Historic Houses of Philadelphia : A Tour of the Region's Museum Homes

Customer Reviews:

Long overdue guide to house museums in greater Philadelphia.......1998-08-12

Roger Moss's new book on the historic house museums in greater Philadelphia fills a void that has existed for a long time. From the turn of the century through the 1920's there were many guides published to help a newly mobile society re-discover the landmarks that the new highways were both making more accessible and threatening. The Bicentennial did not bring a major updating of the available literature, but it did give many local historical societies and sites a major boost. This new book spotlights many of the smaller house museums in groupings meant to encourage touring. While not an architectural guide, the design of the buildings is given equal emphasis with descriptions of the history and collections. There are many interesting themes that are independent of specific buildings. The introduction recaps the history of historic preservation in Philadelphia in the context of the national movement, with the early effort to preserve Independence Hall and other 's! hrines' of democracy. A theme of this topic is the relationship of private citizens and the government. Many of the sites described are only still in existence due to the efforts of concerned individuals, families, or grass roots organizations. Women play a particularly important role, again through individual efforts or through groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames, or women's groups connected with museums. The huge number (relatively speaking) of historic sites in the immediate area makes any kind of guide a daunting proposition. Moss cites almost 200 house museums alone. His criteria for inclusion in this book consisted of location, original use as a residence, being open to the public without a special appointment, and finally, those houses where the interiors and collections are also distinguished. The fifty properties are grouped geographically to encourage visitation of multiple sites in one trip. The text aids in planning da! y trips. The text is very informative, with the themes pr! eviously mentioned, and interesting anecdotal information. For example, an owner of the Physick House stripped out most of the original woodwork because of her phobia about dust. The Barclay Farmstead is a 32 acre park in the middle of Cherry Hill, The Solitude sits in the middle of the Philadelphia Zoo, Woodlands in a cemetery. Harriton in Bryn Mawr was originally a tobacco plantation with slaves. Henry Mercer's 44 room house in Doylestown with 44 rooms 200 windows and 18 fireplaces is built entirely of reinforced concrete. The generous support of the Barra Foundation ensured that the production of the book is of the highest quality, and available at a moderate price. The photography by the noted local architectural specialist Tom Crane is first rate. In combination with the text the illustrations are a strong enticement to take a few weeks off, hop in a car, and start checking off the list.

Book Description

The first definitive study of the Art Nouveau masterpieces of the Swedish Roerstrand porcelain factory.

The artists of the influential Roerstrand porcelain factory in Sweden created some of the most beautiful decorative objects of the Art Nouveau style. In his fascinating andauthoritative text, Bengt Nystroem focuses on the Roerstrand factory's designers and their revolutionay forms during the period 1865 to 1915, when the firm successfullycompeted artistically with Tiffany and Galle in the great international expositions that showcased and helped to propagate the Art Nouveau style.

Inspired by late 19th-century crafts movements fathered by William Morris, the artists of the Roerstrand factory took nationalistic pride in incorporating their indigenous floraand fauna into their exquisite designs, transforming wintry berry springs and northern sea creatures into elegant three-dimensional works of art that appealed to asophisticated European clientele.

Illustrated with objects from Robert Schreiber's outstanding collection, supplemented with craftsmen's drawings and archival documents, Nystroem's thoroughly researched text includes engaging glimpses of the culture surrounding Roerstrand (a former castle), especially the close-knit community of insightful administrators, talented designers andinventors, and artisans. The book chronicles not only the company's artistic achievements but the day-to-day personalities and decisions behind the emergence of thisonce-utilitarian factory as the birthplace of some of Sweden's most beautiful decorative objects.

Other Details:160 illustrations, 117 in full color192 pages10 x 10"Published 1996

Amazon.com

Elvis, Michael, Patti, Bruce--icons all. The Rolling Stone portraits assembled in this book depict five decades worth of musical sensations and idols. The juxtaposition of the shots heightens the fun of flipping through the photos: A young Mick Jagger sitting under a hairdryer faces Snoop Doggy Dog, his curls caught up in a hairdresser's clips; David Bowie in a loincloth counterbalances Björk in a fig leaf; Chris Isaak and John Lee Hooker stand opposite one another, each in a polka-dot shirt; Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley, side by side and enveloped in clouds of smoke. These alignments of musicians from different eras and different genres make a simple, visual statement about the transcendent power of music. Every page reveals another familiar image that transports the readers to the moment they first saw the musicians on the cover of the magazine or heard their music. The undiscovered pictures are a treat as well. Individually, these portraits expose the essence of their subjects and speak volumes about the characters that created and sustain rock and roll.

Customer Reviews:

superb music photos.......2003-07-06

an excellent collection of rock photos from rolling stone
beautiful work

Capturing The Moment.......2001-06-26

This is one of the best photographic books I have ever seen. The photographers who took these photos really captured the feeling and emotions of the artists at the time. All the classic and famous personalities of music are here, from Ike and Tina to Bob Dylan; from Elvis to Bowie to Nirvana; from The Beatles and Stones to Alice Cooper and all that lies between (too too many to list here). An excellent array of both black and white and colour shots. The close ups allow you to see into the sometimes troubled, sometimes happy, but ever changing eyes of these rock icons. The broader shots show some of these bands and performers in their most comfortable and bizarre surrounds. A worthwhile purchase, that allows you to ponder each and every photo for hours and hours. In the back is a complete copy (small version) of the photos together with a who is who. Buy the hardcover; not only is it worth the price, but it will last forever. This is easily the greatest and most comprehensive collection of rock and roll pictures in one publication!

courtney love is on the cover!.......1999-10-14

the best part was courtney love on the cover, and nirvana on the last page.

I wish I could have been there when the pictures were taken!.......1998-12-30

This book is excellent. It made me jelous that I couldn't experience the atmosphere of the time. The stars in the pictures range from Jerry Garcia to Iggy Pop, from Jimmy Hendrix to Dr. Dre. The photography is awesome. It really captures the attitdue of the musician. I would recommend this book to any one impressed by the talent of these outstanding artists. I am 18 and I loved the book. My dad is 50 and liked the book just as much!!!!!

Crazy Sexy Cool (Us Magazine & Rolling Stone)

Average customer rating:

Great book for the celebrity hound
Gorgeous Good-Humored Celebrity Fun!
reccomended...entertaining and interesting
A great book with great pictures
Excellent 'coffee table' book...and for autographing

Crazy Sexy Cool (Us Magazine & Rolling Stone)

Manufacturer: Little Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316553530

Customer Reviews:

Great book for the celebrity hound.......2002-01-27

I love this book! Great as a gift or just to feast your eyes on celebrities. Top Quality Book - and I know what's sexy! - Kristy Welsh, Author of "Good Credit is Sexy"

Gorgeous Good-Humored Celebrity Fun!.......2001-06-23

I cannot remember ever seeing a book of photography as filled with fun as this collection of images from Us Magazine. The humor is solid and clean, something that comedians have a hard time duplicating. The book is greatly enhanced by the special genius of Mark Seliger for this type of work.

Before going further, let me caution you that some images are of partially undressed women that would earn this material an R rating (on the soft side) if it were contained in a motion picture.

The photographs are reproduced in both color and black-and-white. The reproduction quality is very high, and the editors have chosen well where to use two-page spreads and where not to. Although not every image displays good-humored fun, about two-thirds of them do. The book probably would have worked even better if every image had followed that theme. In most cases, the image itself is a happy one that also contains a joke about the celebrity involved . . . creating two ways to have a fun with the image.

Here are my favorite images in the book:

Drew Barrymore (cover shot) holding boxing globes up as a visual bra as she stands in a sparring pose in a boxing ring by Mark Seliger;

Elizabeth Shue nude holding a dog by Mark Seliger;

Patrick Swayze in a slip by Mary Ellen Mark;

Emma Thompson undressed but covered by the bottom of a stage curtain wrapped around her by Neil Davenport;

A puckish looking Hugh Grant by Jon Ragel;

Kato Kaelin in a swimming pool that magnifies the size of his torso by Mary Ellen Mark;

Jodie Foster laughing by Mark Seliger;

Ashley Judd as Marilyn Monroe wrapped in a sheet in bed by Mark Seliger;

Jason Priestley as an urban cowboy tough guy by Lance Staedler;

Whoopi Goldberg looking alarmed by Mark Seliger;

Helen Hunt half-wearing a man's white shirt with a wistful smile by Mark Seliger;

Sharon Stone looking like a 40's pinup or a 50's Playboy model with lots of fluff by Andrew MacPherson;

Julie Louis-Dreyfus spitting water like a fountain statue by Jon Ragel;

Garry Shandling seriously sitting in business attire in front of a burning desk he cannot see behind him by Mark Seliger;

Leonardo DiCaprio thinking in mismatched, outrageous clothing by Mark Seliger;

Kennedy wearing a veil, and using an arm and a hand to create modesty over an otherwise nude body in a take-off on the classic ways to pose nude women without being too revealing by Mark Seliger;

Smiling Rosie Perez by Dewey Nicks;

Sting in a bathtub with rubber duckies by Max Vadukul;

Siegfried and Roy doing an illusion by Mark Seliger;

Juliette Lewis featuring her face and the soles of her feet by Peggy Sirota;

Smiling Lisa Kudrow by Davis Factor;

Matthew Perry by Andrew D. Berstein;

Gamine-like Sandra Bullock by Kate Garner;

a funny, foreshortened Paul Hartman by Mark Seliger; and

David Schwimmer curtseying in a t-shirt and khakis.

"You are a vision of nowness" is the description of this book written inside. I personally found the images more timeless than that. You get a sense of what is universally appealing at all times and to almost all people.

After looking at these happy images, think about the ways that fun appeals to your better nature. How can you experience that kind of fun more often? How can you surround yourself with an environment that teems with such fun? How can you extend and share that fun with others?

Have a great giggle . . . as often as possible!

reccomended...entertaining and interesting.......2000-07-02

though some of the featured celebrities weren't on my "sexy" list, they were presented very well and the photography was high quality. entertaining and creative shots, worth the price if not just for the alice in wonderland shot of drew barrymore on the first page. also includes some random text; very intelligent, provocative and fun. i keep this book out for frequent viewing.

A great book with great pictures.......1999-04-25

In this book, there are lots of pictures of celebrities. There is also a selection of quotes from celebrities. It is worth the money.

Excellent 'coffee table' book...and for autographing.......1998-12-13

Actually, I have two favorite celebrity photography books: this one and Rolling Stone: Photographers. I am an avid autograph collector; so, I use these books whenever I hear about a celebrity being in the area. At the moment, I have this book signed by Denis Leary and Stephen Dorf..with more to come, I hope. About the only photograph I didn't like was the two-pager of Alicia Silverstone. It doesn't really look like her. This is definitely a great book to have on the coffee table for company while you're still getting ready. :)

Average customer rating:

bob dylan- front; His son (lead of the Wallflowers) on back
Classic Covers
Rock'n'Roll in graphical historical detail
A piece of history
A little more than a coffee table book, in fact

Rolling Stone: The Complete Covers
Fred Woodward , Jann S. Wenner , and Holly George-Warren
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810982064

Book Description

This book assembles 30 years of Rolling Stone covers-totaling more than 700-which together chronicle the period's rock and roll, the cutting edge in pop culture, and the hipper reaches of film and television. With the work of such renowned photographers as Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts, and Matthew Rolston; a lively introduction by magazine founding editor and publisher Jann S. Wenner; excerpts from groundbreaking cover stories; and tantalizing behind-the-scenes anecdotes, Rolling Stone: The Complete Covers offers an intriguing and evocative journey.

Customer Reviews:

bob dylan- front; His son (lead of the Wallflowers) on back.......2002-04-12

from the very first opening of the cover you know its gonna be a high-classmagazine cover book. It features new artists, and old, with very rich photos and informative captions on many. Very rich color, so rich you forget you're looking at a book on magazine covers. Features Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson, Green Day, Hole, Nirvana, the Wallflowers (hense the back) and more for those who like the artists. Others such as Elvis, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan (hense the cover) and Sharon Stone, exploring all the intimate stories behind some of the MOST famous covers. Documents every, or almost every cover in the history of the infamous Rolling Stone Magazine in their run. An essential for cultural info buffs and makes a nice present.

Classic Covers.......2001-11-28

The covers of Rolling Stone Magazine have been controversial, memorable and are a marker for musicians that they have made it. Some covers have created a stir such as a teenage Britney Spears posing in a provocative outfit, a topless Janet Jackson with a pair of male hands covering her and the last photograph session of John Lennon in which he is naked on a bed next to a fully clothed Yoko Ono. Most of the covers are simple photographs of everyone from Bob Dylan to Richard Nixon and even Dr. Hook who sang a song called "Cover Of The Rolling Stone", but they are some of the best works by the some of the best photographers in business like Annie Leibovitz and Herb Ritts.

Rock'n'Roll in graphical historical detail.......2001-10-21

This book is a virtual history of American rock'n'roll. Each cover says something about the times, such as the now rather melancholy shot of Nirvana, form early 1994, on the verge of a huge comeback, just months before Kurt Cobain shot himself, or Annie Leibovitz's moody 1971 study of John Lennon, then deeply into his Working Class Hero phase. Rock'n'roll stars compete for cover space with politicians and film stars, depending upon what the issue or the hot stuff of the day was - Warren Beatty and Jerry Falwell both feature in political and pop-cultural contexts (the shot of Beatty is from 1975, when he was promoting Shampoo, a film set just days before the Kennedy assassination) and the text is sprinkled with plenty of choice quotes form both camps, making this a book to be slowly savoured for its pictorial and historical content time and time again.

A piece of history.......2001-10-19

Seeing many of the covers again (I was a subscriber in the seventies) is like going back in time - and seeing many of the covers for the first time makes me wonder why I stopped being a subscriber.
I bought this book after having seen an exhibition of Annie Leibovitz, and to me she is still one of the greatest.

A little more than a coffee table book, in fact.......2001-09-07

The book is a graphical historical document, showing all the covers from Rolling Stone magazine until the time of its edition. It could be argued that this is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to leverage off the work of photographers of the stature of Annie Leibovitz. But in fact, just like the Rolling Stone magazine has been since its beginning, this is about the history of music since 1967 until 1997. The deaths and triumphs of everyone are in it: Morrison, Hendrix, Lennon, Cobain, alongside Madonna, U2 and all your favorite stars.

Average customer rating:

Rolling Stone: The Photographs

Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Early Stones: Legendary Photographs of a Band in the Making 1963-1973

Average customer rating:

A Waste
Were the Rolling Stones ever really this young?

The Early Stones: Legendary Photographs of a Band in the Making 1963-1973
Perry Richardson
Manufacturer: Hyperion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

A Waste.......2006-01-23

Michael Cooper was a photographer who photographed the Stones early in their careers, got into drugs, and committed suicide. These pictures were assembled by his assistant to provide a memorial to him.

Unfortunately, the pictures, with the exception of some taken at Stonehenge, are undistinguished and generally uninteresting, as is the accompanying text written by Keith Richards and Terry Southern.

Your money will be better spent on a copy of C%#ks&#ker Blues (1972), Robert Frank's video documentary of a Stones tour that the band initially authorized and then barred from release. Bootleg copies are available on the Net.

Were the Rolling Stones ever really this young?.......2005-04-07

It's hard to imagine those grizzled rock gods The Stones as having once been young, loud and snotty, but here's the proof in 175 oversized, black-and-white pages from the collection of the band's premier photographer (in 1967, Cooper guided the creation of the cover for "Their Satanic Majesties' Request"). The book is laced with witty and acerbic comments from the usual suspects: Keith, number one fan Terry Southern, Anita Pallenberg, and Marianne Faithful all have wonderfully catty things to say (sometimes about each other ...) and there are some beautiful, ghostly images of Gram Parsons with the band at Joshua Tree, looking for UFOs. Really. Cooper documented the Stones at a time when their bad-boy image could be enhanced by a single shot of Keith and Brian flipping off a picture of Richard Nixon, which says more about the "generation gap" than a thousand words ever can. This needs to be re-printed. (Another great photo book, Annie Liebovitz's 1978 "The Rolling Stones On Tour" is expected in a deluxe edition to be published this year.) Pick this up while you can. Turns out the old gods had time on their side, after all.

Garcia. A Signpost of New Space. The Rolling Stone Interview plus a Stoned Sunday Rap with Jerry, Charles & Mountain Girl

Average customer rating:

Garcia. A Signpost of New Space. The Rolling Stone Interview plus a Stoned Sunday Rap with Jerry, Charles & Mountain Girl
Charles and Wenner, Jan Reich
Manufacturer: Straight Arrow Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NUQ9SY

Average customer rating:

Our Own Story By The Rolling Stones
Pete Rolling Stones & Goodman
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000V86L4A

Average customer rating:

Rolling Stone the Photographs
Dalton
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 5551015238

Average customer rating:

"Rolling Stone": the Seventies

Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster (Trade Division)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 068485869X

Average customer rating:

Rolling Stone: The Photographs
ROLLING STONE
Manufacturer: See notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WF9J2S

Book Description

The insurance industry is a major component of the economy. By virtue of the amount of premiums it collects, the scale of its investment and, more fundamentally, the essential social and economic role it plays by covering personal and business risks, the insurance industry is a nerve centre of all economic activity.

This Yearbook gathers major official insurance statistics for all OECD countries. In particular, the reader is provided with extensive data on the number of insurance companies and employees, insurance premiums and investments by insurance companies as well as - this year for the first time - on claims, expenses and commissions. The data are broken down under numerous sub-headings and standardised as far as possible to provide internationally comparable indicators and make the characteristics of the national markets more readily comprehensible.

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