This is a terrific book! It covers the complete spectrum of Tiffany silver flatware from 1845 to 1905. It's lavishly illustrated with photographs, diagrams, and original pattern drawings. It covers the full-line patterns, the not-full-line patterns, and the custom patterns made for the likes of the Vanderbilts and the Hearsts.

The book breaks the patterns down by designer: early pieces by retailers Polhamus, Hebbard, Gorham, Moore and others; the major designers Edward Moore, Charles Grosjean, and Paulding Parnham. It shows the various place pieces in standard patterns, as well as covering the extensive amount of fabulous and rare serving and other odd pieces (how many of you own a scallop serving fork?) There are also several useful appendices, including: Flatware Terminology; Glossary of Technical Terms; Tiffany Flatware Markings; and a Tiffany Chronology. As well, a thorough index makes it easy to find patterns or pieces you are looking for.

All in all this is the perfect book for the collector of this wonderful silver. It does not contain pricing information, which is a good thing in this day and age of online auctions, as such pricing info is often outdated by the time the book reaches the press. The only problem I had after reading it was that I wanted to own everything in the book! Don't hesitate, buy it!

This book is a superb work. The authors have filled a major void in the literature concerning the history of American decorative arts. The quality of the research and textual insights make this book essential reading for anyone interested in Tiffany silverware or the latter 19th century of American craftsmanship. The photography is so magnificent that I repeatedly find myself leafing through this book to admire the beauty of this flatware of a bygone era. A great read...a beautiful coffee table book...a classic in every respect.

Face Of The Earth, Heart Of The Sky is a novel that accurately depicts the horrors of the Guatemalan civil war fought out in the 1980s. In these pages we encounter the distinct voices of the elderly, the children, and the mean and women whose stories from the Left and from the Right which Mario Morales collected and then wove together in this articulate, powerful, candid, vividly recounted, memorable work.

It is a great book. For the first time somebody writes a book about women and refers to them as a subject and not as an object as is usual in male literature. This nicaraguan novelist has given this very important women a voice and a perspective in their deeds during the first fifty years of the Spanish Conquest of the New World.

Author De Regniers and Illustrator Gorey tackle the old Little Red Riding Hood. It's marvelous.

Gorey's illustrations are much like his illustrations in everything else: sly, clever, menacing with a quiet gloom, and quietly humorous.

De Regnier's verse is comical and a bit offcenter.

"And the wicked wolf, Without more ado, Ate Red Riding Hood, And the little cake, too."

Gorey's facing illustration for this bit of verse shows our friend Mr. wolf, greedily poised to gobble up a cake, leaning with a very satisfied look against the footboard of grandma's bed, holding the red hood with his left forepaw. Flowers are strewn on the floor, the gathering-basket upset near his feet. Not a trace of the girl is to be seen.

Hopefully you can pick up a copy of this second-hand, or booksellers will again sell new copies someday. As of now (April 2001), it seems to be out of print.

I was floundering at my old job--I felt that my personal growth was being stymied. Hood's book was a personal and professional wake-up call for me which guided me through a series of easy, logical steps toward getting the things I needed in life. Only three months after finishing this amazing little book I now find myself with a new employer, a new attitude, and a new-found sense of self-worth and confidence. My sights are aimed high!!Thanks so much, Mr. Hood!