During the first third of the 20th century, the prints of Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) hung in thousands of American homes. America's most popular artist during that period, Parrish's illustrations appeared in books and magazines, on posters, calendars, and advertisements. Today most of us recognize Parrish's distinctive art work and the wonderful fantasy world he created. Along with Howard Pyle, Parrish was one of the key artists for young readers. Among the children's books he illustrated were L. Frank Baum's "Mother Goose in Prose," Kenneth Grahame's "The Golden Age," Eugene Field's "Poems of Children," Nathaniel Hawthorne's "A Wonder-Book and Tanglewood Tales," and "The Arabian Nights."

This collection of Parrish's art for children's literature is compiled by Alma Gilbert, who is not only the author of the definitive "Maxfield Parrish: The Masterworks" but also the creator of the Maxfield Parrish museum. Not only does Gilbert select the paintings, she also retells the tales, from "The Frog Prince" to "The Reluctant Dragon." In between you will find Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, Sinbad, Circe, and cover-girl Mary Mary Quite Contrary. The stories are fine, but it is the artwork we find compelling. There are thousands more such illustrations out there to be enjoyed as well, but this collection serves as a more than adequate introduction to Parrish's work.

This book changed my life. Eileen Myles has a gift for writing very much in the first person vernacular, and finding magic amid the detritus of everyday life. Her poems sometimes deal with the big themes -- death and sex come to mind -- but they also deal, sometimes quite humorously, with odd imaginings and a bohemian life in New York. Highly recommended.

This is a delightful collection of Maxfield Parrish's art, presented in 4 small, elegant volumes. Each book covers a different category of Parrish's work including ads, book & magazine covers, and fine art prints.

The most popular paintings are here as expected, along with many seldom seen pieces. There is also a very insightful text that chronicles Parrish's life, career and inspirations, and how the various paintings came about.

I especially enjoyed the book illustrations with mythological characters, genies & dragons, and fantastic landscapes. Another favorite is the advertisements, with 10 Edison Mazda lamp ads among many others.

These quality books with vibrant color illustrations on fine paper would make a great gift for any Parrish enthusiast.

The timeless lyrics to "Over the Rainbow" are brought to life in this dreamily illustrated book. Each picture is done in soft, muted colors...the overall effect is dreamy. This book would make an excellent present for anyone, young or old.

I just love the beautiful paintings of Maxfiled Parish and have wanted to place his works around my home for a long time. However, being on a tight budget makes this difficlut....at least it did until I got this book of posters. While the prints aren't as large as I would idealy purchace, the quality and quantity for the price can't be beat. This is a good, inexpensive way to get good-quality art onto your walls even on a pin-up poster budget.

I was hesitant to purchase a book of prints without being able to see it first, but what a great purchase it turned out to be. I would recommend this to any Parrish fan.

This book is tastefully constructed, and the quality of the prints is impressive. Aside from the amazingly coloured and detailed prints, a short biography is included for those newly aquainted with the artist. It is an excellent buy, not only for the purpose of economy, but with consideration to some of the lesser-known works. It is incredibly rare to see so many prints in one place. Anyone who has this collection can tell you that you will never regret buying it, and for that price you simply can't afford to pass it up.

This is a good entry point into the world of Maxfield Parrish for the budget conscious. It provides the usual essay on the artist's life. What I found really useful was a description of his techniques in the fourth section.It includes infrared and microscopic cross section analysis of his canvasses. If you are looking for an even more economical book on Parrish, try Maxfield Parrish by Laurence and Judy Cutler by Gramercy books also published in 1999. It always intrigues me that published reproductions of his works always 'color' differently from book to book.

For a century, illustrators have been looked down upon by "fine artists." Finally, Maxfield Parrish, a truely FINE artist, gets his day. He's represented not as an illustrator, but as an artist. Having seen the originals 20 minutes prior to buying the book, I can say with confidence that the reproductions are the truest I have ever seen. A great in the art world (Daybreak was estimated to be in 25% of all American homes), the book is the best look back at an American great.

I bought this book looking for Maxfield Parrish illustrations. I kept this book because Edith Warton is an incredibly soothing writer.

It should be of note that the text was so wonderfully written that it kept me from returning the book.

Imagine, however, what an incredible book this would be if the Parrish illustrations were not in black and white.

I was very excited to find this book and nab a copy of it. (I'm a garden writer and I wanted to get Edith Wharton's perspective on garden history).

Italian gardens, as it turns out, are places for walking, thinking, conversing and relaxing. Their most common elements are paths, hedges, arcades, fountains, pools and grottos. They very seldom utilize color (a feature that is often ofterdone in American gardens), instead concentrating on foliage texture, stone and statuary. Usual plantings are trees, shrubs and vines.

What is most instructive is the layout of these Italian gardens, including the idea of garden rooms and the use of water features (both of which have become immensely popular here in the US, in the last few years). The architecture of the garden is everything, and is an extension of the house. Order, logic and function are paramount in the Italian garden.

Edith Wharton is a brilliant and fascinating guide; literary and historical references abound. A joy to read and to keep for reference.

I am a lucky owner of the 1904 original edition. I bought this reissue so that I could enjoy reading the text without worrying about damaging my 1904 edition. Comparing the two, the orignal's Parrish color and black & white illustrations are all there in the reissue. Please note that several were NOT color in the original too. The only difference is that the reissue has the color prints situated in a group in the center of the book, whereas (in the original) they are sprinkled throughout and have tissue paper protection. The color print quality is not as crisp as the original, but it is color. The b&w print quality is just as un-crisp as in the original.

Any book containing attractive reproductions of Maxfield Parrish's work is bound to be visually stunning. But the text is loaded with partially informed speculation about the relationship between Parrish and Sue Lewin, his favorite model. The author is an art dealer, not a historian, and her lack of analytical training is a serious problem. Maybe Lewin was Parrish's lover. But where's the concrete evidence? Everything that the author presents to support her contentions is either hearsay or capable of more than one interpretion. The fact that they shared a house for several decades is a VERY persuasive fact, but Gilbert damages her credibility -- and her case -- by tossing in too much pointless guessing.

This book is full of conjecture about Maxfield Parrish's private life and his relationship with his model, Sue Lewin. Their relationship was kept very private (due to his married state), yet they lived together most of their lives. Despite the guessing (most of which is probably correct) on the author's part, it is a fun, easy book to read and gives a sense of the times.

Being an admirer of Parrish's work since childhood, I had always wondered how he worked since his paintings had a sort of surreal realism to them. I was surprised to find that he utilized photographs instead of live models and that Sue Lewin was the model for the majority of his most famous works. The art is not only beautiful in the book, but the photos are just as incredible as the paintings themselves. A must have book for anyone who has admired Maxfield Parrish's work.

Black Sparrow Press has done it again. They seem to be the avatars of modern poetry. Eileen Myles is another fine living poet to get the Black Sparrow treatment. This collection combines both old poems from the 7os as well as newer material from the 90s. The old and new material play off of each other very well. She has the ability to write personally without whining. This is a quality often missing in poetry today. Her life has been an interesting one and her poetry is a startling testament to that fact. One poem I really enjoyed was An Attitude About Poetry. It sums up her attitude toward poetry and it is well stated. Other poems like Mysogyny and To The Maiden of Choice (to name a couple) reveal her gift for irony and her passion for life. This is a great collection. I reccommend it for anyone that wants to read new poetry that sounds a barbaric yawp.

Maxfield Parrish black and white drawings complement L. Frank (Oz) Baum's expanded versions of the Mother Goose tales. Includes his versions of Sing a Song o' Sixpence, Little Boy Blue, Cat and the Fiddle, Old King Cole, Mistress Mary, Jack Horner, Man in the Moon, the Jolly Miller, Hickory Dickory Dock, Little Bo-Peep, Tommy Tucker, Tom the Piper's Son, Humpty Dumpty, The Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, LIttle Miss Muffet, and others. 1986 introducyion by Patricia Barrett Perkins. 265 pages.