaries on each album and each drawing. The album drawings reveal Goya's astonishing powers of invention and observation. Essay by Tom Lubbock.

Hardcover. NY, Pantheon, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Grand Avenues tells the riveting story of Pierre Charles L'Enfant and the creation of Washington D.C.--from the seeds of his inspiration to the fulfillment of his extraordinary vision.L'Enfant's story is one of consuming passion, high emotion, artistic genius, and human frailty. As a boy he studied drawing at the most prestigious art institute in the world. As a young man he left his home in Paris to volunteer in the army of the American colonies, where he served under George Washington. There he would also meet many of the people who would have a profound impact on his life, including Alexander Hamilton and James Monroe. And it was Washington himself who, in 1791, entrusted L'Enfant with the planning of the nation's capital--and reluctantly allowed him to be dismissed from the project eleven months later. The plan for the city was published under another name, and for the remainder of his life L'Enfant fought for recognition of his achievement. But he would not live to see that day, and a century would pass before L'Enfant would be given credit for his brilliant design. Scott W. Berg recounts this tale, richly evocative of time and place, with the narrative verve of a novel and with a cast of characters that ranges from Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers to the surveyor who took credit for L'Enfant's plans, the assistant who spent a week in jail for his loyalty to L'Enfant, and the men who finally restored L'Enfant's reputation at the beginning of the twentienth century.

Hardcover. Princeton Architectural Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 256 pages. The Breakers, the Waldorf, the Biltmore, the Sherry, the Pierre--these landmark hotels are synonymous with grand luxury and style. When they were built, in the 1920s, their refined elegance and grandeur set the bar for hotels and resorts the world over. Responsible for creating these and countless other hotels throughout the United States, were the partners of a single architectural firm: Schultze & Weaver. Together, this duo--an architect and an engineer--virtually invented the glamorous lifestyle made famous in films like Grand Hotel. Catering to the social elite of which they were themselves a part, Schultze & Weaver synthesized the Old World style of Renaissance Italy, Moorish Spain, and Georgian England with all of the modern amenities that made hotel living luxurious. This book presents portfolios of fifteen of the firm's most spectacular hotels, culminating in the Art Moderne masterpiece of the Waldorf-Astoria. Over two hundred period photographs and hand-colored architectural renderings chart the ascent of the American hotel in all its glory and glamour, before the Great Depression forever changed the lifestyles of America's rich and famous. Essays address the cultural and technological developments that underpin the creation of resort and residential hotels, including the elemental role played by Schultze & Weaver.

Hardcover. Roaring Brook Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 32 pages illustrated in color by Lane and SIGNED BY LANE. From the creator of the national bestseller It's a Book comes a timeless story of family history, legacy, and love. Grandpa Green wasn't always a gardener. He was a farmboy and a kid with chickenpox and a soldier and, most of all, an artist. In this captivating new picture book, readers follow Grandpa Green's great-grandson into a garden he created, a fantastic world where memories are handed down in the fanciful shapes of topiary trees and imagination recreates things forgotten. In his most enigmatic and beautiful work to date, Lane Smith explores aging, memory, and the bonds of family history and love; by turns touching and whimsical, it's a stunning picture book that parents and grandparents will be sharing with children for years to come.

Hardcover. Roaring Brook Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 32 pages illustrated in color by Lane and SIGNED BY LANE. From the creator of the national bestseller It's a Book comes a timeless story of family history, legacy, and love. Grandpa Green wasn't always a gardener. He was a farmboy and a kid with chickenpox and a soldier and, most of all, an artist. In this captivating new picture book, readers follow Grandpa Green's great-grandson into a garden he created, a fantastic world where memories are handed down in the fanciful shapes of topiary trees and imagination recreates things forgotten. In his most enigmatic and beautiful work to date, Lane Smith explores aging, memory, and the bonds of family history and love; by turns touching and whimsical, it's a stunning picture book that parents and grandparents will be sharing with children for years to come.

Softcover. Barre VT, Barre Ethnic Heritage Studies Project, 1st, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, oblong 16-page brochure, stapled, 9 X 8". B&w photos throughout. Mild tanning to paper otherwise very good, clean.

Hardcover. University Park PA, Penn State University Press, 1st, 2015, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 272 pages. Graphic Passion recounts the publication history of nearly fifty books illustrated by Matisse, including masterworks such as Lettrew portugalises, Mallarme's Poisies and his own Jazz. A fantastic production executed with great care. Part of the Penn State series in the history of the book. From 1912 until his death in 1954, Matisse was involved in nearly fifty illustration projects, many of which rank among the greatest artists' books of the twentieth century. He directly participated in page layout, typography, lettering, ornament, cover design, and even the choice of text. Drawing on unpublished correspondence and business documents, this book pays scholarly attention to his illustration methods, typographic preferences, literary sensibilities, and opinions about the role of the artist in the publication process. Still in publisher's shrinkwrap.

Hardcover. New York , De Vinne Press, 1st, 1916, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 269 pages. Light blue and white cover. Printed for the Naval History Society. Pages untrimmed. Worn slipcase. Clean condition inside and out. Number 582 of 650 copies. B&w illustrations with tissue guards by various artists. Includes one page insert addressed to members of the Naval History Society. With introduction stressing the importance of Naval campaigns in the American Revolution.

Hardcover. London, Chartwell Books, reprint, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 160 pages. Hardcover. Extensive b&w photography throughout. Slight edge wear, otherwise clean, tight copy. Many photos of old saloons, both interior and exterior shots. From Alaska, Arizona, California, Minnesota, Texas, and all over the country.

Softcover. San Francisco, Ten Speed Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 224 pages. Early in the 20th century, as Americans climbed into their Model-Ts and took to the open road, American manufacturers and retailers discovered miles and miles of new advertising space, and the audaciously oversized billboard was born. For a century, billboards have recruited, congratulated, teased, sold, and seduced us, promoting everything under the sun, from hosiery to war bonds, presidential candidates to rock shows. GREAT AMERICAN BILLBOARDS not only offers a lively look back at changing styles, products, and tastes, but is also an important visual record of this largely unheralded yet ubiquitous American art form.