Baker, Cozy. Through the Kaleidoscope. ...and Beyond. Beechcliff Books: 1987. A short history of the development of the kaleidoscope, followed by a major listing of modern makers/artists, descriptions and pictures of their creations, etc. Great fun for anyone interested in this subject. Hardcover. 6"x9", 199 pages, color and b/w illustrations. Near fine.

Inventory #: 34545 Price: $ 25.00

Benjamin, Arthur & Michael Brant Shermer. Mathemagics. How to Look Like a Genius Without Really Trying. Los Angeles Lowell House: 1993. Two math nerds write a handbook for wannabe math nerds showing the "tricks of the trade" for use at parties, summer school, bars... Hardcover. 6"x9", 218 pages, dj near fine.

Inventory #: 4467 Price: $ 10.00

[Berlin Catalog] Katalog der Ornamentstich-Sammlung der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek Berlin. Martino Publishing: 2001. A facsimile re-issue of both volumes (in one volume) of the famous "Berlin Catalog", "arguably the most important bibliography of books on the decorative arts... indispensable for reference with prints, decorative arts and early architecture books." Originally published in 1939, The Berlin Catalogue is a classified bibliography of 5,343 16th, 17th and 18th century illustrated books dealing with ornament, architecture, handicrafts, interior decoration, plastic arts, painting, calligraphy and printing arts. Hardcover. 6"x9", 782 pages. New.

Inventory #: 90222 Price: $ 85.00

Boorsch, Suzanne. Fireworks! Four Centuries of Pyrotechnics in Prints & Drawings. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art: 2000. Reprinted as a separate publication of the Met. Bulletin for Summer, 2000. A survey of 17th, 18th and 19th century illustrations of fireworks and pyrotechnic devices. Softcover. 8.5"x11", color and black & white illustrations. Fine.

Inventory #: 95146 Price: $ 20.00

Ceremony of Flag Presentation to Columbia University of the City of New York, May Second, 1896 and May Seventh, 1898, by Lafayette Post, No. 140. Department of New York, Grand Army of the Republic. Privately printed by Lafayette Post: 1899. An elegant and interesting record of early flag presentation ceremonies. According to the text, prior to 1888 "the flying of the United States flag over educational institutions, or the display of them within the buildings, was almost unknown". This was apparently the first presentation of a flag to a college by the Lafayette Post, and they made quite a "do" of it, with speeches, a parade, and so on. In 1898 they presented a beautiful pedestal and staff as well. This book, printed on heavy, deckle edge paper, features color plates of several GAR medals and badges, and two of the Post's ceremonial flags. The text includes all the correspondence and resolutions connected with the presentations as well as descriptions of the parades and ceremonies, and the texts of the speeches. Hardcover. 7"x10", 121 pages, 8 b/w and 5 color plates light wear, a little cover soil.

Inventory #: 9437 Price: $ 175.00

Collins, Maurice. Eccentric Contraptions and amazing gadgets, gizmos, and thingamabobs. Newton Abbot: David & Charles: 2004. A wonderful pictorial stroll through a hundred years' worth of odd and useful gadgets and tools- a pin dispenser, ruff iron (pictured), donut filler, raisin cleaner, 'Gatling' stapler (pictured), linen damp-tester, traveling candle shade (pictured), wig iron, self-playing harmonica, ear flattener, eye massager, car map holder (pictured), motorcyclist's smoking pipe, and many more! Softcover. 6.5"x6", 221 pages, 100+ color illustrations. New condition.

Inventory #: 95103 Price: $ 8.00

Cummins, Genevieve. Antique Boxes -Inside and Out. For Eating, Drinking and Being Merry, Work, Play and the Boudoir. Woodbridge Antique Collectors' Club: 2006. All right boxing fans, have we got a book for you! You really have to see this book to believe it. It's big, it's beautiful, and it's packed with fantastic antique boxes- boxes for eating, drinking, "being merry" (oh my), work boxes, alms boxes, boxes for play, hobbies, sewing, gaming, knives, tea, salt, betel boxes, cricket boxes, hat boxes, writing boxes, perfume boxes -if somebody put it in a box, the box is here. And Cummins is not only concerned with outward appearances- one of the most valuable aspects of this book is that most of the boxes are also shown opened- with their original, or nearly original, contents. "Boxes are beguiling," the jacket says, "because they can have the double delight of an enticing exterior and the anticipation and satisfaction of a fully fitted interior." There's a lot of satisfaction to be had from this book. Hardcover. 9.5"x12", 439 pages, packed with color and b/w illustrations, dj bibliography. New.

Inventory #: 90166 Price: $ 69.50

Davis, Philip J. & David Park. No Way. The Nature of the Impossible. New York W.H. Freeman and Co.: 1987. "What do we mean when we say something is impossible? In this unique, mind-opening book, twenty writers, from the poet to the mountain climber, probe the idea of the impossible." Softcover. 6.5"x9", 325 pages, light wear.

Inventory #: 6691 Price: $ 10.00

Dent, Herbert C. Pique: A Beautiful Minor Art. London The Connoisseur:1923. Pique was a French invention of the early 18th century thin strips of gold or silver were carefully inlaid onto boxes of tortoiseshell or other similar substances, often combined with mother-of-pearl. The craftsmanship exhibited in these small pieces is of the best quality, and they have been avidly collected since they were first introduced. Picque work continued in France and England into the early 19th century, when the increasing cost of hand-labor doomed this complicated and time-intensive art. A scarce monograph. 8.5"x11", 25 pages of text plus 36 b&w plates light rubbing to the spine.

Inventory #: 20889 Price: $ 350.00

Dolloff, Francis W. & Roy L. Perkinson. How to Care for Works of Art on Paper. Boston Museum of Fine Arts: 1985. 4th ed. A helpful handbook with a good bibliography. Softcover. 7"x8.5", 48 pages, b/w illustrations light soil.

Inventory #: 6564 Price: $ 10.00

Fennelly, Catherine (ed.). New England Character and characters as seen by Contemporaries. Old Sturbridge Village: 1965. 2nd ed. New Englanders' opinions of other New Englanders at the Meeting House, in the tavern, at home and at play. Softcover. 5.5"x8.5", 45 pages, b/w illustrations, light soil.

Inventory #: 6217 Price: $ 20.00

Franklin, Linda Campbell. Antiques and Collectibles: A Bibliography of Works in English, 16th Century to 1976. Metuchin NJ: Scarecrow Press: 1978. The standard, comprehensive bibliography to decorative arts, with more than 10,000 titles. Hardcover. 6"x9", 1091 pages light wear.

Inventory #: 31063 Price: $ 50.00

Glancey, Jonathan. Pillar Boxes. London Chatto & Windus: 1989. Some of the most pedestrian-seeming objects become fascinating when you look at them closely. Take the British Postal "pillar box", a curbside drop box for letters. This well-illustrated, information-packed book tells their story from their introduction in the 1850s to the 1970s. Softcover. 6.5"x8", 81 pages, black & white and color illustrations. Some wear.

Inventory #: 33867 Price: $ 25.00

Heimel, Cynthia. If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet? New York Morgan Entrekin: 1991. The author, a combination of "a hip Ann Landers, a nice Fran Lebowitz, and an eloquent cartoon Cathy", sets forth to examine and discuss men, women, and men and women... Hardcover. 5.5"x8.5", 221 pages, dj light wear.

Inventory #: 6537 Price: $ 10.00

Hoffmann, Detlef. Die Cotta'schen Spielkarten-Almanache 1805-1811. Bielefeld Deutsches Spielkarten Museum: 1968. An exhibition of playing cards as almanacs from the fine folk at the German Playing Card Museum. Text is entirely in German, but with nice (though a bit small) pictures. Softcover. 7.5"x9", 114 pages, b/w and b/w with red illustrations light soil, a little wear.

Inventory #: 4718 Price: $ 40.00

Jackson, Sophie. The Medieval Christmas. Stroud Sutton Publishing: 2005. "Roaring fires, Yule logs- so many of our best-loved Christmas traditions have their origins in the medieval period that it would be impossible to imagine the season without holly and ivy, carol singers, and a general sense of celebration in the face of the harshest season. Sophie Jackson investigates the roots of the Christmas celebration in this beautifully illustrated book. She offers guidance for recreating elements of the medieval Christmas at home, tips on decorations, instructions for playing medieval games and recipes for seasonal dishes. Fascinating facts about some of our most cherished customs are unearthed as well as some less-well known. Lively and entertaining, this book recreates the medieval Christmas, showing how the traditions of the Middle Ages still delight us today". Hardcover. 9"x6.5", 122 pages, color illustrations, dust jacket. New.

Inventory #: 95102 Price: $ 20.00

Jones, Yvonne. Georgian & Victorian Japanned Ware of the West Midlands. Catalogue of the permanent collection and a temporary exhibition. Wolverhampton Art Gallery & Museums: 1982. Wolverhampton was one of the leading centers of the Midlands japanning industry, and although most japanned wares were unmarked, many of the pieces in this collection are identifiable by manufacturer because the manufacturers had given them to the gallery. The exhibition was augmented by loaned examples. In addition to the catalog there is a good text describing the rise and fall of the Midlands japanning industry. Softcover. 6"x8", 126 pages, 51 b/w illustrations light wear.

Inventory #: 31433 Price: $ 75.00

The Kiss. New York Universe Books:1976. A pictorial survey of kissing as portrayed in art of the East and West, through many centuries. 8.5"x8", 95 pages, profusely illustrated in color and b&w, softcover cover soil.

Inventory #: 19651 Price: $ 25.00

Klingender, Francis D. Art and the Industrial Revolution. London Noel Carrington: 1947. The Industrial Revolution dramatically affected the daily lives of the workmen in the many arts and crafts-related trades of England. This interesting study explores the issues that mechanization brought to the art trades- to potters such as Wedgwood, metal-men like Boulton, and countless others, their workers, and society as a whole. Hardcover. 7.5"x10", 232 pages, 15 color and 106 b/w illustrations, dj jacket a bit tattered. Boston Museum of Fine Arts and St. Louis Museum of Arts Director Perry Rathbone's copy, with the original sales receipt for the book, made out to him. In addition to directing two important museums, Rathbone was a noted art historian and champion of 20th century art.

Inventory #: 33139 Price: $ 45.00

Kotzsche, Dietrich, et al. Kleinodien aus dem Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin... Stuttgart Ernst Klett: 1976. A well illustrated guide to the "jewels" of the collection, with illustrations and descriptions of a dozen objects, including tapestry, ivory, Medieval arts, ceramics, enamels, etc. Softcover. 9"x10", a page of text plus 12 color plates with facing text.Light soil and wear, corner bump.

Inventory #: 2250 Price: $ 20.00

Lambton, Lucinda. "Temples of Convenience and Chambers of Delight" New York St. Martin's Press: 1995. A very nicely illustrated history of the W.C. and the chamber pot, illustrated with many good color photos of, as the jacket flap puts it, "jewels of sanitation". Indeed. A sweeping survey which is at once informative and immensely entertaining. "A real hoot!" according to someone in our office who wishes to remain anonymous. First published in softcover as two separate volumes. Hardcover. 9.5"x9.5", 160 pages, color and b/w illustrations dj near fine.

Inventory #: 95000 Price: $ 35.00

Lavine, Sigmund A. Handmade in England. The Tradition of British Craftsmen. New York Dodd, Mead & Company: 1968. A charming ramble through the personalities of English furniture, glass, ceramics and silver. Not a reference, but a very enjoyable read with many interesting anecdotes about various famous craftsmen. Hardcover. 7"x10", 148 pages, b/w illustrations near fine no dj.

Inventory #: 5862 Price: $ 15.00

Learmount, Brian. A History of the Auction. Bernard & Learmount: 1985. From early beginnings in ancient times through the 15th and 16th centuries and up into "modern" auctions of the 18th-20th centuries, Learmount (an auctioneer himself) chronicles and describes the wild and woolly auction scene. Hardcover. 6.5"x9.5", 212 pages, b/w plates, dj bibliography light wear, a nice copy.

Inventory #: 30376 Price: $ 35.00

Lewis, Philippa & Gillian Darley. Dictionary of Ornament. New York Pantheon Books: 1986. "The first book to describe in a single volume the entire range of decorative styles and motifs used by designers, architects and craftsmen from the Middle Ages to the present. This encyclopedic reference contains 1,020 alphabetical entries and about 1,150 illustrations." Hardcover. 8"x11", 320 pages, hundreds of black & white illustrations, dust jacket. light wear.

Inventory #: 34415 Price: $ 40.00

Luckhurst, Kenneth W. The Story of Exhibitions. London Studio Publications: 1951. The first industrial exhibition was held in London in 1761 everybody knows of the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1851, and the World's Fair of 1939. Here are those, and countless others, in an entertaining survey of exhibitions, mostly Great, all certainly meant to be, from the 18th to the 20th century. Hardcover. 6.5"x10", 223 pages, b/w plates, dj. Light wear.

Inventory #: 30809 Price: $ 40.00