Mining's dramatic and dangerous nature is reflected in the hundreds of specialized tools and artifacts shown in over 500 color photographs and discussed in this revised and expanded second edition with updated pricing. Thirty categories, from advertising and assay equipment to surveying equipment and tokens, chronicle old mining methods in detail. An elevated appreciation is gained here of the men and women who spent part of their lives mining with this equipment. Today, historians and collectors pay respect to those people as they preserve and interpret the equipment that remains. This is an important and valuable reference for all concerned.
The Science of Scrounging Whether readers are dumpster divers, estate sale addicts or modern archaeologists, this easy-to-use and informative guide to "picking" is guaranteed to improve their antiquing skills. The Picker's Bible provides great tips on where and how to find antiques for the best price. A fun and quick read, the book explains the ins and outs of negotiating price, things to avoid, secrets to success, and how to do it all better than the other guy. There is hidden treasure out there...Picker's Bible will help you find it!
This investigation into the Nazi leader’s mindset is “an inherently fascinating study . . . a work of meticulously presented and seminal scholarship”(Midwest Book Review). Adolf Hitler’s virulent anti-Semitism is often attributed to external cultural and environmental factors. But as historian Peter den Hertog notes in this book, most of Hitler’s contemporaries experienced the same culture and environment and didn’t turn into rabid Jew-haters, let alone perpetrators of genocide. In this study, the author investigates what we do know about the roots of the German leader’s anti-Semitism. He also takes the significant step of mapping out what we do not know in detail, opening pathways to further research. Focusing not only on history but on psychology, forensic psychiatry, and related fields, he reveals how Hitler was a man with highly paranoid traits, and clarifies the causes behind this paranoia while explaining its connection to his anti-Semitism. The author also explores, and answers, whether the Führer gave one specific instruction ordering the elimination of Europe’s Jews, and, if so, when this took place. Peter den Hertog is able to provide an all-encompassing explanation for Hitler’s anti-Semitism by combining insights from many different disciplines—and makes clearer how Hitler’s own particular brand of anti-Semitism could lead the way to the Holocaust.
The singular resource that contains contact information for more than 23,250 antiques and collectibles resources in nearly 3,200 specialty categories is better than ever. Includes listings for collector clubs, specialty periodicals, dealers, collectors, experts, buyers, appraisers, parts suppliers, reproduction sources, Internet resources, repair/restoration/conservation specialists, auction services, manufacturers/distributors of contemporary collectibles, and more!
Thirty-five million Americans–one in eight–like to go fishing. Fly fishers have always considered themselves the aristocracy of the sport, and a small number of those devotees, a few thousand at most, insist upon using one device in the pursuit of their obsession: a handcrafted split-bamboo fly rod. Meeting this demand for perfection are the inheritors of a splendid art, one that reveres tradition while flouting obvious economic sense and reaches back through time to touch the hands of such figures as Theodore Roosevelt and Henry David Thoreau. In Casting a Spell, George Black introduces readers to rapt artisans and the ultimate talismans of their uncompromising fascination: handmade bamboo fly rods. But this narrative is more than a story of obscure objects of desire. It opens a new vista onto a century and a half of modern American cultural history. With bold strokes and deft touches, Black explains how the ingenuity of craftsmen created a singular implement of leisure–and how geopolitics, economics, technology, and outrageous twists of fortune have all come to focus on the exquisitely crafted bamboo rod. We discover that the pastime of fly-fishing intersects with a mind-boggling variety of cultural trends, including conspicuous consumption, environmentalism, industrialization, and even cold war diplomacy. Black takes us around the world, from the hidden trout streams of western Maine to a remote valley in Guangdong Province, China, where grows the singular species of bamboo known as tea stick–the very stuff of a superior fly rod. He introduces us to the men who created the tools and techniques for crafting exceptional rods and those who continue to carry the torch in the pursuit of the sublime. Never far from the surface are such overarching themes as the tension between mass production and individual excellence, and the evolving ways American society has defined, experienced, and expressed its relationship to the land. Fly-fishing may seem a rarefied pursuit, and making fly rods might be a quixotic occupation, but this rich, fascinating narrative exposes the soul of an authentic part of America, and the great significance of little things. George Black’s latest expedition into a hidden corner of our culture is an utterly enchanting, illuminating, and enlightening experience.
The original version of this guide has sold over 30,000 copies. This new edition has been expanded by 25% and promises to become an invaluable resource. For collectors, dealers and players, this completely updated "field guide" provides specifications, serial numbers, and more for determining the originality of vintage American acoustic and electric fretted instruments. Detailing thousands of models by every major manufacturer, the book now includes expanded coverage of Martin, Guild, Mosrite, Dobro, Gibson banjos, Fender amps, Gibson amps, plus updates on the latest models from Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, and others since 1990.
Over 330 clear color photos display the wide array of equipment once used to log high timber that are now eminently collectible, including axes, saws, filing tools, springboards, oil bottles, undercutters, wedges, marlin spikes, drag saws, and venerable chainsaws. Historical photos display towering giants of old growth forests where loggers toiled decades ago. An informative text provides useful information on cleaning and preserving the antique logging tools, descriptions of them, values, and a bibliography. This book will be treasured by all who share a fascination for logging as it was done by the lumberjack, bucker, and high climber.
