On Wednesday 16 June 2010 8:39:53 am Elizabeth Walpole wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I'm doing some book buying at the moment and I'm seeking reviews of > these three books on jewellery [snip]
> > First is '7000 Years Of Jewelry: An International History And > Illustrated Survey From The Collections Of The British Museum' by Hugh > Tait http://snipurl.com/xgxpz I have the first edition (1986) I understand there has since been a newer one published. The Tait book has gorgeous pictures. If you are primarily interested in the jewelry of antiquity, Tait may be perfect for your needs. Its coverage of European jewelry is much less detailed from about the late Roman period on. On the other hand, it does have examples of historic jewelry from outside Europe--China, Japan, even the South American civilizations. For which period are you seeking a reference. > Second is 'A History Of Jewelry, 1100-1870' by Joan Evans > http://snipurl.com/xgy3z Interesting text, but not illustrated. Since you want a visual reference, this wouldn't be for you. I also think the Angus and Robertson price is kind of high. Yes, I know that shipping to Australia is usually the highest cost, but even with that factor you might be able to get it cheaper from Dover Publications (it's one of theirs) if you ever decide you want it. > The third option is 'Jewelry: From Antiquity To The Present' > http://snipurl.com/xgy7s A wonderful short survey--possibly the best for its size in English. But it's a small sized folio and the pictures, though clear and mostly in color, are not as plentiful or as big as the Tait book. As a visual reference, it's not nearly as good at the Tait book, because it has fewer pictures. You may also want to consider a new book, Medieval Jewellery, by Marion Campbell (published by the V&A). It's got marvellous tight color closeup photos of jewels from the 12th through 15th centuries, and enlarged reproductions of minatures showing period costume to give an idea of how they were worn. The book focuses mostly on 1300-1600 CE, so if that's the time frame you're interested in, you should consider it. More info here: http://tinyurl.com/2ddlbrt Finally, have you checked to see whether your local library has any of these? That would be a better way for you to find out if any of them are potentially useful to you. Good luck! -- Cathy Raymond <ca...@thyrsus.com> "No one can make as disastrous a bad choice as a smart person, because they sell it to themselves really well."--Tobias Buckell _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
