Is there someone on your holiday gift list who thinks the world of maps, is batty about Botticelli or is irresistibly drawn to “Calvin and Hobbes”?
Does that list include someone who gets “all shook up” by Elvis or “pumped” by Blahniks?
Or perhaps there’s a person who’s delirious about delis, nuts about nutcrackers or gaga about La-La Land.
One of many new coffee-table books might be just the right gift for the person with one of those special tastes – or for someone with any of dozens of other varied interests including photography, fashion, fine arts and travel.
The world might be getting smaller, but atlases aren’t. The “Atlas Maior of 1665” (Taschen, $200) is a weighty 17-by-12-inch, 594-page reproduction of a work published in 1665 by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu. It was the largest and costliest book of its day and, with its 594 maps, was the standard of atlases for a century. This edition is reproduced from a hand-colored copy in the National Library of Vienna and includes explanatory notes by Peter van der Krogt complementing Blaeu’s words.
A wee bit more up to date – by 350 years or so – is the “Atlas of the World: Deluxe Edition” (Oxford, $150). If a question begins, “What in the world… ?” the answer might be found in this large, slipcased, 280-page volume of political and topographical maps, a 1,000-word glossary and index with 100,000 entries. Updates reflect name changes, new provinces in Afghanistan and Indonesia, and the shrinking Aral Sea. There are maps of metropolitan regions and downtown streets of 90 world cities, including Baghdad, Boston, Osaka and Oslo.
The entire world of a strange little boy and his tiger toy is revealed in “The Complete Calvin and Hobbes” (Andrews McMeel, $150). The 1,300 pages of this three-volume slipcased set contain each of Bill Watterson’s 3,160 strips published between 1985 and 1995. Six-year-old Calvin contends with parents, teachers, bullies and baby-sitters, accompanied by Hobbes, his stuffed tiger sidekick who comes alive only in Calvin’s imagination – and for the reader.
Great art of another sort is found in “Botticelli” (Prestel, $165) by Frank Zollner. The life and works of the Renaissance artist from Florence are covered chronologically in a massive 352-page volume that contains 239 full-color illustrations and comes in a carrying case. Among the themes of Botticelli’s paintings are ancient myths, religion and portraits of prominent figures of Florence.
“The King” (Black Dog &Leventhal, $75) will not only reign over the coffee table, it might hide it, too. Jim Piazza’s king-size chronicle of Elvis Presley’s life measures 30 by 17 inches when opened and sports a glossy cover – in choice of three colors, no less – with blue rhinestone lettering. Text and 600 photos, many in color, trace Presley’s life from humble beginnings in Tupelo, Miss., to the grandeur of Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. In between, readers learn about his rise as a recording star, Army duty, marriage and fatherhood, and stardom in Hollywood and Las Vegas.
There’s a blue suede shoe – with a hand-painted,lacquered high heel, to boot – among the fancy footwear in “Blahnik by Boman” (Chronicle, $85). Eric Boman’s 150 color photos show the fabulous feats of women’s shoe designer Manolo Blahnik in some unexpected places. An apple green patent leather number makes like a fruit bowl, holding two matching apples. Not matching but compatible are the tomato-red ankle-strap shoe being “poured” from a large can of Sclafani tomato sauce, and the sandal with spaghetti straps sitting atop a mound of cooked spaghetti. Other shoes show up with a lobster, a 1959 Cadillac and Chinese takeout, and one shoe even found its way onto a woman’s foot.
“The Last Place on Earth” (National Geographic Books, $150) by Michael Nichols is a two-volume boxed set that documents the wilds of central Africa. The larger volume is a horizontal album, bound at the top, which displays more than 150 of Nichols’ color photos of wildlife – termites, elephants, a rosy bee-eater, a family of hippos, a black-and-white striped caterpillar. The second book is a record of a 15-month, 2,000-mile trek across central Africa featuring pages from Mike Fay’s handwritten journal and Nichols’ black-and-white photos.
A book that will occupy the minds and hands of history buffs is “The Civil War Experience: 1861-1865” (Ballantine-Presidio Press, $50) by Jay Wertz. This slipcased album contains 30 removable facsimiles of documents and artifacts, including letters, maps, newspaper articles, a $20 Confederate note and a “wanted” poster for John Wilkes Booth. Text covering the military, political and social aspects of the war is illustrated by 15 maps and 200 photos. Included is a 70-minute CD of readings from documents of the era.
The era of aerodynamic styling – the 1920s to 1950s – is displayed in “American Streamlined Design: The World of Tomorrow” (Flammarion, $75) by David A. Hanks and Anne Hoy. The book’s 400 illustrations include new photos of 180 objects from two major collections as well as archival images, drawings and print ads. Examples include vehicles, architecture and furniture, as well as electric fans, smoking pipes, lawn mowers, office machines, power tools and a tractor.
For music lovers, “The American Songbook” (Black Dog &Leventhal, $34.95) by Ken Bloom covers 100 years of American popular music in text and 600 illustrations, including performers, sheet music and album covers. The stories about singers including Louis Armstrong and Lee Wiley, include song lists, career highlights and anecdotes. Also discussed are big bands, popular songs by decades, and songwriters, along with special topics including Christmas songs, Tin Pan Alley and “Your Hit Parade.”
Book jackets cover books, but there’s one book that covers book jackets: “Chip Kidd: Book One (Work 1986-2006)” (Rizzoli, $65 hardcover, $39.95 paperback) by Chip Kidd, with commentary by Michael Crichton, Gish Jen, Larry McMurtry and others. More than 900 photos, most in color, chronicle the 800-plus jackets Kidd has created since 1986. He describes how his career began and comments throughout on his designs, including some jackets that had to go back for alterations.
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