32 Miscellany
76537 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PRIVATE LIVES OF THE
ROMAN EMPERORS by Anthony Blond
A welcome reprint of the 1994 enjoyably monstrous, lively and amusing account of the Roman emperors. Blond provides a scandalous exposé of the life of the Caesars. Julius Caesar was an arrogant charmer and a swank, while the revered Augustus was so
conscious of his lack of height that he put lifts in his sandals. But they were nothing compared to Caligula, Claudius and Nero. Cicero revealed himself as a slum landlord in a letter to his friend Atticus. The loan of money at 48% by Brutus, ‘The noblest Roman of them all’, is a matter of Senatorial record. Augustus, friendless and bored in his old age, hoped his wife would find him a virgin for the afternoon. 234pp, paperback. £8.99 NOW £3.50
75661 AUTUMN IN THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM by Stephen R. Platt
The global significance of the mid-19th century Taiping Rebellion in China is often overlooked by historians. It influenced the course of the Crimean War and also the American War of Independence. It was led by the westernising Hong Rengan who converted to Christianity and espoused the people’s cause in a challenge to the highly conservative Manchu rulers. Equally charismatic was the man charged with raising an army to oppose him, the Confucian Zeng Guofan, an ascetic whom the pressures of power repeatedly threatened to overwhelm. When Hong Rengan was finally captured in the mountains following the taking of Nanking in 1864, Britain had already dissolved the East India Company and instituted direct rule in India, alarmed by the events in the east. The author argues that had things gone the other way, China would have become westernised. 470pp, photos. $30 NOW £5
75695 FROM EGYPT TO BABYLON: The
International Age 1550-500BC by Paul Collins Societies such as the ancient Egyptians, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites, Canaanites, Hurrians, Aramaeans, Israelites, Urartians, Mannaeans, Assyrians, Phrygians, Kassites, Chaldaeans, Scythians and Persians rose and fell in the region, all linked by military expansion, diplomatic relations, trade and movement of people, which brought about profound cultural exchanges and technological and social revolutions. Paul Collins, Curator of the Mesopotamia collections at the British Museum, uses a wealth of colour illustrations of objects from the Museum plus many maps to weave together for the first time a chronological political history of the region’s diverse societies. Local groups rose in Syria and Anatolia and new states such as Israel and Judah were formed. The Assyrian empire reached from Egypt to Iran and the Phoenicians flourished in the West. Ultimately this vast region was unified by the kings of Persia. 208pp, 8"×10". ONLY £7.50
75977 THE ELIZABETHANS by A. N. Wilson The Elizabethan Age was the age when the history of modern England and Wales really began. Shakespeare himself was a product of the new grammar school education. Add to this the music of John Dowland, William Byrd and Thomas Tallis. Apart from the splendour of the great houses like Kirby Hall, Longleat, Hardwick, there were innumerable manor houses of incomparable beauty, and many survived plus Elizabethan tombs in small country churches, gatehouses, lodges, schools, guildhalls, and corn exchanges, towers, staircases, colleges, often quirky, but never ugly. But England under Elizabeth I was a time of war and plague, politics and rebellion. It was also and age of global exploration. A panoramic depiction. 432pp, paperback, colour and b/w photos. £9.99 NOW £4.75
75994 BRIEF GUIDE TO CLASSICAL
CIVILIZATION by Stephen Kershaw From Grecian urns to Julius Caesar, Roman orgies, the Olympic Games, the Elgin Marbles to literature, Classical civilisation has left an enormous footprint on our cultural lives. Greece has given us democracy, philosophy, tragedy, comedy, oligarchs, oratory and ostracism. The Roman legacy includes unsurpassed engineering skills, the foundations of our legal system, it was the Pax Romana which allowed Roman civilisation to spread across Western Europe and to shape medieval, Renaissance and modern culture. Introducing key ideas, figures and places. 402pp, paperback. $13.95 NOW £4
76226 RING AND THE CROWN: A History of Royal Weddings 1066-2011
by Weir, Williams, Gristwood and Borman William of Orange entered the marriage bed wearing woollen drawers, while his 15-year-old bride Mapy was in floods of tears, but in spite of a disastrous beginnine, the marriage was happy. Queen Victoria was passionately in love with Albert and masterminded every detail of the wedding, including designing a dress for her 12 bridesmaids. In 1922 Lady Elizabeth Bowes- Lyon as a bridesmaid for Princess Mary had trouble walking in the newly-fashionable high heels, and a few years later she caught whooping cough on her own honeymoon with the future George VI. Our Queen is portrayed in high spirits on her wedding day, and the story is brought into the present with the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 190pp, colour photos. £20 NOW £6
76294 RISE AND FALL OF ANCIENT EGYPT: The History of a Civilisation from 3000BC to Cleopatra by Toby Wilkinson
The world’s first nation-state was created in 2950 B.C. This monumental history keeps the pace moving from Egypt’s beginnings to the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty, when Cleopatra VII threw in her lot first with Caesar, then with Mark Antony in an alliance with Rome that would have dominated the whole world were it not for the failure of Cleopatra’s ships at the battle of Actium. Notable rulers include Amenhotep I, who started work
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on the Valley of the Kings, and the ruthless Queen Hatshepsut who reigned first as regent to her step-son, then from 1473 with the full panoply of kingly power. Hatshepsut instituted a programme of myth-making that included portraying herself as a man and creating the unique temple of Deir el-Bahri with its great processional route decorated with scenes of self-glorification. The 12th century Amenhotep III reinterpreted the cult of the Sun- god Ra, and Ramesses II created a new capital dynastic city, per-Ramesses, the background for the biblical story of the Exodus. 646pp, paperback, timeline, colour photos. £16.99 NOW £6
76174 TOWER: An Epic History of the Tower of
London by Nigel Jones Built by William the Conqueror as part of a massive building programme designed to keep the unruly English in their place, the Tower was used for torture and execution throughout much of its history. The first monarch to make it his home was the 12th century King Stephen. In the next century King
John imprisoned a woman who rejected his advances in a cage at the top of a turret. Under Edward I the Lion Tower held a menagerie which started to decline in the 17th century when disease wiped out three lions. Famous rebels to be brutally executed include Wat Tyler, Jack Cade, Guy Fawkes and Sir Thomas More. The author takes the story into the 20th century with such inmates as Sir Roger Casement, knighted for his humanitarian work but executed as a traitor for his involvement in the Irish movement for independence. 456pp, photos. £20 NOW £7.50
76609 EXCAVATING EGYPT: Great
Discoveries by Michael C. Carlos Museum Sub-titled ‘Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology’, this is a now rare catalogue dated 2005. William Flinders Petrie saw the need to develop scientific methods and techniques for the practice of archaeology. In 1913, his collection was bought for University College London by public subscription to form the Petrie Museum. The book begins with a map of Egypt and the site work done by Petrie or under his supervision, followed by a chronology of Ancient Egypt from the pre-dynastic period, the Old Kingdom, Middle and New, all the intermediate periods through to the Graeco-Roman period, the Coptic period and the Arab conquest in AD642. Some of the many items in the catalogue itself include funerary figurines, items from daily life like a black-topped jar, a bead and scorpion pendant, game boards, ankhs, mummy trappings, all manner of figures and statues and carvings and even a rat trap. Colour examples, 205pp, softback 9" x 10¾”. ONLY £6
MISCELLANY Quality stationery & gift ideas 76920 NON DATED DIARY:
ELEGANT PINK by Spank Publishing With beautifully decorated, embossed cover, a rather classical French wallpaper style design, we have a rose pink and black or a mint blue and black (code 76919) design from which to choose. Cleverly, the diary can be used for any year,
and laid flat to show Monday to Sunday across each double page spread. Use the little line in the top left corner to fill in the date for whichever year you begin to use it. In addition there is space for personal details, birthdays and anniversaries and numbers/addresses and finally some lined blank pages for your notes at the back and a very useful wallet on the inside back cover to pop in receipts, tickets, business cards etc. Please ignore the ‘forward’ planners since they are 2012-15. A lovely gift idea. ONLY £3
76919 NON DATED DIARY:
ELEGANT MINT by Spank Publishing
With beautifully decorated, embossed cover, a rather classical French wallpaper style design, mint blue and black. A lovely gift idea. ONLY £3
77233 10 PACK OF EXERCISE BOOKS by Anker International
Takes you right back to school days to open one of these A5 sized lined notebooks, 20 pages with a simple purple or blue plain cover and multiplication and metric tables on the outside back cover. Fantastic value and at this price ideal for home or office use, for jotting notes, lists or indeed your first book outline. Cellophane wrapped pack of ten paperbacks. ONLY £3.50
75746 EMBOSSED LEATHER PASSPORT
COVER by Mudlark Hayden Leigh In presentation box with nostalgic travel stickers decorating the box, inside is a very soft burnt orange stitched and embossed leather passport cover. Inside is a very simple strong elasticised band, a slot to the left side and corners to the right so you can easily detach your passport when going through Passport Control, but keep the passport clean and neat with a little pocket for your boarding pass, receipts etc. The embossed Mudlark’s Hayden Leigh curvy design is a wavy line and inside are different size dotted circles. With good heavy stitching. For ladies or gents. ONLY £4.50
74378 WILLIAM MORRIS GIFT WRAP: Ten Sheets
by Ullmann Publishing William Morris (1834-1896) was a designer and craftsman. His designs for paper, fabrics, carpets and tapestries, ten of which are included in this book, have won him lasting renown. In beautiful subtle shades of blue, green, mustard and yellow, each sheet of gift wrapping paper
has been folded into four and measures when opened 50 x 70cm or 27½ x 19½”. Good quality and easily detached from the softback book which begins with a 12 page introduction. ONLY £5
74379 FAUVE BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES AND FLOWERS
GIFT WRAP: Ten Sheets by Ullmann Publishing The Fauves were the sensation of Paris. Diaghilev and Bakst were among those who set off a fashion rage that was to last from 1909 through to the 1920s. The 10 distinct designs feature superbly coloured butterflies in blues,
yellows, greens, pinks and white, parrots in a flowering tree, jungle birds, hyacinths and colourful flower borders, and an arboretum of dark greens and purples with trees at sunset executed in gouache on paper. 12 page introduction. Sheets are 50 x 70cm, 27½ x 19½” easily detached from the softback book. ONLY £5
75529 IRISES GIFT WRAP COLLECTION by Gifted Stationery
The Art Nouveau style patterns are not repeated on these ten individual sheets. Each is unique and features either a purple, yellow, amber or multi-floral design on green or yellow backgrounds. Each full size wrapping paper sheet easily tears out from the outsize softback and each sheet measures 494 x 694mm. Suitable for all gift wrapping requirements. ONLY £5
76088 ORNAMENTS: 10 Sheets Exclusive Gift
Wrapping Paper by Ullmann Publishing These heavy quality sheets of paper are neatly folded, and open out to over 27½ x 19½”, 50 x 70cm. With inventive suggestions for use, the ten sheets pull out easily from the softback cover. Ten different designs, they originate from the Grammar of Ornament, textile books, some classical Victorian looking, others more tribal and ethnic and one a little Greco-Roman with its burnt orange and black geometric pattern. ONLY £5
59852 BIBLIOPHILE BOOKMARK: Cat and
Mouse Design by Mike Taylor Our lovely customer Mike Taylor donated this very witty artwork in glowing colour, with lime green border with tiny flowers, a lovely tabby cat looking up at a stack of books to a cute grey mouse on top. In the background is an arched window, a church in a rural scene and a mug of tea with ‘I Love Bibliophile’ on it! The stack of books have some really hilarious and punny titles. 2" x approx. 9" quality laminate bookmark. ONLY 10p
61516 BIBLIOPHILE SQUIGGLE PEN by A. Squigley
In Bibliophile blue, this is the latest in our own collectable company designs with a quick reminder for our book hotline printed on. It has a super squeezy black rubber grip, ideal for older hands, and an attractive metal ‘squiggle’ clip. Black ink. One happy customer said “Bought some of these pens last year & they keep going walkies. I think my visitors like them too. I love the soft grip. I have arthritis & the soft grip makes these pens a joy to hold. I have bought other types, but keep coming back to these. Worth every penny,a great buy.” ONLY £1
72836 BAG A BARGAIN NAVY SHOPPER BAG An exclusive design from Bibliophile. Attractive navy shopper bag with the words ‘Bag A Bargain Book’ with cat and books design and
www.bibliophilebooks.com website details printed in white. 37cm square, handle long enough to fit over shoulder or hang down, good capacity for medium weights (of several books). Wipe clean. ONLY £3
75053 NOTEBOOK: Green and Gold Celtic Fans Design by Alexander Hendry
In gold foil embossed is an Art Deco scrollwork ‘fan’ design on a dark green background decorating the softback cover of this 160 page lined toughened notebook. With green elastic fastener, an ideal gift for gentlemen or ladies. 3½” x 5½”. ONLY £3.25
75054 NOTEBOOK: Orange and Gold Foil Fans
Design by Alexander Hendry With burnt orange elasticated fastening strip, gold embossed Art Deco style fan design on a burnt orange background, the softback lined book measures just under 4" x 6" and slips easily into the pocket. 80pp. ONLY £2.50
75065 SKETCHBOOK: Japanese Red Flower Design by Alexander Hendry
Spiral bound hardback of quality art paper, 80 single sheets easily detachable from this elegant hardback, possibly more suited to ladies with a Japanese red flower and leaf design on a dark green background. ONLY £4.50
75209 BEARY DEVILISH TOY BEAR by the Boyds Collection
A hand made, jointed very cute cuddly brown bear which stands 3" tall, has red devil horns, a red ribbon around his neck, beaded eyes and a small black furry nose. The 16 page colour booklet makes saucy suggestions for a career for your little devil or for someone beary special. Caution - there is wire in the packaging. Not suitable for under threes. £4.99 NOW £2.25
75531 COUNTRY COTTAGES 2015
CALENDAR by Annes Publishing Thatched, timbered, ivy clad, wisteria clad, rambling rose clad, beside a babbling brook, of old Cotswold stone, with thatched roofs, images of quintessentially English country cottages. Measuring 14" square, this 12 month calendar features fabulous photographs in the top section and plenty of space below in the grid for your important dates plus notes. Gives bank holidays and special days and a month before and after planner. ONLY £2.50
75533 SCRAP BOOK: Coloured Pages by W. F. Graham
Alongside our bestseller which we have stocked for over 25 years code 27592, we are proud to present a 24 page colour version of the same scrap book measuring 8½” x 12". The better paper quality pages are turquoise blue, yellow and pink. Ideal for all scrapbooking, preserving postcards, photographs, letters etc. ONLY £1.50
75749 MEHNDI HAND POCKET BOOK by Walter Robertson
Much like the bride’s wedding hand, hennaed for her wedding, the design on this front cover notebook is in blue and yellow paisley with green, red, black Indian patterned background design and borders. Unlike most journals, it is a pocket book which opens across the top, like a policeman’s notebook. 60 lined pages approx 3" x 4", 100% recycled paper. For ladies or gents. ONLY £1.25
76243 ZEN: 16 MONTH 2015 CALENDAR by Gifted Stationery
“Your treasure house is in yourself, it contains all you need.” “Life is journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar.” Featuring lotus flowers, lit candles, stacked stones, sand, reflective water, the 16 images in this full size 12" x 12" wall hanging calendar are restful, beautiful, tranquil. Bank holidays and forward planner marked. Colour. £9.99 NOW £4
76305 ERTÉ POSTCARDS IN FULL COLOUR:
Ready-to-Mail by Dover Publications For more than 70 years, Erté has dazzled the world with the wit and technical brilliance of his theatrical conceits, flamboyant fashions and novel interpretations of old themes. The works reproduced on these postcards represent such exotic tableaux as Oriental Tale, Adam and Eve, Nature’s Vanity, Harlequin and Stolen Kisses as well as designs for Rigoletto, Manon and more. Seductive female figures, sensual and provocative, dramatic fiery colour. Perforated for easy removal, 24 high quality laminated cards 4" x 6". Large softback. £7.99 NOW £4
MUSIC AND DANCE
Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.
- Voltaire 76874 LOVE AND WARS OF
LINA PROKOFIEV by Simon Morrison
Lina Codina was a talented singer pursuing a career in music on the Brooklyn cultural scene when in 1918 she met the glamorous composer Serge Prokofiev. Put off at first by his boasting, Lina soon succumbed to his charm and they became a couple. Prokofiev’s great aim on his American tour was to
eclipse the older Rachmaninoff, and his ferocious technique at the piano and the cacophonic harmonies of his compositions began to conquer the public. Five years later Serge and Lina married and embarked on a precarious life touring the world, with Lina always being eclipsed by her charismatic husband. They went to live in Soviet Moscow in 1936, where Lina at first felt at home having grown up speaking Russian with her Russian mother, but the promised privileges soon evaporated, and Lina began to notice that some of her neighbours were disappearing without trace. When Serge left her for a younger woman she was trapped in the Moscow flat with her children; finally in 1948 she received a phone call asking her to collect a non-existent parcel, and quickly found herself in the Lubyanka Prison. Following nine months of interrogation and torture, resulting in a forced confession and conviction, she was sent to the gulag for eight years. This gripping book recounts not only the glamour of Lina’s life with Serge Prokofiev but also her sufferings as an innocent political prisoner at the hands of a brutal regime. 328pp, photos. £18.99 NOW £5
76157 DARCY BUSSELL: A Life In Pictures by Darcey Bussell
Nowadays a household name as one of the judges on Strictly Come Dancing, Darcey Bussell became a ballet principal dancer at the age of only 20, when Kenneth Macmillan lured her away from Sadler’s Wells to premiere his new creation for the Royal Ballet, Prince of the Pagodas with music by Benjamin Britten. From then on her career was stellar. Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty and other classical roles followed. The Pas de Deux in Agon sparked her interest in Balanchine’s choreography, and some stunning photos show Bussell starring in Symphony in C partnered by Jonathan Cope, and in The Four Temperaments with Carlos Acosta. Backstage photos during Apollo capture Darcey bandaging her famous toes for protection. Tanglewood in 2005, towards the end of her career, was a spectacular piece in which Darcey was the sole female dancer with six men. Bussell guested in New York, Paris and with the Kirov Ballet, and for her farewell she performed Kenneth Macmillan’s Song of the Earth. 220pp, colour photos. £16.99 NOW £6
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