36 Mail Order Form page 35 COLLECTABLES


Beauty is its own excuse for being. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


74729 WATCHES by Judith Miller


A block of a book which tells the story of wristwatch design through 300 stunning images and covering the 1900s to 2000. The book shines a spotlight onto the most desirable watches from Rolex to Hamilton, Swatch to Omega, Patek Philippe, Bulova, Cartier,


Elgin, Volta and hundreds of others. Each is photographed in close up colour, filling each page and there are captions, fun quotes from famous people and an excellent star rating by the antique expert Judith Miller indicating current prices asked by vintage fashion dealers, from 500 pounds right up to 50,000 pounds and over. She says ‘the trend for men to wear a watch as a fashion accessory has brought new interest to both contemporary and vintage watches by leading makers such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Many of these firms began as makers of pocket watches in the 19th century.’ 304pp in paperback. £9.99 NOW £6.50


74112 TV CREAM TOYS by Steve Berry


Almost 200 super-desirable toys are alphabetically catalogued here. The book is based on a website for aficionados of retro toys, and each featured toy comes with at least one colour photo, a description and a history. A ratings box covers date of origin, battery


requirements, number of players, breakage likelihood, the power of the associated advertising, the envy factor, ‘eBayability’ and finally overall satisfaction. The sub- titles are a treat in themselves - Action Man (1966) is a ‘military mannequin’, Barbie (1959) the ‘whore next door’ and Lego (1949) the ‘building brick enemy of the vacuum cleaner’, the A La Carte Kitchen via Raving Bonkers Fighting Robots to ZX Spectrum. 207pp, colour photos.


£12.99 NOW £4


74259 STRAWBERRY HILL: Renaissance Glass by Michael Peover


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Horace Walpole assembled a large collection of over 450 pieces of stained glass at Strawberry Hill, insipiring a craze among his contemporaries for the setting of ancient glass as a fashionable addition to a home. An early description of the house said that it had the sparkle of ‘a harlequin’s coat chequered with all the colours of the rainbow’. Walpole included heraldic blazons and decorative roundels as well as new commissions from English Glaziers such as William Price the Younger and William Peckitt. Looks at the Strawberry Hill restoration project. Softback, 48pp. £6.95 NOW £4


74775 BAROMETERS by Anita McConnell The author has a particular interest in the instruments and apparatus used to explore and survey land, sea and air. The simple mercury barometer originated in 17th century Italy and was soon copied in France and Britain. In the 19th century demand increased for domestic and scientific barometers and since 1850, mercury barometers have been gradually ousted by aneroids. No serious expedition set out without a barometer and by the 1860s, weather reports could be telegraphed to central offices and forecasting became a realistic proposition. The fishery barometer was introduced in 1858 and displayed at every port. Illus, 32 page Shire paperback.


£3.50 NOW £2.75 74696 JEWELS OF TIME: The World


of Women’s Watches by Roberta Naas Watches have always symbolised male power, but it is only recently that the power-watch has become a key part of a woman’s wardrobe. This incredibly beautiful book features around 100 watches with huge photographs accompanied by inspirational texts, sometimes poetic, sometimes historical or descriptive. The first wristwatch in serial production was made by Cartier in 1904. When Mercedes Gleitz swam the Channel in 1927 she wore a Rolex, which kept perfect time throughout the expedition, while a few years later Amelia Earhart chose an Omega for her transatlantic solo flight. Celebrity watches featured here include Jackie Kennedy’s Piaget watch with a jade dial and jewelled surround dating to 1965, and the opulent Bulgari snake watch from the same decade which Elizabeth Taylor wore in her role as Cleopatra. Enamel watches allow artists a free rein in creating romantic designs, and among those pictured here are examples inspired by the dreamlike paintings of Chagall, the Art Nouveau designs of Mucha, and the Chinese imperial dragon. Art Deco designs often feature architectural motifs, for instance the sumptuous Tiret creation “Second Chance” based on the Chrysler Building. Watches of the 21st century have been focusing on wildlife, including Cartier’s tiger, lemur and tortoise designs, Chopard’s monkey and penguin, Boucheron’s jewelled elephant and Van Cleef and Arpels’ giraffes, inspired by the writings of Jules Verne. Bulgari sums it all up with the radiating colours of an abstract Garden of Eden. 304pp, lavishly illustrated throughout with spectacular colour photography. 28 x 26 x 3cm.


£45 NOW £22.50


ORDER HOTLINE: 020 74 74 24 74


74260 VENETIAN GLASS MOSAICS 1860-1917


by Sheldon Barr The mosaics of Venetian manufacturers are now, quite rightly, treasured for the splendid masterpieces they are, and it is they that form the subject of this richly illustrated and very highly informative volume. But, tragically, this was not always the case. The


1850s found Venice in a deplorable state. Fragments from both San Marco and Santa Maria Assunta on Torcello were being detached and sold to wealthy tourists. A lawyer called Antonio Salviati was horrified by the decline of the noble arts of glass and mosaic making and was determined to bring them back to life. He found two similarly inspired allies, the Muranese abbot and glass historian Vincenzo Zanetti and the Mayor of Murano, Antonio Colleoni, who wanted to resurrect the moribund industries in order to provide much-needed employment for the people of his island. This compelling account relates how these three men set about revitalizing a number of industries which, in the past, had been sources of both great wealth and pride. This superb volume records many splendours, such as the amazing mural depicting Aurora and Cephalus on the vault of the avant-foyer of the Opéra Garnier, Paris, and the glorious maritime façade of the Palazzo Barbarigo Stabilimento Venice, and is a book to cherish. 143 pages 30.5cm x 24.5cm. Colour with list of illustrated examples of the mosaic makers’ work. £39.50 NOW £17


74457 HENRY DUNAY: A Precious Life by Penny Proddow, Marion Fasel et al


Master-jeweller Henry Dunay learned the trade as an apprentice on Cacioli’s New York workbench. The excitement of Manhattan’s jewellery quarter in the 1950s included going out onto the sidewalk to see visiting stars such as Sinatra, and in his early 20s Henry Loniewski changed his name to the more elegant Dunay and started his own workshop in the Bowery. Dunay’s practical experience paid off at the start of his career when he invented a process for creating faceted gold that others imitated but could never quite pull off. Dunay made huge efforts to have his collections sold at Neiman Marcus, supplier to the world’s richest women including film stars like Grace Kelly, and finally he was successful. When gold prices soared in the early eighties, Dunay had to rethink his approach to jewellery making, and he moved into coloured stones with striking success. Among the creations pictured here are a choker of orange moonstones with matching earrings, a stunning diamond and platinum necklace with 600 carats of vanilla moonstones, and an original city brooch concept. Non-jewellery creations include precious eggs and spectacular works of jewelled art, for instance a garnet sphinx of Ammenemes on a granite base. 224pp, sumptuously illustrated in colour. £36 NOW £12


72727 MASTERPIECES OF ITALIAN DESIGN by design.doc


From the Mona Lisa to contemporary shoe design, Italy symbolises everything that is stylish and eyecatching. This stunning book on 20th century design starts with Bruno Bischofberger’s Arabesco coffee table of 1950, a miracle of swirling wood and glass. Marcello Nizzoli was a genius who excelled in architecture, painting and graphic design, but is perhaps most famous for the Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter. Architect Gio Ponti moved away from the neoclassical of his Pirelli skyscraper in Milan to the radical concept of the Superleggera chair. The book concludes with designers who have adopted Italy as their design home. 272pp, softback, colour on every page. £25 NOW £8


74245 DIAMOND JUBILEE COMMEMORATIVE


BOX SET by Pyramid International A limited edition commemorative box set containing 18 collectable colour prints each measuring 30cm or 12" across by 40cm, or nearly 16" tall. Presented in a beautiful silver foil box for safe keeping and limited to 2012 copies, we have here to review number 1879, surely to become highly prized and collectable. The first is a cameo portrait in sepia of the young Queen on her Coronation in 1952, the Royal Tour as depicted on the front cover of the London Illustrated News, a facsimile of the approved souvenir programme of the Coronation in heraldic colours and crest, postage stamps of Windsor, Edinburgh, Carrick Fergus and Caernarvon castles, crown regalia, a Cecil Beaton portrait of the young Queen in her finery, another from her Silver Jubilee, Coronation Day. High quality 250gsm paper, the images have been reproduced by kind permission of Royal Mail and Getty Images. Pay just a ludicrous £1 per poster!


£120 NOW £17


72604 FERDINAND COLUMBUS: Renaissance Collector


by Mark McDonald


In cultural and intellectual summaries of this period, one fascinating figure has been largely overlooked - Ferdinand, the illegitimate son of Christopher Columbus - who not only travelled on the fourth and final voyage to the New World in 1502, but compiled an account of that journey and wrote the first biography of his father. At the time of his death, his library contained over 15,000 volumes and more than 3,200 prints. Ferdinand’s own catalogue, with his extraordinary system for classifying the prints, survives in the Bibliotecca Colombina in Seville. All the major Renaissance artists working in the medium are represented in this beautiful volume, including: Albrecht Duerer, Lucan van Leyden, Ugo da Carpi, Hans Burgkmair, Giovanni Battista Palumba and Marcantonio Raimondi. 256 pages 24cm x 29.5cm, 20 colour and 178 b/w illus and maps. £25 NOW £8


HUMOUR


She had a beaky nose, tight thin lips, and her eye could have been used for splitting logs in the teak forests of Borneo.


- P. G. Wodehouse, Much Obliged, Jeeves 74715 MAMMOTH BOOK OF


FILTHY LIMERICKS edited by Glynn Rees Playfully illustrated by our dear friend Gray Jolliffe - Eve turns to Adam and says: ‘Well that’s not my lipstick!’ as the adder looks on - we can hardly quote from this book because it is far too rude! And very very funny. Oh okay then, ‘A nymphomaniacal WAAC possessed a libidinous knack; her erotic resources so pleased the armed


forces, she spent the whole war on her back.’ We meet an interesting array of characters like a certain young girl from Devizes, the constable whose appendage has sadly long ceased to function properly, or a particularly fortunate motorcyclist from Horton. Meet the sultry damsel from Delhi, a disgusting old bastard from Nice and other foreign filth, exhibitionist Annie, the devil named Dick and many other irreverent limericks by many great names and writers over the centuries. 480pp in paperback. $13.95 NOW £5


74708 HUMORISTS: From


Hogarth to Noël Coward The Grand Old Master of Chaos, Hogarth, Dr Johnson’s Melancholy Merriment, Bottoms Up with Thomas Rowlandson, Nothing So Odd As Life with Dickens, Master- Monster Toulouse-Lautrec, A Living, Talking Gargoyle that was G. K. Chesterton, the Dong with the Luminous Nose, W. C. Fields, Supple, Subtle and Sentimental


Charlie Chaplin, the Era of Good Feeling with Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, James Thurber, Noël Coward and Nancy Mitford are the subjects of these insightful biographical portraits. It is a diverse cast of legendary funny men (and women) and features their darkest humour, broadest satire, bawdiest wit, most biting sarcasm and reflects on our follies, pretentions and foibles with humour. 288pp in paperback.


£9.99 NOW £5


75071 THE CUSTOMER’S ALWAYS WRONG: Stupid Things Shoppers Say by Geoff Tibballs


There is no way that readers are going to believe that these hilariously dumb, in fact positively moronic things, that customers have said to service staff are really true, but the author insists that they are, and quotes his sources. From the woman who asked for whipped


cream on her fat-free cappuccino to the twitcher who wanted a Complete Book of British Birds - but without the magpie - these are guaranteed to be bona fide remarks. Some of them are positively jaw-dropping. Chuckle at the airplane passenger who found it stuffy and asked the attendant to open the window. Giggle at the thickhead who asked which side of the river Tower Bridge was on. Smirk at the question: ‘What time does the 10 o’clock bus leave?’ and finally, try not to gasp at the customer who asked in the DVD rental shop for the scariest movie they had. When told that it featured a zombie invasion, graphic scenes of bloody mutilation, a chainsaw murder, an acid attack, an explicit decapitation and a disembowelment, the customer said: ‘It’s not a musical is it? I hate musicals!’ 188 pages with line drawings.


£9.99 NOW £4


74927 42: Deep Thought on Life, The Universe, and Everything


by Mark Vernon


In ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, the supercomputer Deep Thought pronounces 42 as the answer to life, the Universe and everything. Drawing his inspiration from 42 of the funniest, wisest and quirkiest quotations on the big questions in life, Mark Vernon offers


a light-hearted look at what philosophy has to say and deftly interweaves the greatest minds of all time from Socrates to Monty Python. His profound discussions cover work, love, eternal life, sex and happiness, the allure of cats, the nature of wisdom, technology, the soul, money, food, ignorance and bliss. 177pp in paperback.


£9.99 NOW £4.50


72643 THE BOOK OF THE DEAD: Lives of the Justly Famous and the Undeservedly Obscure


by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson The authors have selected themes that focus on people who died virgins, who kept pet monkeys, who lost limbs or whose corpses refused to stay put. From a cross- dressing, bear-baiting female gangster to the reason why Freud had a lifelong fear of trains, and from the one thing that really made Isaac Newton laugh to the inside story on how Catherine the Great really died, this sparkling non-biography will keep you riveted from beginning to end. 434 rough cut pages. $21.95 NOW £2.75


Published by Bibliophile Ltd., Unit 5 Datapoint Business Centre, 6 South Crescent, London E16 4TL


75068 BAD TEACHER by Jenny Crompton


Quieten down at the back, please, and let’s begin. We may have little or no recollection of the things we were taught at school, but we have a wealth of vivid stories about the people who actually taught us. Inspirational teachers can change lives and help fulfil dreams. Others talk nonsense and take bewildering mental detours, make awkward personal revelations and send


everyone home in tears. The book is a selection of hilarious tales of staff misbehaving ranging from naughty language and temper tantrums to embarrassing mishaps and drunkenness. Q: Name six animals that live in the Arctic. A: Two polar bears and four seals. Worldwide coverage, 184pp with fun cartoons.


£7.99 NOW £3.50 75082 GILES: The


Collection 2014 by John Field


For more than 50 years Giles has won legions of fans exploring the pleasures and pitfalls of modern life and was voted the 20th century’s greatest cartoonist. Here


is a new compilation of 150 of his best loved cartoons parodying shopping, the economy, the police, the media and Giles himself. Published with Express Newspapers. A BIG collection, 10½” x 8" in softback, with one full page cartoon, caption and explanation for petrol rationing, severe flooding, Giles being ill and recuperating, the cartoonist taking it out on the journalist Jean Rook and generally skewering war, the BBC, football, cricket, airport security, motorists and more. 160pp in softback.


£7.99 NOW £4


72355 OY VEY: More! The Ultimate Book of Jewish Jokes Part 2 by David Minkoff


The author shares with readers more of the funniest, silliest and most unmistakably Jewish jokes from his vast collection. With chapters on life, death, matters of faith, people and professions, medicine, romance, families and much more. There is a


recognisable character on every page, from shadchen (marriage brokers) to groisser scheesers (big shots) from schmucks (idiots) to yentas (gossips). There is even a special child-friendly section and a humour test for couples. 459 pages including The Best Punchlines In This Book and Glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew Words and Terms.


$24.99 NOW £4.50


72869 101 USES FOR A DEAD MEERKAT by Massimo Fenati


Peppered with brilliant, mercilessly dark humour, here are our furry little friends becoming a chandelier, hair rollers, a TV aerial, a rolling pin, a garden ornament, an entertainment trophy, a cycle helmet, a ship’s figurehead, a place holder, a sled, and even fashioned into a pair of boots! Creepy fun and we are assured that no meerkats were harmed in the making of this book. Cartoons.


£9.99 NOW £2.50


73497 I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL: Dying For a Laugh by Liz Evers


Epitaphs of note include “He was literally a father to all the children in the parish”. Bela Lugosi, the actor famed for his performance as Dracula, asked to be buried in his count’s cape, while a British doctor left instructions that a steel stake should be pounded through his heart to avoid coming back as a vampire. The American comedian W. C. Fields stashed his money away in 200 secret bank accounts under fictitious names, of which only 45 have been found. 191pp, line drawings.


£9.99 NOW £2.50


74009 WORLD’S OLDEST JOKE BOOK by Dan Crompton


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Hairdresser: How shall I cut your hair, Sir? Client: In silence. Doctor doctor jokes, idiot jokes, apprentices, obstinate bastards, horny women and long-suffering husbands, bad breath and farting, drunks, fat people, envious people and cowards - human humour has changed very little in the last 2000 years. The same forefathers who imparted the Socratic Method and the Parthenon also passed on a wealth of filthy quips and goofy jokes which still hit the mark. 144pp in paperback, fun cartoons. $10.99 NOW £4


74741 IMAGINE MY SURPRISE... Unpublished Letters to The Daily Telegraph


by Iain Hollingshead For the fourth year running, here is a hilarious selection of readers’ letters that failed to make it into the paper - not, we hasten to add, because they were unworthy, but simply due to lack of space. Read on to discover what they thought of sportsmen and women who


cannot merely lose a race but have to ‘crash out’, why pills come in packs of six when there are seven days in a week, what reaction the sinking of the Costa Concordia caused, and what writers made of, among many other things, Kindles and apps. 215 endlessly re-readable pages.


£9.99 NOW £3.50


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