Amazon.com
Most Westerners, thanks to television documentaries and numerous books, have some inkling of the appalling destruction of Africa's many ecosystems and the animal species that live in them. Fewer are aware of the work being done in several African nations to preserve these ecosystems. The noted travel photographer Frans Lanting takes us into one protected area, the Okavango River, which begins in the mountains of Angola and ends a thousand miles later in the very heart of Botswana's Kalahari Desert, "the great thirstland." Lanting's photographs are stunning, capturing lionesses in mid hunt, ibises on the wing, and elephants preparing to charge. A trained ecologist, he also takes care to describe how the river interacts with the dry lands that surround it. Lanting's book belongs in the libraries of both Africa buffs and river aficionados. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Now in a stunning paperback edition, Okavango: Africa's Last Eden captures the magnificent animals of the Kalahari Desert and their fragile environment in a highly praised collection of 125 extraordinary photographs, taken during a year-long expedition by award-winning National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting. The vast Okavango wetlands support a diversity of wildlife unparalleled anywhere in Africa. Hippos, crocodiles, zebras, impalas, giraffes, lions, and some of the continent's last wild elephant herds are but a few of the creatures that find sustenance in the seasonal ebb and flow of fresh water across Botswana's arid plain. With striking, full-color images and an insightful text, this award-winning volume will captivate nature lovers, environmentalists, and photography enthusiasts alike.
Customer Reviews:
The greatest pictorial work on Okavango!.......2001-02-02
Frans Lanting had created marvelous book. His pictures portray the unique beauty of the region, convey the wildness of a place, and force a viewer to visit the place immediately. The photographs and text also urge the people to save this unique ecosystem. We realize the impact of water on the unique environment of the delta that supports the greatest variety of the flora and fauna in the world. At the same time these photographs make us realize what will be lost if the water will be gone. This book has inspired me even more after I visited the Okavango delta. It made me to relive my own experiences once again. After more than 5 years of its publication, this book is still the best pictorial work on Okavango delta. Simply, the greatest!
Stunning photography and wonderful narrative.......1999-10-17
This is a terrific book to learn more about this region. I can't recommend the book enough. The photography is stunning and the narrative is just right. I only wish it didn't end.
Frans Lanting sees Botswana with a keen eye........1999-02-06
Mr. Lanting is a unique and wonderful photographer who is a great help to all of us. His photos capture the wildlife of the Okavango as they are -- not postcard photos. He has a respect and reverence of this fragile ecosystem (unlike none other in the world) and all that lives and dies there that is captured in this book. Botswana is a special country with a unique ecosystem in the Delta that you should travel to. I've had the good fortune to experience Africa eight times, Botswana twice. I will return many times to the Delta as there is so much there to experience and each time its fresh. Let Mr. Lantings photos pursuade you to go.
One more time, simply the best.......1999-01-20
As other Lanting books, attitude is all, from cover to cover
Stunning and original wildlife phtography.......1998-10-14
This book makes me suspect that Frans Lanting is not only the worlds greatest wildlife photographer but also the greatest bird photographers, crocodile photographer, elephant photographer etc. As usual, his photography is far from the species type of photography often seen. Lanting connects with the subject and transform the experience into art. In addition, he is not afraid to break the rules and make it work. The book is a must in any nature photographers library.
Average customer rating:
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Okavango: Africa's last Eden
Peter Johnson
Manufacturer: distributed by Hamlyn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
 General
| Science
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Natural History
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
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ASIN: 0600367517 |
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Prepare to have some of your greatest fears laid bare in this collection of riveting, and often terrifying, "cautionary tales from the limits of human endurance." Based on interviews with accident survivors and the medical specialists who treat them, veteran outdoor writer Peter Stark offers mostly fictitious accounts (there is one based on a true historical incident) of people caught in life-threatening situations. In Last Breath, he thoroughly explores what happens to the human body and mind during drowning, a long fall, burial beneath an avalanche, hypothermia, dehydration, mountain sickness, the bends, malaria, scurvy, hyperthermia, and contact with a poisonous jellyfish. Stark packs enough historic and scientific information and page-turning suspense into each chapter to make them all fascinating and useful. And he answers some perplexing questions in the process, such as why those suffering from acute hypothermia often rip off their clothing in an effort to save themselves.
No, Stark does not have some unresolved death wish--he readily admits that he fears death. But he also understands that the fine line between life and death actually entices outdoor adventurers to risk everything for the chance to explore their own physical and mental limits. In fact, it is exactly this close proximity to death that makes the experience come alive for certain individuals with the overriding desire "to strip away the superfluous, to remove the protective boundaries between that thing you call a self and something larger." These are the stories of those who crossed the line. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Sudden, extreme deaths have always fascinated us-- and now more than ever as athletes and travelers rise to the challenges of high-risk sports and journeys on the edge. In this spellbinding book, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark reenacts the dramas of what happens inside our bodies, our minds, and our souls when we push ourselves to the absolute limits of human endurance.
Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, Stark narrates a series of outdoor adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Stark describes in unforgettable detail exactly what goes through the mind of a cross-country skier as his body temperature plummets-- apathy at ninety-one degrees, stupor at ninety. He puts us inside the body of a doomed kayaker tumbling helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes. He conjures up the physiology of a snowboarder frantically trying not to panic as he consumes the tiny pocket of air trapped around his face under thousands of pounds of snow.
These are among the dire situations that Stark transforms into harrowing accounts of how our bodies react to trauma, how reflexes and instinct compel us to fight back, and how, why, and when we let go of our will to live.
In an increasingly tamed and homogenized world, risk is not only a means of escape but a path to spirituality. As Peter Stark writes, "You must try to understand death intimately and prepare yourself for death in order to live a full and satisfying life." In this fascinating, informative book, Stark reveals exactly what we’re getting ourselves into when we choose to live-- and die-- at the extremes of endurance.
Customer Reviews:
Compelling in the Extreme!.......2006-12-04
I read this book in nearly its entirety on a flight home from NY. What a compelling can't-put-down read! I HIGHLY recommend it! This book contains fictionalized tales of real life experiences that humans have gotten themselves into when pushing themselves to the limits in the dangerous outdoors. There are chapters on hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration, falling, drowning, high altitude sickness, avalanche, scurvy (a particularly nasty chapter), predators, malaria, and the bends. It's one of those extremely rare books that really make you appreciate the comfort of sitting in those cramped, poorly designed aircraft chairs.
I couldn't stop reading.......2006-02-02
This is not a book I would have normally bought. I picked it up at a Bookseller's Convention where publishers were giving away books. As a lover of books, I couldn't turn this or a couple dozen others, down. But this book is fascinating!
Last Breath is a collection of short stories fictionalizing the events--the why, how and results--when man pits himself, sometimes unwittingly, against the elements. For instance, the first story titled: As Freezing Persons Recollect the Snow: Hypothermia, follows a young man's journey from the moment he makes the wrong decision that exposes him to a snow storm in the Colorado Mountain to. . . Well, I'm not going to tell you the end. Each story is different, but each intriguing. Stark goes into detail on what happens in someone's mind and body as they face deadly element. Call me ghoulish, but I couldn't stop reading.
Patricia Lewin
Author of BLIND RUN, OUT OF REACH, & OUT OF TIME
Amazing work.......2004-02-03
This book is one of the best I've read in a long time. To the first reviewer, he clearly didn't understand this book, as is shown by the following reviews.
The author is brilliant, after the chapter on thirst I went to the fridge and drank two sodas right away. The writing is intelligent, you don't get the feeling he's trying to dumb it down to the lowest common denominator. There is just enough medical information to make you understand what is going on physically, but not overwhelm you.
I highly, highly suggest you read this book.
My Favorite Non-Fiction.......2003-12-02
I first read a chapter of this book in paddler magazine and the way Peter Stark described the drowning of a kayaker (Chapter 2: A River of One's Own) in detail right down to the amounts of oxygen remaining in his lungs at various periods of time. The entire book is written as en ewcellent blend of fact and fiction and while the scenarios are not true they are composites of true stories, and some of Stark's imagination, which gives them a realism that pure fiction can't match. The facts Stark gives are sound, he obviously did his homework and he even gives a bibliography so you can check out some of his sources. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get outside.
Outstanding Book.......2003-01-31
This book just blew me away. A wonderful blend of fact with realistic, fictional stories to make the points really come across. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it straight through the first time I read it. It's so well written that I've been able to enjoy rereading it several times.
Book Description
“Forget the edge of your seat. Last Breath takes you to the edge of your life, for a pulse-pounding glimpse into the Great Beyond. There are many ways to risk your life in the out-of-doors, and Stark has captured them in exquisite and harrowing detail.”
–JIM ROBBINS
Author of A Symphony in the Brain
An enthralling blend of adventure and science, Last Breath re-creates in heart-stopping detail what happens to our bodies and our minds in the perilous last moments of life when an extreme adventure goes awry.
Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark narrates a series of adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Will they survive, or will they succumb? Readers will shiver with a man lost in the snowy woods, suffering from hypothermia and tearsing off his clothes as he’s burning up from the cold; they will hallucinate with a young woman stranded at the top of Annapurna as she experiences a cerebral edema; and while a kayaker tumbles helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, readers, too, will gasp for their last breath.
Customer Reviews:
subclinical scurvy - what, ME ?.......2006-09-05
I will always remember this book as the one which led me to reconsider my discounting of Pauling's Vitamin-C-megadose-theory due to the chapter 5, which contains selected tidbits of True History ( of scurvy ) interwoven with plausible fiction.
Four stars because the "plausible fiction" often sounds so contrived - for five stars the author might rewrite the book after searching for more tidbits of True History to base each scenario upon.
Still, to read the wikipedia article confirming that humans ARE genetically defective - opposable thumb check, but we can no longer make Vitamin-C while e.g. goats still can, and an adult goat will synthesize "about 13,000 mg" per day, more when sick. Strangely, no one had ever explained it to me that way before !
Too much setup, too little payoff.......2006-08-02
In this unconvincing mix of fact and fiction, Peter Stark has pulled off a pretty good trick: he has taken material that is inherently interesting and managed to make it almost boring. His primary problem is that he seems enamored of his own writing. As a result, he has a very poor sense of pacing. He often employs a paragraph when a sentence or two would do. His preface, for example, goes on and on, when the reader--or this reader, at least--just wants him to get on with it. Unfortunately, the hybrid tales that follow are equally inflated. Stark's efforts to create compelling characters and put them in dramatic situations come off as neither good fiction nor good journalism. The good stuff--facts on how people die--occupies such a small part of each story that it's hardly worth the effort. The reader goes through too much setup for too little payoff.
Have read it twice........2005-07-30
While one reviewer did not like this book at all, I can't agree with him that the characters were not engaging. Even though it is hard to create characters who are only in one situation, and who mostly die at the end of the story, I think the authour succeeded in showing interesting characters. Given the main purpose of the book was to show the physiological ways of death, I was glad the authour didn't focus on creating deep character studies. That would distract from the reason I personally bought the book - to learn about the human body, and how it can die. I am now reading this book again, and don't regret buying it at all.
An unblinking look at what it is really like to die.......2005-02-13
This might look like a morbid subject, but it isn't really. Every single one of us is going to die, and although we become very good at not thinking about it - developing a kind of mental blind spot that hides the awareness - it might be a good idea to give it some thought. Besides, we could pick up some tips that put off the evil hour. Such as not deciding to ski the rest of the way when our car breaks down in subzero conditions a few miles from the friend's house where we are going. Such as taking the right anti-malarial drugs before going to a part of the world where that disease is endemic. Or not free-soloing a rock face of difficulty 5.9 with no one else in sight or hearing distance.
As Peter Stark explains, risking your life helps you to experience life more fully. But sometimes risks turn out badly, and then it may be too late to be sorry. "Last Breath" tells you exactly what it is like to drown in a "hole" while kayaking a turbulent river, to die of dehydration in the Sahara, or to be buried by an avalanche. So you don't need to try these experiences yourself - which is a good thing, if you want to go on living.
This book is packed with fascinating information about our bodies, how they work, and their relationship with the surrounding environment. Without the support of technology - clothes, houses, heating, and so on - human beings can live only in a narrow band close to the Equator, below 3.5 miles above sea level, and where there is plenty of fresh water. Stark drives home to the reader just how easy it is to misjudge things when stepping outside the ideal environment. Sometimes just one wrong movement - or even one necessary thing left undone...
At the end of "Last Breath", I found there was a wonderful unanticipated bonus. *I* was still alive!
I hope I only read about these desparate stories.......2005-01-17
This was a good read. I followed the unfolding of one desparate story after another with interest. The medical side line was also interesting information. I appreciated the author's preface explaining how he got his information and what was fictionalize. It certainly helped that he has participated in most of the sports contained in these experiences gone wrong. This book was a unique find for me, as I had never read much adventure before.
Product Description
This invaluable resource is a collection of over 350 sample letters and models, plus excerpts, teasers, and opening lines that will deliver thousands of dollars of contributions for your organization. Use the models "as is" or adapt them easily to your own purposes. Either way, theyll help your requests jump out of the multitude of requests that flood the mail, get them read, and - most importantly - get a response. Youll find letters for every kind of fund-raising effort. In addition, this book provides ingenious "hooks" that will help get your envelope opened; pointers for writing strong opening copy, plus tips on asking for the right gift amount; structuring your fund-raising request; designing your direct mail packing; producing cost-effect mailings, testing, and much more!
Customer Reviews:
Great Reference .......2006-04-27
I found this book to be a great overview with lots of examples. It's been shared around our office over and over again!
Jam Packed with Samples.......2005-05-14
In addition to advice on how to write successful fundraising letters, this book contains hundreds of models, samples, and excerpts of actual letters. One section covers letters soliciting volunteer help. (summary by South TX Library System)
This book has 378 pages, so chances are very good that you will find a sample letter close to what you need. Inexperienced letter writers tend to be too wordy and turn off their potential funders. I really recommend that people pay close attention to the advice in this book.
The most frequently borrowed fund raising book I own.......2001-04-25
Chapter 15, Obtaining Substantial Financial Support with the Foundation and Corporate Request Letter, is the most dog-eared chapter of my copy. Government and non-profit colleagues whose core job and expertise is not in the area of fund raising, love this book.
moderately helpful.......2000-07-14
My pleasure in the book was minimized when I came to the sections on telemarketing, etc. . . not what I expected. The portions of the book that were helpful, were A-1.
Extremely useful shelf-reference for fund-raisers.......1999-11-18
Not only does this book offer real-life examples of letters for every conceivable fund-raising campaign and situation, it explains the structure of successful fund-raising letters. I refer to it frequently. 5 stars I reserve for anything written by Mal Warwick, who is in a class by himself. But 4 stars means I found Mr. Kuniholm's book well worth the money, repeatedly useful, practical, educational and wise.
Book Description
BL The most comprehensive study yet of the ancient art of Islamic calligraphy The Nasser D. Khalili Collection holds examples of Islamic calligraphy that span six centuries and demonstrate the continuity of this central art form into the modern era. The holdings - nearly 300 in total - include exceptional items that feature the work of many of the most famous master calligraphers, including Seyh Hamdullah and Hafiz Osman. The author discusses items from the Collection under nine headings that exemplify the variety of the artform and the discipline required to master it: mufradat (exercises from the calligraphic curriculum); muraqqa`at (collections of calligraphic samples); and hilyahs (treatments of the description of the Prophet) form the major sections, and there are studies of ijazahs (certificates of competence in the art), karalama (rough copy work), decoupage (cut work), kalib-making (stencilled reproductions), the miniature ghubar script, and leaf gilding.
Customer Reviews:
Synopsis.......2000-06-20
The power of the written word to convey emotional intensity in a pleasing visual form, particularly when dealing with sacred subject matter, has been a constant them in Islamic culture. The demanding discipline of Islamic calligraphy, transmitted from master to pupil throughout the ages, has been the source of one of the humanity's richest artistic traditions. The Nasser D Khalili Collection holds examples of the Islamic calligraphy that span six centuries and demonstrate the continuity of this central art form into the modern era. The holdings - nearly 300 in total - include exceptional items that feature the work of many of the most famous master calligraphers: Yaqut, Seyh Hamdullah, Hafiz Osman, Mahmud Calaluddin, Mehmed Rasim and Yusuf 'Hafiz al-Qur'an'. This book is intended for islamicists, collectors and curators of Islamic art, specialist art trade, some students, and general readers. With a contribution by: Zakariya, Mohamed;
Book Description
One of the world's major forms of writing, Arabic script is the language of the Koran and it became widespread as a result of Islamic conquests of much of the world. The Koran places great importance on writing, and in the first verse of the holy book, reading and writing with the calamus, or reed pen, are praised as the source of all knowledge and all spiritual or scientific paths of change. For this reason the Islamic world is known for its reverence for books, as well as its love of writing. Eventually Arabic script gave rise to calligraphic art, which became an art form of astonishing beauty. More highly regarded than painting, Arabic calligraphy is approached aesthetically like music, with its own rules of composition, rhythm, and harmony.
This enlightening book helps us discover an alphabet that throughout the centuries has been linked to the secular and religious worlds of Islam. The text explains the history and meaning of each letter, as well as its philosophical, theological, and cultural significance, and 300 two-color and black-and-white pictures illustrate the letters, their variants, and calligraphic adaptations. An ideal book for linguists, graphic designers, and collectors of Islamic art, Arabic Script will also prove handy for travelers who wish to become familiar with the rudiments of the alphabet.
Customer Reviews:
Just buy it ! (if you like Arabic).......2003-12-11
This is a really beautiful and informative book, a true collectable. Wish I had a first edition. If you love Annemarie Schimmel's books, you MUST buy this. It would be a great present for anyone interested in Arabic, and I haven't seen it in any of the Arabic bookstores.
Disappointing.......2003-04-19
I'm afraid I must start by saying I haven't read the English edition, but the Italian original. I approached it with high expectations, which were dashed.
Why did I find it disappointing? Perhaps I was expecting a bit more content; instead the book had the feel of a book thrown together to create a book. This is even more true of his companion volume, 'L'alfabeto ebreico'.
The illustrations seem too small to provide a useful guide to the caligrapher, and tend to concentrate - like to many books on Arabic calligraphy - on the illumination to the detriment of the calligraphy itself. The book also relies too heavily on Arabic typography, which isn't really the same as calligraphy, and which so often breaks the canons of calligraphy, with the result of seeming both ugly and hard to read.
I'd like to have know far more on the tradition of calligraphy and the calligraphers themselves; a more focused investigation of the styles used and how they've developed; a useful bibliography.
All in all, disappointing.
An insight to Arabic culture through its calligraphy.......2002-01-05
This richly illustrated volume on Arabic calligraphy is truly a feast for the eyes. The book begins with a brief introduction on the evolution of the Arabic script from its pre-Islamic origins to its blossoming into the many calligraphic forms we see today. Examples of the script throughout its development are provided, from early Nabatean scripts to modern attempts at introducing capital letters. Particularly interesting is the letter from the prophet Muhammad to Mundar ibn Saui (the script used by Muhammad is a bit different than contemporary Arabic script). In the next section, each letter is individually given at least a two-page discourse on various calligraphic forms, the symbology associated with the letter, its current use, how the letter relates to the Qur'an, and pronunciation of the letter (e.g. the Arabic letter 'shin' is used as an abbreviation for path and to Sufi mystics 'shin' symbolizes personal destiny). The final section shows examples of texts, manuscripts, and other sources depicting the wide range of calligraphic styles. Examples include excerpts from Qur'ans, from medieval-era scientific treatises, from talismans, and from other sources dating from antiquity to the present. The glossary at the end of the book, though too brief, is quite helpful.
This book is more about the artistry that is inherent in the Arabic script rather than on teaching the reader how to write Arabic letters - and you don't need to know Arabic to fully appreciate the artistry. Khan's work will be a welcome addition to the library of anyone interested in Islamic art, culture, or the Arabic language.
WOW !! What a great book..........2001-08-11
This book is well thought out. Extremely informative. It has lots and lots of pictures. The best part is for those of us who are trying to teach ourselves Arabic Calligraphy, and are somewhat limited in reading Arabic. The author gives full details on the calligraphy along with dates, english translation, etc. There is no guess work, the author assumes you don't have any Arabic so, if you don't have an arabic teacher, this is the book. Informative, easy to read and full, full of detailed information, the author was very generous with pictures.
I know you will enjoy it.
Definitely a good buy.
Covers both the history and meaning of each letter.......2001-07-06
Gabriel Mandel Khan's Arabic Script considers the styles, variants and adaptations of arabic script, covering both the history and meaning of each letter. A highly recommended pick for a specialized audience of college-level students in either language or art.
Average customer rating:
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The Analysis of Pen Flourishing in Thirteenth-Century Manuscripts (Litterae Textualis)
Sonia Scott-Fleming
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Decorative Arts
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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General
| Painting
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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General
| Crafts & Hobbies
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
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General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
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General
| France
| Europe
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General
| England
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ASIN: 9004083510 |
Book Description
Step-by-step instructions for elegant roundhand style — American version of copperplate. Strokes, hairlines, shading, etc. Pens, inks, papers, more.
Customer Reviews:
Another Source for Letter Forms.......2007-01-13
If you're trying to learn Copperplate calligraphy, I don't recommend this as your first book. Instead, Eleanor Winters' Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy is a much better tool for self-study. However, once you master the material in Winters' book, you might find the Technique of Copperplate Calligraphy to be a good source for additional examples of letter forms, especially capitals.
Elegant, good value, full of helpful advice and examples.......2005-01-07
I love using this book for several reasons. The entire text is gracefully handwritten in Copperplate by this Master Penman. He has a very beautiful, elegant style and technically impressive nib control.
The book was published in 1987 and the author born in 1915, at the tail end of the `old-world', when Spencerian and Copperplate scripts were more widely practiced and enjoyed. I like the fact that he must have been about 70 years old when he prepared this work, making his steady hand, smooth and fluid hairlines all the more notable.
An aspect I particularly value and enjoy is that, unlike some Copperplate books where every stroke is absolutely perfect, this work is presented unretouched. As such it is far more 'human' and shows me what I can realistically aspire to.
Elegant, very useful, great value for money, highly recommended!
Good, basic instructions. Examples could be better........1999-03-22
This book is good for the price. The examples could be better. I've seen great examples from other teachers. It is worth the money invested and a good, starter for people who want to learn copperplate or engrosser's script.
Customer Reviews:
Great book for calligraphy - good examples & ideas.......2005-05-22
This isn't a huge book, but I really like it. It contains many sample alphabets using calligraphy pen or brush stroke techniques. (It seems like when I look through most calligraphy books, they don't have many sample alphabets). Although I probably have one standard calligraphy style, I like to dabble with ways to letter differently.
Besides offering a good number of lettering techniques, this book also shows some examples of some really beautiful calligraphy works. Some are just simple cards and some would proabably be worth framing. Several examples show how to play with calligraphy and create a visual with the letters on the page. The ideas are absolutely fabulous and will inspire you to explore the creative world of lettering.
Average customer rating:
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Modern lettering for pen & brush poster design
Ross F George
Manufacturer: Hunt Pen co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Decorative Arts
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B00086KHGS |
Book Description
Add visual excitement to signs, posters, bulletins, catalogs — almost any print or graphic project — with this collection of 329 swirling, imaginative designs. Choose from a broad selection of cupids, flora and fauna, knights on horseback, strolling musicians, mythical beasts sea life, exotic birds, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent reference for beginner or advanced calligrapher.......2006-03-15
Ralph Douglass's Calligraphic Lettering provides a good resource for beginning or more advanced calligraphers. This is one of the first calligraphy books I used as a child some 20 years ago and was so glad to see it republished again recently.
The author offers several different calligraphic hands with a brief history for each. He also includes sections on design, proportion and a couple of pages on teaching children to write - a section I am now using to teach my children. The thing I like most about this book is that it emphasises the need to practise.
The Ultimate Learning Reference.......2004-09-13
The lovely, hand-lettered text of this book distinguishes it even before you get to the wonderful, clear alphabet studies. Its spiral binding makes it very easy to refer to pages while working; and for some reason, other calligraphy texts haven't figured that out.
I do calligraphy as an amateur (literally, for the love of it) as well as for pay. I am not a teacher by profession; but whenever I teach a calligraphy class, this is my prime reference book.
Recently I thought I had lost my copy, and that is when I realized how much I depend on this book. It is The Best.
If you are going to own only one calligraphy guide, this is the one!
The classic, out-of-print primer for the serious beginner........1998-10-24
This hard-back, spiral-bound work has a plethora of alphabets for the beginning adult scribe to learn. Many classic examples from art history, and adequate detail from the author are available to guide the willing penman. One who will devote time and self-discipline for serious practice will find this work an able guide to learning classic letter formations.
Books:
- Passionate Slugs & Hollywood Frogs: An Uncommon Field Guide to Northwest Backyards
- Pathology of Genetically-Engineered Mice
- Peripheral and Spinal Mechanisms in the Neural Control of Movement (Progress in Brain Research)
- Polar Bear Math: Learning About Fractions from Klondike and Snow
- Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
- Portraits of the Bison: An Illustrated Guide to Bison Society
- Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved (The University Center for Human Values Series)
- Producing Great Sound for Digital Video
- Pulmonary Endothelium in Health and Disease (Lung Biology in Health and Disease)
- Rabbits Rabbits Everywhere: A Fibonacci Tale
Books Index
Books Home
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- The Memory Jogger II
- Taunton's Front Yard Idea Book: How to Create a Welcoming Entry and Expand Your Outdoor Living Space
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Okavango: A Journey
Botswana: The Bradt Travel Guide
The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates
Relentless Enemies: Lions and Buffalo
Botswana Map
