Tag Archives: Hardcover

Pictorial Webster’s: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities [Hardcover]

Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities

Featuring over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster’s dictionaries in the 19th century, this chunky volume is an irresistible treasure trove for art lovers, designers, and anyone with an interest in visual history. Meticulously cleaned and restored by fine-press bookmaker Johnny Carrera, the engravings in Pictorial Webster’s have been compiled into an alluring and unusual visual reference guide for the modern day. Images range from the entirely mysterious to the classically iconic. From Acorns to Zebras, Bell Jars to Velocipedes, these alphabetically arranged archetypes and curiosities create enigmatic juxtapositions and illustrate the items deemed important to the Victorian mind. Sure to inspire and delight, Pictorial Webster’s is at once a fascinating historical record and a stunning jewel of a book.

About the Author

John M. Carrera is a printer, bookbinder, and artist who has taught and lectured extensively. He is the fo (more…)

An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn’t (Hardcover)

An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn't

Amazon.com Review

You’ll find everything you forgot from school–as well as plenty you never even learned–in this all-purpose reference book, an instant classic when it first appeared in 1987. The updated version takes a whirlwind tour through 12 different disciplines, from American studies to philosophy to world history. Along the way, Judy Jones and William Wilson provide a plethora of useful information, from the plot of Othello to the difference between fission and fusion. It’s not a shortcut to cultural literacy, the authors write in their introduction, but it’s an excellent “way in” to the building blocks of Western civilization: the “books, music, art, philosophy, and discoveries that have, for one reason or another, managed to endure.” Think of it as finishing school for your brain; study up and you’ll gain a lifetime’s worth of cocktail conversation–as well as a new list of books you simply must read.
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