The essential guide for the collector of mechanical wristwatches, with complete information on over 1,400 models from some 130 international brands
 
With Wristwatch Annual, collectors have at hand a wealth of information on the latest offerings from today’s most important watch producers, from Swiss mainstays like Rolex and Patek Philippe to the maverick independent brands springing up across Europe and the U.S. The book is arranged alphabetically by producer, and the movement, functions, case, band, price, and variations of each pictured watch are fully described.
 
This year’s edition, like its predecessors, will feature a variety of additional articles on independent watchmaking, key personalities in the watch world, and the technical aspects of horology. An illustrated glossary and a primer on watch care help acclimate the reader to the world of fine timepieces.

A visual journey through Zen’s influence on Japanese life, from calligraphy to the martial arts
 
Formed by a convergence of the Buddha’s teachings with Taoism and local tradition, Zen has had a profound impact on the art and culture of Japan. As a philosophy, Zen promotes a recognition of emptiness and impermanence. As an aesthetic, it is marked by striking simplicity and a reverence for space. It operates on the principle of wabi-sabi, the harmony found in all things transient and imperfect. Countless Japanese artists, artisans, and designers have engaged with the Zen tradition, their work the fruit of its wisdom.
 
Author Gavin Blair has spent nearly two decades as a writer and journalist in Japan. In these pages, he shows how Zen has found expression in all aspects of Japanese culture, be it the tea ceremony, origami, or bonsai. Gorgeous full-color photographs highlight the simple beauty of the Zen aesthetic, from the hanging noren curtains that adorn entrances and doorways, to the intricate craftwork of a wagasaumbrella. Together these images speak to the quiet power of Zen.
 
Above all, Zen is an invitation to contemplate the mind, to cultivate harmony with nature and ease through understanding. This book is for any reader who is curious about Japanese culture and the Zen tradition.

"TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK - ORDERS WILL SHIP IN FEBRUARY 2021"

A great American novelist, illustrated by a great American artist—now available in a collectible two-volume set

In 1936, the Heritage Press, a publisher of fine editions, commissioned Norman Rockwell to illustrate Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer; four years later, they asked him to illustrate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well. For each book, Rockwell created eight full-color paintings and numerous pen-and-ink drawings, the product of extensive on-the-ground research in Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. Famously, Rockwell even tried to buy some Hannibal residents’ old clothes, to dress his models in.

For years, the Rockwell editions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have been unavailable in stores. Now, Abbeville Press is proud to reissue them as a handsome new clothbound set. The color plates are reproduced from new photography of Rockwell’s original paintings, the typesetting has been done anew to a high standard, and new introductions—illustrated with Rockwell’s rarely seen preliminary sketches—examine this unique encounter between two legendary chroniclers of America.
Publisher’s note: These volumes present Mark Twain’s text unabridged and unedited, as it appeared in the original American editions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885).

A splendid (and giftable) visual guide to the beautifully convoluted world of corkscrews

Ever since the standardized wine bottle came into use in the eighteenth century, thirsty people have sought a convenient means of removing its cork stopper. At first they employed whatever was at hand―including the helical gun screws used to clean out firearms―but the patent corkscrew emerged by 1795 and soon multiplied into more permutations than the proverbial better mousetrap.

In Uncorked, Marilynn Gelfman Karp uses her own collection of corkscrews―carefully chosen both for their inventiveness and for their decorative qualities―to trace the history and evolution of this curious tool. She establishes a taxonomy of the corkscrew, based on the fundamental characteristics of handle, shaft, and screw, and then presents more than 650 individual specimens by category. They range from the simplest “basic T” models to the most whimsical flights of fancy (a folding pair of legs, a seahorse) and the most elaborate mechanical contrivances. Each example is illustrated with superb color photography and fully described.

Uncorked is at once a serious contribution to the history of material culture, and a delight to page through. It will be an essential reference for helixophiles (as collectors of these gadgets are called) and an agreeable gift for any corkscrew-wielding wine lover.

The most comprehensive and best-illustrated history of watercolor painting ever published

The term watercolor calls to mind atmosphere, luminosity, and immediacy―qualities that derive directly from the quick-drying, translucent nature of water-based pigments. In Watercolor: A History, Louvre curator Marie-Pierre Salé provides an authoritative and beautifully illustrated account of this versatile and widely beloved artistic medium.

Salé’s incisive text traces the development of watercolor from the thirteenth to the twentieth century in Europe and the United States, encompassing every type of work―from plein-air sketches to finished studio pieces―and a wide variety of artists. Here are Dürer’s detailed animal studies, Turner’s landscapes, Cézanne’s tireless explorations, Sargent’s light-dappled sketches, O’Keeffe’s pioneering abstractions.

This handsome volume features more than three hundred full-color illustrations, specially printed on Munken paper to capture the vibrancy and texture of the original works. It is sure to be welcomed by art historians and art lovers alike.

An illustrated tour of the elegant entrances to New York City’s most celebrated apartment houses

This handsome, oversized book introduces us to the grandest entrances of New York City’s residential buildings. These posh portals come in an array of forms and styles, such as the porte cochere, with a passage to admit carriages or motor cars; the classic awning, originally meant to be retracted in good weather; and Neoclassical, Romanesque, and Gothic revivals. 

Architectural historian Andrew Alpern highlights approximately 140 entrances, from the nineteenth century to the present, including those of the Dakota, the first true luxury apartment house in New York; San Remo, one of Central Park West’s most impressive apartment houses; and the Ansonia, at one time the largest hotel in the world. Each entrance is accompanied by a description of its signal features and the history of the building that surrounds it. All are represented in splendid color photographs, and many by charming watercolor drawings.

These ornate entrances offer a glimpse into New York’s past, as well as its future―for today, once again, entryways have begun to feature heavily in the marketing of residential buildings. Posh Portals will be an inspiration for architects and a delight for city dwellers.