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Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities | 
| Author: John M. Carrera
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $19.34
as of 9/10/2010 20:07 MDT details
You Save: $15.66 (45%)
New (36) Used (16) from $15.00
Seller: BRILANTI BOOKS
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 10171
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5.9 x 1.8
ISBN: 0811867188
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.973
EAN: 9780811867184
ASIN: 0811867188
Publication Date: July 29, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780811867184 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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Product Description
More than just a dictionary, this book is a safari through the worlds of language, history and art. Open it up and explore 1,500 beautiful engravings that graced the pages of Webster's Dictionary in the 19th century. Look up a word for a clear visual depiction of its meaning, or just wander through the detailed images. There's something fascinating to discover on every page. The engravings are arranged alphabetically, a system of organization long shunned by lexicographers because alphabetical order grants no intrinsic meaning to any given grouping of words, but it is perfect for a book that creates its own immersive experience in imagery of a time gone by. Created by John M. Carrera, a printer, bookbinder and artist. Hardcover. Made in China. Click here to see sample pages one, two, and three.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 Stunning work of art May 27, 2010
S Day
This is an amazing book! A stunning work of art? To me, it's a representation of creative genius. Five stars easily. I'd give it six if I could. This is better than a course in American and world history, and ten times as interesting! An exceptional gift for the person who thinks they have seen it all, thinks they know it all, or someone who wants to see it all. The design of the book also fuels the deeper content by forcing the images on the small pages to engage in dialogue. For that alone this would be an incredible achievement. The world class engravings from the original Webster plates are incredible. Thousands of the best engravings ever produced.
 huh? May 9, 2010
SSL (Brooklyn, NY United States)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
A friend of mine gave this to me as a birthday present. I admit it's kind of interesting to look through all the pictures, but I just don't quite get it. It's pretty much in alphabetical order, why would anyone "create stories that explain whole pages and perhaps even inspire some to derive unifying threads that might...enable a narration of the entire book." The author continues, "The design of the book also fuels the deeper content by forcing the images on the small pages to engage in dialogue." Ummmm. Is it a dictionary or an incredibly strange work of art? I can't really answer that, but I CAN say that it is NOT a dictionary, despite the title. The picture for "dextrorse" looked to me like a picture of a morning glory vine, so I thought it was another name for it. I decided to get out my trusty Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, and it had a very similar picture, WITH a definition: "toward the right...in botany, twining upward to the right" and the caption on the picture said "DEXTRORSE VINE (of morning-glory)." AHA! Now I get it. So don't expect to understand what a word in this so-called dictionary actually means. Maybe it is a work of art, albeit one I could not appreciate as such. Nevertheless, I DID find it interesting to look through.
A visual dictionary of curiosities April 26, 2010
Eric L. Foster (Asheville, NC)
This book is fantastic. There are all kinds of images and reference to pull from. I am very happy with my purchase.
Fascinating story behind the book April 3, 2010
Mark L. (Bay Area, CA USA)
There's a fascinating story behind the Pictoral Websters. Check out this video by John Carrera, the author, demonstrating the printing process for the deluxe hand-made edition: [...]
Amazing! March 8, 2010
Hawk's nest (Cooper Mountain, West Virginia)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an amazing, amazing book! It's almost indescribable. A book? A puzzle? a stunning work of art? To me, it's a representation of creative genius. Five stars easily. I'd give it six if I could.
The placement of the printed engravings is not just an encyclopedic representation of the best engravings of western European/American science and history. For that alone this would be an incredible achievement. The world class engravings from the original Webster plates are incredible. Thousands of the best engravings ever produced.
The book also attempts to reach the subconscious of the reader, and by the ironic, poignant, whimsical and sometimes tragic placement of the engravings, succeeds in stunning fashion. One embarks on a historical and personal journey by perusing these pages. I could see where ideas came from, how explorers were figuring out the world as they discovered it, and the seeds for present triumphs and future catastrophes. The creative juxtaposition of the engravings, which are reproduced with exceptional clarity, ripple through the place where dreams and visions are made, stirring the creative spirit.
This is better than a course in American and world history, and ten times as interesting! An exceptional gift for the person who thinks they have seen it all, thinks they know it all, or someone who wants to see it all, because, literally, from Aardvark, Abitis to Yeti, it's all there.
Fun, enchanting, serious, and most of all inspiring to the creative genius within. Check out the videos on the net, Musical References in Pictorial Webster's, and The Making of Pictorial Webster's. Both are a hoot.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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