The Ashley Book of Knots takes us back to a time when knots saved lives and put dinner on the table. Whether out at sea or in a pioneer cabin, knots were a part of daily life, one that is nearly lost today. But in this attractive, well-organized archive of more than 3,900 different knots the art of knot tying lives on, both as a historical reference and a reservoir of handy knowledge.
Eline Vere is a novel by Louis Couperus, widely considered one of the greatest Dutch novelists. He gained prominence in 1889 with this psychological novel inspired Émile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, and Leo Tolstoy. Eline, withdrawn and subject to depression, accepts the marriage proposal of a family friend, only to break off the engagement, convinced that her sickly but charismatic cousin Vincent is in love with her. Vincent drifts in other directions. She travels, dreams, and deteriorates. Moving back to the Hague, she lives alone in a hotel, where, during a nervous crisis, she takes what may or may not be an accidental overdose.
In Julien Gracq's Chateau d'Argol, the gothic setting of a lonely castle in the middle of thick, dense woods contrasts with the contemporaneity of the characters who inhabit it: a dissolute, rich and aimless young man who invites his best friend to stay in his newly-acquired chateau. The friend arrives not alone, but with a beautiful woman whose detached amorality disturbs both men.
Though set against the backdrop of the fading Hapsburg Empire, Schnitzler's stories are startlingly contemporary in their outlook, and this collection of new translations is sure to win the Austrian author, who died in 1931, new admirers. In nine short stories and novellas, life's universal themes the craving for erotic fulfillment, the fragility of love, the yearning for wealth and the abruptness of death are psychologically probed in dreams, inner monologues and revealing plots.
The Aurora Pyramid of Hope is the most comprehensive natural color diamond collection in the world. Aurora Pyramid of Hope was put together by Alan Bronstein and Harry Rodman over 25 years.
In 1956, John Stephen took a lease on 5 Carnaby Street in the epicenter of London, a city on the cusp of a cultural and social revolution that would last for a decade. Before long, John Stephen was a cult name in fashion, revolutionizing the design of men's shops and establishing the prototypical boutique aesthetic that was to be copied by an entire generation of fashion retailers. John Stephen set up in clothes at the right time in the right place for a generation waiting to intersect with his liberally colorful designs.
Glenn O'Brien was a fixture of the New York downtown scene for many decades.
Take Ivy, originally published in Japan in 1965, set off an explosion of American Ivy style fashion amongst the students of the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo. Take Ivy has been the Ivy League Bible for the Japanese baby boomers, who were very much into the whole Ivy League look, having been a very rare find in the West, garnering auction prices as high as $2000. Take Ivy was authored by four Japanese sartorial style enthusiasts and is a collection of candid photographs shot on the campuses of America’s elite Ivy League universities.
In the 16th century, tanners used to scent chamois with essences of flowers, herbs and fruits and as a final step smear it with civet and musk. It is said by some, probably with a certain degree of truth, that Peau d'Espagne is of all perfumes that which most nearly approaches the odor of a woman's skin.
M. F. K. Fisher's books deal primarily with food, considering it from many aspects: preparation, natural history, culture, and philosophy. Fisher believed that eating well was just one of the arts of life and explored the art of living as a secondary theme in her writing.