Rizzoli (RCS MediaGroup)

Following the runaway bestsellers This is New York and This is Paris, Universe is pleased to reissue another title from M. Sasek's beloved and nostalgic children's travel series. Like the other Sasek classics, This is Edinburgh is a facsimile edition of the original book that is still timely and current in every way. The stylish, charming illustrations, coupled with Sasek's witty, playful narrative, make the book a perfect souvenir that will delight both children and their parents, many of whom will remember it from their childhood. The brilliant, vibrant illustrations have been meticulously preserved, remaining true to his vision more than forty years later and, where applicable, facts have been updated for the twenty-first century, appearing on a This is... Today page at the back of the book. M. Sasek has captured the very spirit, pride, and grandeur of one of the noblest places on earth in This is Edinburgh, first published in 1961. Sasek is right at home in Scotland, with its famous sights, unique character, and iconic traditions of kilt and tartan, pipes and pipers, whisky and haggis.

Like the other Sasek classics, this is a facsimile edition of the original, first published in 1966. The illustrations have been meticulously preserved and the facts updated for the twenty-first century. The charming illustrations, coupled with Sasek's playful narrative, make perfect souvenirs that will delight both children and parents. This is Greece captures the flavor and tradition of the birthplace of Western civilization. There's Athens, with its spectacular views of the Acropolis, the Parthenon, temples, theaters, and marketplaces; architecture-renowned Corinth; Mycenae, inhabited since 3000 B.C.; Olympia, home of the gods; Delphi, famous for its legendary oracle; and the beautiful isles. There's also modern-day Greece, where life is lived on street corners, in squares, and at tables amid reminders of the past.

First published in 1961, This Is Venice presents indelible impressions of romantic, watery Venice, where under a brilliant blue sky Sasek the gondolier navigates the winding canals to visit such famous and glorious landmarks as the Palazzo Grassi, Piazza San Marco, Doges Palace, and the Accademia di Belle Arti. Full color.

Famous for the «bias cut», Madeleine Vionnet's sophisticated approach to couture remains a pervasive influence today. Eschewing artificial and restrictive padding and stiffening, she liberated the female form with designs that integrated movement and comfort into women's fashion. She also championed unusual fabrics that were luxurious and sensual yet simple and modernchiffon, silk, crepe de chine, gabardine, and satin. Her most revolutionary creationsthe handkerchief dress, cowl neck, and halter topcling to and seamlessly move with the wearer. Vionnet's principles of elegance, movement, architectural form, and timeless style continue to inform contemporary fashion. This lavishly illustrated book showcases Vionnet's daringly original designs worn by 80 internationally famous models photographed especially for this book alongside original patterns and archival images by such icons as Horst and Steichen.

One of the great pioneers of fashion photography, Norman Parkinson is famous for his sense of style and glamour. Heralded as one of the true innovators in his field, he pushed the boundaries of the day by bringing the model out of the studio and onto the street. He set the model against unusual and daring backdrops, such as the gritty working-class districts of London, and was a seminal influence on subsequent generations of fashion photogaphers. Norman Parkinson: A Very British Glamour is a lavish portrait of Parkinson's long career from the 1930s through the 1980s. In a unique collaboration with the Norman Parkinson archives in London, his iconic photographs for Vogue, Queen, and Harper's Bazaar are reproduced alongside a trove of previously unpublished fashion work. The classics of Parkinson's career are also shown here, providing the full breadth of his career. This exciting and definitive look into Parkinson's illustrious legacy is sure to rank among the most important publications on fashion and photography.

Stanford White (1853-1906), arguably the most celebrated American architect of his day, was the visionary genius of the illustrious architecture firm McKim, Mead & White. A defining figure of the Gilded Age, White lived an extravagant life, which ended prematurely in a sensational death. His celebrity as a result was such that perceptions of the man have to some degree distracted attention from an extraordinary body of work. Now, more than a century since his passing, the enduring quality of White's architectural legacy becomes ever more apparent as the circumstances of his life and death fade to the background. In acknowledgment of this legacy, Stanford White Architect comprehensively explores White's sumptuously rich oeuvre — from the residences he designed for himself and his wife, Bessie, both at Box Hill in Saint James, Long Island, and at Gramercy Park in New York; to the extraordinary and opulent houses he designed for others, such as Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Payne Whitney House in New York; to those works beyond the residential, including such masterpieces as Newport Casino Theatre in Rhode Island, the Century Association in New York, and the no longer standing Moorish fantasy cum pleasure pavilion Madison Square Garden. Stanford White Architect will serve for generations to come as a vivid testament to a resplendent life in architecture.

Michael Smith is the new darling of the American design world and decorator to the stars. Stylish, glamorous, lively, and varied — Michael Smith's interior design work has been hailed from coast to coast. Divided into two parts, and ranging from the artistic to the practical, the book captures the diversity of influences and ideas that emerge from Michael's work. In Part One, several houses are presented, each one as a complete story so that the reader sees how each room works on its own and within the house as a whole. The houses will be grouped by five themes (eg, country houses, city apartments, family houses, and private retreats).Part Two is a dynamic, informative, and idea-filled resource of photo-illustrated tips, provocative opinions, and insider decorating advice.

One of the most beautiful regions of the California coast, Santa Barbara also has one of America's most affluent and stylish demographics. Possessing the most summery, mild, seductive climate in the country, Santa Barbara has been an elegant and chic style destination since the turn of the last century, when wealthy East Coast families wintered there. Soon after, villas and estates were being built, designed by the finest architects and landscape designers. In recent years the Santa Barbara region continues to be an outpost of style and culture — now with many leading Hollywood producers, directors, and stars acquiring the historic estates for their weekend escapes. Today, cultured and stylish couples are living in Santa Barbara continuing the traditions of beautifully appointed mansions (many of them in the Spanish style first brought to California in the 1850s). The first book to take readers inside the mansions and estates of Santa Barbara today, Santa Barbara Living will feature the houses and gardens that make Santa Barbara a rarified version of the American Dream. This book will show how that dream is lived.

Originally published in a deluxe limited edition, this compact book captures the magnificence of the city's architecture and breathtaking natural surroundings — from the most coveted homes of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, to the best examples of modern and contemporary architecture by the sea. From the Eames's Case Study House to Gehry's Disney Concert Hall, this book spans Venice Beach to Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills mansions to motels, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to the Chateau Marmont, and Deco theaters to drive-ins. From high culture to pop, Tim Street-Porter conveys the essence of the L.A. experience in stunning color and detail.

When those in the magazine industry need inspiration, they look to Purple. It has influenced countless other magazines and spawned trends that have trickled down through all levels of culture. To celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, this volume brings together the best in fashion, art, and culture from Purple's illustrious history. Purple revolutionized fashion photography in the nineties by commissioning fine artists to shoot fashion editorials. What resulted was a raw, improvisational aesthetic, which continues to exert its power today. Many of our most promising artists contribute to Purple's pages, including Terry Richardson, Juergen Teller, Jack Pierson, Richard Prince, John Currin, and Vanessa Beecroft. Among the celebrity muses who appear regularly are Kim Gordon, Chloe Sevigny, Kate Moss, Catherine Deneuve, and Vincent Gallo. Along with images, the book also presents essays by such renowned writers as Glenn O'Brien, Gary Indiana, and Dave Hickey. These texts further the book's larger purpose: to chart the development of art and fashion during the past fifteen years. This is the ultimate deluxe collection for serious fashion, art, photography, graphic design, and magazine aficionados.

The name Valentino has been synonymous with high fashion for almost fifty years. Based in Rome, Valentino is only one of two couture houses recognized by the French government outside of Paris. His exquisite designs are coveted and worn by young Hollywood and high society the world over. On the occasion of his last couture collection, presented in Paris in the spring of 2008, this landmark book celebrates forty-five years of Valentino's remarkable career. Published in association with a prestigious exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs's famed costume department in Paris, this volume focuses on Valentino's haute couture creations, highlighting the most important and iconic creations of his half-century in fashion through recurring themes in Valentino's work — variations on the ideas of volume, line, and texture as well as motifs such as geometry, pleats, and flowers — through new photography, sketches, fabric samples, and commentary on the dresses by Valentino himself. In addition, unprecedented photography by Francois Halard of Valentino's last fittings and backstage of his runway show reveals Valentino's private world for the first time. Valentino On Valentino, a chapter of first-person accounts of the designs of these iconic dresses, along with Valentino's commentary on his fashion, will make this publication unique in the study of Valentino as a cultural and artistic icon.

During its more than 50-year history, the Corvette has developed into much more than an automotive nameplate — it has become one of the world's most recognized automobiles. How the Chevrolet Corvette came to be one of the most popular sports cars in the world — and the longest-running automotive nameplate in Chevrolet history — is a rich and compelling story that combines politics, passion, performance, design, and popular culture. This uniquely sleek and sexy American car has become a worldwide icon much like the Coca-Cola symbol, McDonald's arches, or Marilyn Monroe. It is a symbol of freedom, speed, power, and fun. Corvette: America's Sports Car — Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, documents the genesis and evolution of this treasured American icon through many never-before-published photographs from the archives of General Motors as well as a comprehensive story drawn from exclusive interviews with the risk-taking engineers and designers who defied conventional thinking to create this uniquely American automobile. Corvette: America's Sports Car — Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow celebrates America's beloved sports car in a stylishly handsome volume, with a custom cover design in Corvette red proudly bearing a sixth-generation Corvette crossed-flags hood emblem.

Standing among the most important cities of the world, and a planned city from its inception, Washington, District of Columbia, is abundantly documented. In Washington in Maps, Iris Miller delves into this historic documentation, into sometimes rare and often buried maps and letters and charts, and reveals to us a brilliant portrait of this ever-evoloving capital of a nation. Washington in Maps features, in full color, over 100 glorious maps, dating from the seventeenth century to the present, featuring the most splendid antique maps of Washington-to the extraordinary, otherworldly satellite imagery of today. Included are maps by Thomas Jefferson and Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the man upon whose design modern Washington now stands; a map of Captain John Smith from 1608; and maps by the Senate Park (McMillan) Commission, among many others. Maps detail both the current reality of a place, and, as well, offer imaginative renderings of future possibility, in the process often becoming something of extraordinary beauty in their own right. Washington in Maps charts a passionate course through this terrain and serves as a testament to the wonder, artistry, and intelligence that these maps manifest.

Cosa ci fanno il diavolo sotto le spoglie di un esperto di magia nera, un enorme gatto che prende il tram da solo (tentando di pagare il biglietto!) e altri bizzarri personaggi a zonzo per le vie della Mosca anni '20? Un capolavoro assoluto, un affresco della realtà infernale della Mosca sovietica.

Una raccolta di storie tragiche che indagano sui «luoghi oscuri» della coscienza, sui dolori di vite sbagliate, su amare solitudini. La commissaria Adele Sofia е una donna ricca di umanita e intuito pur nell'apparente durezza. E lei a indagare su delitti irrisolti ed е grazie al suo desiderio di giustizia che molti di essi trovano una soluzione. Sono pagine che raccontano, interpretati da Dacia Maraini, fatti realmente accaduti, storie di «ordinaria follia» in cui le vittime sono i piu deboli: donne e bambini.

This pioneering art series combines stunning high-quality color reproductions with expert commentary on the most popular artists of all time at an extremely accessible price. Giotto, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Vermeer are names well known to any student of art history, museum-goer, or culturally engaged. individual. Rizzoli is pleased to launch its Classics of Art series with monographs on these six world-renowned painters, whose signature styles and sheer genius continue to inspire both scholars and lay people to this day. Each book in this series features a literary introduction and thoroughly researched essay followed by a section devoted to a detailed description of a selection of the artist's masterpieces. An extensive chronology of the artist's life and important historical events of his era as well as a compilation of remarks by famous historians, modern and old, add cultural perspective and insight into each painter's stylistic development. A visual chart with captions as to the whereabouts of each painting and a concise bibliography with suggested further reading provide invaluable research tools. With authoritative text by leading art historians from around the globe, these lavishly illustrated editions provide fresh insights into the art and lives of the most brilliant artists in the history of painting. No matter what your knowledge of art history, this series will compel you to explore a world of art beyond the canvas.

Un alternarsi di orrore e solitudine, di incapacità di comprendere e di essere compresi, in una narrazione che nonostante tutto è un inno alla vita e alla forza del “sentire”. Alda Merini ripercorre il suo ricovero decennale in manicomio: il racconto della vita nella clinica psichiatrica, tra elettroshock sguardo della poetessa su questo inferno, come un’onda che alterna la lucidità all’incanto. Un diario senza traccia di sentimentalismo o di facili condanne, in cui emerge lo “sperdimento”, ma anche la sicurezza di sé e delle proprie emozioni in una sorta di innocenza primaria che tutto osserva e trasforma, senza mai disconoscere la malattia, o la fatica del non sentire i ritmi e i bisogni altrui, in una riflessione che si fa poesia, negli interrogativi e nei dubbi che divengono rime a lacerare il torpore, l’abitudine, l’indifferenza e la paura del mondo che c’è “fuori”.

Pretty flowers, expert styling, and flattering designs characterize some of the features that define high fashion hats of the 1950s to 1980s. This comprehensive book combines over 700 color photographs with carefully researched facts about historical events, hairstyles, and hat designers in each decade. An extensive millinery glossary is very useful. Hats are becoming again an important fashion accessory.

»Delitto e castigo» e un romanzo giallo? Gli ingredienti ci sono tutti: un delitto, un delinquente e un investigatore, oltre a un ambiente complesso e misterioso come Pietroburgo. Ma, come giallo, e un ben strano romanzo: all'inizio assistiamo al delitto, sappiamo quindi chi e il delinquente, e il resto del libro, la sua maggior parte, e dedicata a un'inchiesta in cui l'investigatore, non meno del lettore, conosce gia il colpevole. Eppure, se la prima parte, quella del delitto, e piena di febbrile tensione, le parti successive sono addirittura convulse. Scrivendo il piu geniale romanzo poliziesco che si conosca, Dostoevskij dunque ha violato le leggi del «genere», e prima di tutto la legge per cui la scoperta finale dell'assassino annulla tutto l'intrigo che a quel risultato ha portato, complicando insieme il percorso verso di esso. Delitto e castigo invece riceve nuova luce a ritroso dal suo finale e permane in tutta la sua ricchezza di significati.

Jean-Michel Frank was perhaps the most influential Parisian designer and decorator of the 1930s and 1940s, inspiring such varied talents as Andree Putman and Bonetti and Garouse. Frank established his reputation and signature look with the design of the Paris apartment of the Vicomte Charles de Noailles. The Noailles were leading progressives of their day and patrons of the major painters of Paris. Frank's style of understated luxury — vellum-sheathed walls, bleached leather, lacquer and shagreen — perfectly complemented the Picassos and Braques on the walls. Frank's blocky, rectangular club chairs and sofas have been endlessly copied and produced by many admirers. He is credited for the design of the modern Parsons table, a stark form that Frank embellished with the most luxurious finish. Admiringly described by the French le style Frank, his look continues to exert its influence through the powerful combination of the simplest forms and the most exquisite materials to produce objects that are truly noble and utterly modern.

Accompanying Rizzoli's best-selling Frank Lloyd Wright: The Houses, this exceptional publication features Wright's major projects and programs, including such masterpieces as the Guggenheim Museum, Marin County Civic Center, Unity Temple, Johnson Wax, Taliesin, and Taliesin West, to name only a few. Also included is stunning archival imagery of the great demolished buildings, such as the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, as well as inspiring visions of the great unbuilt work drawn by Wright, including The Baghdad Opera House and The Mile High Illinois, among others. Extensive, all new color photography shows the buildings to an extent rarely seen (including such little-known gems as Beth Shalom Synagogue, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, and Lindholm Gas Station). Frank Lloyd Wright: The Buildings invites a reevaluation of Wright's work and is a must-have for anyone interested in this very important American architect.

This book features a literary introduction and thoroughly researched essay followed by a section devoted to a detailed description of a selection of the artist's masterpieces. An extensive chronology of the artist's life and important historical events of his era as well as a compilation of remarks by famous historians, modern and old, add cultural perspective and insight into each painter's stylistic development. A visual chart with captions as to the whereabouts of each painting and a concise bibliography with suggested further reading provide invaluable research tools. With authoritative text by leading art historians from around the globe, this lavishly illustrated edition provides fresh insights into the art and lives of one of the most brilliant artists in the history of painting. No matter what your knowledge of art history, this series will compel you to explore a world of art beyond the canvas.

Cliff May’s modern homes epitomize the indoor-outdoor lifestyle characteristic of the American Dream, fusing the open plan/open living philosophy with the traditional ranch house. Starting in the 1930s, the modern ranch house took the country by storm, migrating from California to Arizona, and Cliff May was the chief proponent of this style. His long, low designs managed to be both modern and traditional, celebrating a casually elegant, indoor-outdoor lifestyle, and drawing inspiration from California’s Spanish Mexican ranchos while embracing the latest technological gadgetry. With their low profile, large carports and garages, patios, and expansive horizontality, May’s modern ranch houses became synonymous with the nascent California lifestyle and were enthusiastically promoted by the popular Sunset magazine throughout the U.S. He personally designed and built more than 1,000 homes and commercial buildings, and over 18,000 designs are attributed to his office, including the Robert Mondavi Winery and the offices of Sunset.Complete with new color photography, Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House celebrates the best of May’s work, from his start building homes during the Depression to how he evolved a brand of regional modernity that fulfilled the public’s desire for informal living in the 1950s and 1960s.

In the tradition of Rizzoli’s Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley and The Houses of McKim, Mead & White, Great Houses of New England features a stunning array of newly photographed houses that range over four centuries and are distinctive examples of the architecture of the region — from the mid-seventeenth-century New England Colonial Judge Corwin House (Witches House) in Salem, MA., and the eighteenth-century Jeremiah Lee Mansion in Marblehead, MA., to the late-nineteenth-century McKim, Mead & White Shingle-Style Isaac Bell House in Newport, R.I. With lavish photography of sumptuously appointed interiors including many rarely seen rooms, wonderfully detailed house exteriors and gardens, and authoritative text by architectural historian Roderic H. Blackburn, Great Houses of New England comprehensively considers the magnificent building styles of the region —including Early New England Colonial, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Shingle Style, Colonial Revival, and Tudor. Great Houses of New England is a landmark work of enduring interest to homeowners, architects, architecture historians, and all those who love fine architecture and interiors.