This stunning book documents a collection of 66 extraordinary pieces of petrified wood, mainly from Western United States (Arizona, Oregon, Washington). Specially photographed they are shown in their entirety and in magnificent details.

Petrified wood is formed from fallen trees that in the absence of oxygen and microbes, and with water containing minerals, through a replacement process called permineralization, slowly transform into visually spectacular fossils. But Nature often uses a paintbrush in its preservation magic, splashing the wooden canvas with an array of colors and hues before fixing it in a matrix of hard durable quartz, thereby creating splendid works of art. Petrified wood has been found throughout the world, but actual petrified forests are truly noteworthy in the United States, the most famous being the Chinle Formation forest of Arizona.

5000 Years of Indian Art demystifies the story of Indian art spread over the millennia. This visually stunning book offers a panoramic view of Indian art from pre-historic times to the contemporary period. The absorbing narrative links different predominant artistic genres (like prehistoric art, ancient Indian art of Vedic and Buddhist traditions, temple art, Mughal miniature painting, colonial art, modern Indian art, and contemporary art) that were prevalent in different eras, instead of following formally demarcated historical periods.

The illustrated tale encompasses the entire gamut from the earliest primitive markings on stones, caves, and frescoes to exquisite paintings, sculptures, modern photography, finely crafted artefacts, media-inspired work, popular installations, and other forms of contemporary art. The book displays around 200 select masterpieces of art from museums, galleries, and private collections around India and the world. The history of Indian art is as old as the civilization itself and every major period of history has given it newer modes of expression. This book successfully captures all the myriad influences that have enriched Indian art over the years.

Features works from the following museums: American Museum of Natural History, New York, Archaeological Museum, Sarnath, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford British Museum, London, Brooklyn Museum, New York, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Gujral Art Museum, New Delhi, Harvard Art Museum/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, Kabul Museum, Kabul, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, Indian Museum, Kolkata, Islamabad Museum, Islamabad, Lahore Museum, Lahore, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, Mathura Museum, Mathura, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Musée Guimet, Paris, Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi, National Museum, New Delhi, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, Patna Museum, Bihar, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Sarnath Site Museum, Uttar Pradesh, Seattle Art Museum, Washington, Staaliche Museum of Berlin: 91, V & A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London Trustees of the British Museum, London .

Carleton Varney turns his decorating vision towards the water in his most recent tome, Decorating on the Waterfront.
Here, he gathers stunning images of new design projects in this collection of inspirational stories that use motifs and colors from years by the shore. Growing up on the Massachusetts coast influenced his penchant for bright cheerful color schemes and warm polished interiors that exude luxury living today. Varney continues to live near the ocean and decorates for clients on the waterfront from Palm Beach, Florida to the shores of Lake Huron, Michigan. This book brings into focus Varney’s career long journey to bring elements and inspirations from the world around us to life at home.

Japan is a land of diversity and contradictions with a unique, somewhat mysterious culture. It is a place where you will find ancient temples, shrines and customs cherished and unchanged for over thousand years, as well as cutting edge technology and trendsetting architecture. V

isitors will be amazed by the courteous and warm way travelers are welcomed and the delicacy of Japanese food and art.

Although in Japan the majority of the population lives in vibrant contemporary cities like Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka, historical places like Kamakura, Kyoto and Nikko are always close. The Japanese archipelago consists of thousands of islands that are often densely forested and mountainous. Situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire the highly volcanic activity in the region has shaped over time stunning landscapes with many natural wonders to discover.

Marc Popelier’s frequent visits to Japan and life-long interest in the country and culture have crystallized into the pages of this book. It is a perfect introduction to Japan and will surely tempt anyone to visit this fascinating country.

From acclaimed Hollywood photographer Firooz Zahedi comes Look at Me, a collection of his most distinguished and intimate celebrity portraits. From editorial commissions from magazines – including Vanity Fair, Glamour, InStyle, GQ, and Entertainment Weekly, to iconic movie posters such as Pulp Fiction, Edward Scissorhands, and The Addams Family – Zahedi has been photographing Hollywood’s biggest stars for over 35 years.

Each photograph is accompanied by a short text offering personal insight into how each shot came together. Also included are never-before-seen photographs as well as special behind-the-scenes snapshots and notes from Zahedi’s appreciative subjects. Look at Me is a celebration of this golden age of celebrity as seen through the lens of one of Hollywood’s most accomplished photographers.

There is a rich tradition of hand-woven bands made by the nomadic pastoralists of Iran. They have a large and detailed design vocabulary, and were executed using weaving skills that were not exceeded by any other weaving tradition. No study of nomadic life and weavings in Iran is complete without them. Among Qashqa’i tribal weavers in particular, the warp-faced bands used to attach loads to pack animals were a key symbol of their nomadic life. These bands carry a large repository of motifs that may be a source of archaic design elements. Bands illustrate a connection between and among groups of nomadic pastoralists, as great distances may have separated their ancestors for hundreds of years. Although the overwhelming majority of weavers were illiterate, they possessed a different form of literacy in which they were capable of transferring an image into a woven structure. This is the first book devoted exclusively to these weavings.

Contents: Introduction; The Functions of Warp-faced Bands in Nomadic Life; Structure and Construction; Buckles & Fastening Systems on Bands; Dating Textiles; Design & Structural Changes on Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Warp-faced Bands; Imagery & Design Elements; Tribal Confederacies; Plates; Bands, Ropes, Braids, and Tassels among Qashqa’i Nomads; Glossary; Bibliography.

The design of French embassies presented in this book retrace a century of diplomacy and the influence of the French style abroad. They showcase the diplomatic role played by the decorative arts and, as a counterpoint, the enrichment of these through contact with other cultures. From the first Art nouveau and Art deco ensembles to design at the end of the century, the most prestigious designers of their time meet on this world tour: Süe and Mare in Warsaw, Francis Jourdain in Kabul, Jean-Michel Frank in Dublin, Jacques Émile Ruhlmann in Tokyo, Jean Dunand in Ankara, Jean Royère in Alexandria and Helsinki or, more recently, Michel Boyer in Brasilia and Jean-Michel Wilmotte in Washington. Throughout the pages, the little-known heritage of France abroad is revealed, thanks to documents, photographs and often unpublished drawings which reconstruct its memory.

Text in French. 

This volume brings together leading scholars of Sikhism and of Sikh art to assess and interpret the remarkable art resource known as the Kapany Collection, using it to introduce to a broad public the culture, history, and ethos of the Sikhs. Fifteen renowned scholars contributed essays describing the passion and vision of Narinder and Satinder Kapany in assembling this unparalleled assemblage of great Sikh art, some of which has been displayed in exhibitions around the globe. The Kapanys’ legacy of philanthropic work includes establishing the Sikh Foundation (now celebrating its 50th year) and university endowments for Sikh studies. Through this profusely illustrated book’s chapters, scholars examine the full range of Sikh artistic expression and of Sikh history and cultural life, using artworks from the Kapany Collection.

“Hands down the wine book of the year.” —David McIntyre, Washington Post

“…paints a glorious picture of Bordeaux as seen through the skittish and mischievously observant eyes of Somerville and Ross – cousins and writing partners.” —Victoria Moore, The Telegraph

Journeying through the Medoc in the autumn of 1891, Anglo-Irish cousins and traveling companions, Edith Somerville and Martin Ross (aka Violet Florence Martin) bring their distinctive mélange of wry wit, acute observation and unabashed horror at the barefoot treading of Cabernet Sauvignon to this delightful account of vendangeurs lofty and low-born as they bring in the harvest in time-honored fashion. Illustrated using Somerville’s equally delightful sketches, this is a story of two feisty ladies for whom anything remotely pretentious is fair game.

Better known for their tales of an Irish R. M. (resident magistrate), Somerville and Ross outraged their respective families – who referred to them ‘the Shockers’ – by combining travel writing with the fight for Women’s Suffrage. The contrast between the emancipated pair and the largely unreconstructed characters they encounter on their travels only serves to heighten the charm of an already indelibly charming book.

The Classic Editions breathe new life into some of the finest wine-related titles written in the English language over the last 150 years. Although these books are very much products of their time – a time when the world of fine wine was confined mostly to the frontiers of France and the Iberian Peninsula and a First Growth Bordeaux or Grand Cru Burgundy wouldn’t be beyond the average purse – together they recapture a world of convivial, enthusiastic amateurs and larger-than-life characters whose love of fine vintages mirrored that of life itself. 

“A standout among the drink books published this year, which ought to be on the Christmas list of every wine lover, even if they don’t think they have much interest in American wine.”  —Victoria Moore, The Telegraph
“This is a book for novices and geeks interested in the significance of California through America’s wine history, from the swashbuckling era of Agoston Haraszthy through modern Napa’s cult cabernets and today’s despair over wildfires and drought.” —David McIntyre, Washington Post

“New York Times picks On California for their “This Year’s Best Wine Books”: “. Its short selections from nearly three dozen writers offer impressionistic, thought-provoking views of the state and its winemaking history.”—New York Times

“There is something for everyone here.” —Sommelier India

On California explores the grapes and the people who have made California wine great. The pioneers, the boffins, the whizz-kids and scientists, many of whom tell their stories on its pages – some in precious archive material, others have set down their thoughts mid-pandemic in 2021: Randall Grahm, Gerald Asher, Steven Spurrier, Paul Draper and Warren Winiarski take a bow….

Includes:

• California wine and the future: where will the ‘California spirit’ lead next?
• The ‘Hollywood Grape’: our authors chart the path of Cabernet Sauvignon, from the wish-list of Thomas Jefferson to the hallowed hillsides of Stag’s Leap and Screaming Eagle
• 1976? Of course it was a competition! Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher look back at the motivations behind the famous Paris wine tasting
• Top New York sommelier Victoria James tells of her near-death introduction to the whacky world of winemaking in Sonoma
• Will the real Zinfandel please stand up? Paul Draper seeks out the true heritage of California’s versatile orphan grape
• Contributions from top California writers: Elaine Chukan Brown, Mary Margaret McCamic MW, Karen MacNeil, Esther Mobley, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Liz Thach MW, Clare Tooley MW, and Kelli White
• Hugh Johnson, Jane Anson and Fiona Morrison MW introduce California’s intrepid wine pioneers
• Rex Pickett’s Sideways heroes, Jack and Miles, clink glasses over the Central Coast’s finest Pinot Noir
• A–Z: from ‘Bob’ Mondavi to Xylem sap-sensors and pink Zinfandel – California wine in bite-size

“This book takes in his introduction to wine – at the age of three! – through his continued travels and championing of New World wines when they were less fashionable.” – Matthew Nugent, The Irish Sun

“You can feel Oz Clarke’s expansive, chatty presence in every sentence” – Telegraph

“Reading Clarke may be the closest we’ll come to sharing a glass of sack with the Bard himself.” —David McIntyre, Washington Post
“Frankly, it’s the best and most entertaining wine read I’ve had in years.” —Tom Doorley, The Irish Mail

“You can never have too much of his captivating enthusiasm and rich knowledge and this is him at his best.” — Waitrose magazine

“A rollicking good read.” — Sommelier India

There have never been so many delicious and original wines in the world, and to discover them, all you need is a glass in your hand and Oz Clarke – the ideal wine companion. With his inimitable sense of adventure and fun, Oz explains how his fascination with flavor led him to abandon a promising acting career and follow his heart from Chablis to ‘the lost Himalayan valleys of Yunnan’ in pursuit new taste experiences and wine thrills. He found them! Oz Clarke On Wine takes us on a fast-paced, witty romp around the grape varieties key to the world’s major wine styles, then explores the vineyards and regions where a vast trove of wine treasure lies waiting for discovery. Oz’s passion for sharing, his deep wine knowledge, and his ability to conjure up the wine world’s most beautiful landscapes, make this book the most unputdownable wine read this century.

Includes:

• How Oz fell in love with wine: from his first dramatic encounter on a river-bank (aged three), to his post-performance tasting tales (after ‘governing Argentina’ as General Perón in the hit show Evita
• Oz explains how global warming affects what we drink today, and the new styles we can expect ‘tomorrow’
• Organic and Biodynamic wines, Oz’s favorite fizz
• The world’s best-tasting wines, from Aconcagua to Okanagan, from Patagonia to east Yorkshire…, and wines to enjoy, from budget to blue chip… For sipping and savoring now. Or to age and enjoy in 10, 20, 30-years’ time…

Michael Broadbent, wine critic, writer, auctioneer and much-admired expert revolutionized the wine trade with his first edition of Wine Tasting in 1968 and has continued to capture the magic of wine for over 50 years, bringing it to the page and to the public in compleling detail, always tinged with his uniquely wry sense of humor.

Michael’s original text (from the 1975 edition) updated with the latest vintages and footnotes revealing Michael’s reactions to the changing wine scene.

Personal tributes to Michael from Hugh Johnson OBE, Jancis Robinson OBE MW, Steven Spurrier, the late Gerard Basset OBE MW MS, and international wine auctioneers Paul Bowker and Fritz Hatton.

“He had added what the wine trade had lacked; a veneer of scholarship, and a dealer of genius.” – Hugh Johnson

“A must read” – Ian Harris, CEO of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust

“A new photobook recalls the crucial but often overlooked role played by women in the Black Panther party”  — The Guardian

“… I guarantee this book will give you a new respect for a generation of women militants.” — Socialist Worker
“Comrade Sisters pairs Stephen’s intimate, incisive, and inspiring portraits and documentary photographs with testimonies from many surviving members and their kin.” — i-D France

“Historically illuminating photos of women Black Panthers.” — The Washington Post

Many of us have heard these three words: Black Panther Party. Some know the Party’s history as a movement for the social, political, economic and spiritual upliftment of Black and indigenous people of colour – but to this day, few know the story of the backbone of the Party: the women.
It’s estimated that six out of ten Panther Party members were women. While these remarkable women of all ages and diverse backgrounds were regularly making headlines agitating, protesting, and organizing, off-stage these same women were building communities and enacting social justice, providing food, housing, education, healthcare, and more. Comrade Sisters is their story.
The book combines photos by Stephen Shames, who at the time was a 20-year-old college student at Berkeley. With the complete trust of the Black Panther Party, Shames took intimate, behind-the-scenes photographs that fully portrayed Party members’ lives. This marks his third photo book about the Black Panthers and includes many never before published images.
Ericka Huggins, an early Party member and leader along with Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, has written a moving text, sharing what drew so many women to the Party and focusing on their monumental work on behalf of the most vulnerable citizens. Most importantly, the book includes contributions from over 50 former women members – some well-known, others not – who vividly recall their personal experiences from that time. Other texts include a foreword by Angela Davis and an afterword by Alicia Garza.
All Power to the People.

We are very excited to share with you a preview of what’s to come!

This beautifully presented monograph features the outstanding architectural and planning design work of Washington D.C.–based David M. Schwarz Architects, a firm with a significant focus on how buildings relate and contribute to their surroundings. Featuring 40 projects across the United States, the range of work in this book is extensive and includes cultural, sports and entertainment, office and residential, mixed-use, retail, hospitality, civic, healthcare, and education projects. 

Each project is richly photographed in lavish full color, with text commentary by Craig P. Williams, who has been associated with David M. Schwarz Architects for nearly forty-five years. All essays in this volume are based either on Craig P. Williams’s firsthand recollections or direct conversations with his colleagues who worked on those projects.

From its foundation in 1948, the state of Israel has felt isolated and under threat from enemies. This collective siege mentality manifests itself with over 1 million public and private shelters. The Israelis have integrated these ‘Doomsday spaces’ into their everyday life and transformed them into spaces that look like normal dance studios, bars or temples. For many people in Israel who live with a personal history of exile and persecution, these shelters are the architecture of an existential threat both real and perceived. Adam Reynolds shot the images in this book over the course of three years, from 2013 to 2015. The photographs offer a broad cultural and geographical typology of the shelter spaces by documenting them on either side of the Green Line, throughout Israel and the Occupied Territories, in an effort to offer the broadest survey possible. They straddle the distinct worlds of fine art and reportage. “Working in a country like Israel, it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate art from social reality,” says Adam Reynolds.

Ever since cinema became a popular medium of mass entertainment, audiences have been intensely curious about life and work on a film set. How are films made, we have wondered, hoping that first-hand knowledge of a film set will explain the hold cinema has on us. This book presents rare behind-the-scenes photographs from the personal archive of the cinematographer Josef Wirsching, a pioneer of Indian cinema. Most of these photographs were taken in the 1930s and ’40s when Wirsching was employed at the legendary film studio, Bombay Talkies Ltd. The essays by a variety of scholars and film historians help us understand the historical and imaginative value of Wirsching’s photographic archive. Shot across film sets and outdoor locations, the images comprising of the cast and crew, production stills, and publicity images from the early days of Indian cinema show us that history, and cinema itself, is a vital ongoing project.

Published in association with The Alkazi of Collection of Photography, New Delhi.

Antonio Canova (1757-1822), is considered the greatest Neoclassical sculptor of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This book, the third in the series Canova: Four Tempos, features a collection of sublime black and white photographs of Canova’s plaster models taken by photographer Luigi Spina. The full-size plaster models that preceded the production of his marble sculptures played an important part in Canova’s creative process. Included here are his masterpieces The Three Graces and Sleeping Nymph, and the only work Canova made for an overseas patron, George Washington depicted as a Roman potentate. The text is by the well-known Italian art historian Vittorio Sgarbi.

Also available: Canova: Four Tempos, Vol. 1, ISBN 9788874399215, and Canova: Four Tempos Vol. 2 9788874399598

Hiroshige. Nature and the City is the most extensive overview of the career of the famed Japanese print artist, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) in the English language to date. It is based on the largest collection of Hiroshige in private hands outside Japan, the Alan Medaugh collection. The catalogue consists of 500 entries, with an emphasis on urban and rural landscapes, fan prints and prints of birds and flowers. Grouped chronologically by subject, it presents Hiroshige’s interpretation of the urban scenes from his hometown Edo (present-day Tokyo), the great series documenting travel along the famous highways of Japan, and the idylls of nature as represented in his bird-and flower prints. Hiroshige often incorporated poetry in his works and for the first time all textual content is transcribed and translated. Additionally, the catalog pays due attention to the differences between variant editions of his prints. Thus, it provides essential comparative material for every scholar, dealer, and collector. 

According to New York based interior designer, life coach and meditation teacher Joshua Smith, “When your home is your sanctuary, there’s a big exhale when you walk through that front door. It nourishes your spirit, inspires your mind, and enhances your connection to yourself, your loved ones and the divine, however you might define that” (in Homes & Gardens, January 2023).

For Shelby Deering, designer of the tranquil spaces of The Well (with locations in New York City, Washington, Miami, Costa Rica and Mexico), “Over the last few years, our homes have become more important than ever. Throughout the pandemic, we saw them function as offices, gyms, schools, restaurants — and, of course, our own little corners of the world where we were able to find relief from daily pressures and anxiety. Because of this shift, it’s no wonder that people have made efforts to refresh their living quarters to focus more on health, wellness and self-care. After all, when the environment around you feels like a calming refuge, those peaceful vibes can directly impact how you feel.”

The 15 private residences presented in this beautiful book can all be called “sanctuaries” because they all seek to support and protect the well-being of their owners, families and guests. 

Everyone needs a happy place, a space to relax, unwind, and let the worries of everyday life melt away. Some may dream of white-sand beaches, while others may prefer cozy mountain chalets, or a meditative, decluttered wabi sabi interior in a cosmopolitan setting.

Whether in Brazil, Sweden, Mexico, Crete, St. Barts, Spain or in Belgium – all over the world, people are searching for the ultimate comfort, safety and happiness in their own cocoon, their own protective environment.

Six women, six stories. They make cartoons and graphic work in the besieged Syrian city of Idlib or unfree Egypt of President al-Sisi, they fight fat shaming and homophobia in Mexico, are on the run from president Putin, criticize Hindu nationalism and misogyny from Indian Prime Minister Modi or defy the powers that be in The Washington Post. Whether they are from Mexico, the USA, Syria, Egypt, India or Russia, they all belong to the absolute world top. But the way to the top was not an easy one for any of them.

Often overlooked in Chinese poetic history are a number of accomplished late-Song poets, among the most important of whom were four men from Wenzhou known as the “Four Lings” because, apparently by common consent, they all had noms-de-plume containing the character ling, meaning “numinous” or “magical.” The four were: Weng Juan (d. after 1214), Xu Zhao (d. 1211), Xu Ji (1162–1214), and Zhao Shixiu (1170–1219). As other late-Song poets, they leaned toward understated, straightforward diction that incurred the enmity of those who preferred the more flowery, allusive style of the high Tang.
As they navigated the uncertain career paths of would-be minor officials, the Four Lings wrote movingly about their joys and disappointments, the hardships of poverty and old age, and the solace to be found in nature and friendship. Seeming to share a single poetic sensibility, they wrote in a naturalistic and accessible style that won widespread admiration; it is fitting that they now be presented together, as friends and fellow poets of consequence.