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This richly illustrated book explores the huge creative endeavour behind Tolkien's enduring popularity. Lavishly illustrated with over 300 images of his manuscripts, drawings, maps and letters, the book traces the creative process behind his most famous literary works and reproduces personal photographs and private papers.

The art of being a good wife is not an easy one. This little guide was written in the 1930s for the middle classes - one of the first modern self-help books. Illustrated with contemporary line-drawings, it contains delightfully arcane and timelessly true advice: After all is said and done, husbands are not terribly difficult to manage.

In the golden age of ocean liners, between the late nineteenth century and the Second World War, shipping companies ensured their vessels were a home away from home. This book leads the reader through each of the stages and secrets of ocean liner travel, from booking a ticket and choosing a cabin to shore excursions and disembarking on arrival.

The art of being a good husband is not an easy one. This little guide was written in the 1930s for the middle classes - one of the first modern self-help books. Illustrated with contemporary line-drawings, it contains delightfully arcane and timelessly true advice: Don't think that your wife has placed waste-paper baskets in the rooms as ornaments.

This essay examines the power of language to shape political ideas. In it, Orwell argues that when political discourse trades clarity and precision for stock phrases, the debasement of politics follows. First published in 'Horizon' in 1946, Orwell's ideas continue to be relevant to our own age.

Close friendships are a heart-warming feature of many of our best-loved works of fiction. This book explores 24 fictional friendships in succinct, structured entries, spanning 400 years, and writers as diverse as Jane Austen to John Steinbeck. Beautifully packaged, this is the ideal gift for your literature-loving friend.

Reynard was once the most popular and beloved character in European folklore. Expanded with new interpretations, innovative language and characterisation, this edition is an imaginative re-telling of the Reynard story and as relevant and controversial today as it was in the fifteenth century.

Garnished with sumptuous illustrations depicting the plants that tell the story of this complex and iconic drink, this enticing book delves into the botany of gin from root to branch. As this book's extraordinary range of featured ingredients shows, gin is a quintessentially botanical beverage with a rich history like no other.

This book is a treasure-trove of cartographical delights spanning over a thousand years. Each map is accompanied by a narrative revealing the story behind how it came to be made and the significance of what it shows. The chronological arrangement highlights how cartography has evolved over the centuries.

This lavishly illustrated book showcases the highlights of the Tolkien archives held at the Bodleian Library. This stunning book is a perfect introduction to Tolkien's creative imagination, giving a unique insight into the life of this extraordinary writer, artist and scholar.

The Latin text of Magna Carta (the 1217 issue of Henry III) is reproduced, together with a modern translation and an introduction which traces the background to the making of the charter and its subsequent revisions through the centuries. It also explains how this text has become an enduring symbol of freedom in Britain and throughout the world.

Fitzgerald's translation of Khayyam's quatrains celebrates the sensuous pleasures of life - wine, food, love - while also mourning the painful truth of its brevity. This beautiful collector's edition features gorgeous colour illustrations by Rene Bull, which provide a perfect counterpoint to the lines of this extraordinarily influential poem.

Accompanied by a range of arresting images, this book is a compilation of some of Lenin's most famous sayings, taken from speeches, tracts, letters and recorded conversations. These proclamations offer an insight into the atmosphere of Revolutionary Russia and the mind of one of the twentieth century's most defining political figures.

'Here I am once more in this Scene of Dissipation and vice, and I begin to find already my Morals corrupted.' Drawing together fifty quotations from Jane Austen's letters and novels with vibrant illustrations which illuminate everyday aspects of life in the Georgian era, this beautifully produced volume is the perfect gift for Janeites everywhere.

A spellbinding collection of twenty-four divinatory techniques from around the world exploring our need to appeal to powers beyond our realm for prediction and clarification.

A hilarious anthology of the funniest bits from Dickens' novels, with a foreword by bestselling author Nick Hornby.Dickens: The Funny Bits is a brilliant anthology of the funniest extracts from Dickens' novels featuring his famous comic characters such as the Artful Dodger, Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Micawber, Dick Swiveller, Mr. Wopsle, and the Aged P. Organized by novel, the extracts act as standalone vignettes or set pieces and are illustrated with the much-loved line drawings from the early editions, including work by George Cruikshank, Phiz, John Leech, and Marcus Stone. Complete with an introduction from author Nick Hornby, this work also includes passages from Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol, as well as the unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood. This work is a super gift for any Dickens fan as well as any reader with an appreciation of the power of humor.

An exquisite edition of William Blake's Songs of Innocence, accompanied by an introduction to his life and work. One of the most important books of illustrated poetry in English literature, William Blake's Songs of Innocence was meticulously relief-etched, printed, and colored in 1789. A unique work of composite art, Song of Innocence contains some of Blake's most enduring and popular poems, delicately illustrated with his exquisite and idiosyncratic designs. This beautiful book reproduces, in color, the twenty-seven pages of the Bodleian Library's copy of Songs of Innocence together with page-facing transcriptions and an introduction on Blake, his life and work, his illuminated printing process, and the genre and continuing influence of Songs of Innocence. Including the much-loved "Nurse's Song," "Little Boy Lost," and "Spring," Blake's captivating lyrics celebrate childhood as a period of harmony and spontaneity, where the defining traits of the world are compassion, empathy, and love.

A haunting anthology of supernatural stories and the macabre. First published in 1898, The Eerie Book is a chilling anthology featuring classic gothic authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Thomas de Quincey, and Hans Christian Andersen alongside well-known, influential fairy tales and folklore. All the macabre stories and extracts from longer works have hints of the supernatural and many include malevolent spirits and grotesque murders. Yet this varied selection also features melancholy hauntings and poignant memoirs in a fascinating mix of gothic horror and disturbing legend. In this new compendium, each story is illustrated with a striking engraving by art nouveau artist W.B. Macdougall. Beautifully produced, carefully curated, and timeless, The Eerie Book is the perfect gift for anyone who likes to be haunted by ghost stories. Read it if you dare.

A beautiful reproduction of naturalist Mark Catesby's flora and fauna illustrations of North America and the Caribbean. Mark Catesby was an eighteenth-century naturalist and artist whose work on the natural history of North America and the Caribbean still resonates today. During several perilous trips, Catesby collected specimens and made extensive observations in the field, gathering material that would eventually become The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, which featured 220 elaborate, distinctive hand-colored illustrations. With their striking combinations of animals and plants paired together with the first-hand observations he made, Catesby's stunning illustrations were widely appreciated in their time and catalyzed interest in the natural history of Colonial America. Ultimately, his work was established as a key reference for the scientific understanding of natural history. As an artist, Catesby meticulously recorded the environment, sifting fact from fiction about the lives of the plants and animals he observed. As a collector, he introduced many living plants to Britain, thereby changing European gardens forever. Catesby's Natural History reproduces all the original plates and shows how Catesby's practical field experience shaped his work in all areas. Whether through the now-extinct species he recorded or the cultural changes he witnessed, his research continues to be relevant, demonstrating the vulnerability and fragility of the natural world.

An intimate account of Albert Einstein's visit to Oxford in the 1930's, casting new light on why he continues to be the world's most famous scientist. In 1931, Albert Einstein visited Oxford to receive an honorary degree and lecture on relativity and the universe. While teaching, he naturally chalked equations and diagrams on several blackboards. Today, one of these boards is the most popular object in Oxford's History of Science Museum. Yet Einstein tried to prevent its preservation because he was modest about his legendary status. Having failed, he complained to his diary: "Not even a cart-horse could endure so much!" Nevertheless, he came back to Oxford in 1932 and again in 1933--then as a refugee from Nazi Germany. In many ways, the city appealed deeply and revealed him at his most charismatic as he participated in its science, music, and politics, and wandered its streets alone. Einstein in Oxford is an eye-opening exploration of the world's most famous scientist, told through the personal writings he left behind from an important period of his life. From the pages of his diary entries, poem, and other written observations, readers gain a deeper understanding of the unique man--and humor--who continues to fascinate the world.

An informative introduction exploring our fascination with shells, complete with stunningly reproduced illustrations. In 1811, architect, stone mason, and shell obsessive George Perry published his lavishly illustrated volume, Conchology or the Natural History of Shells. The work featured 348 beautifully illustrated mollusk shells with descriptions of species, many of which were new to science. Despite the effort that went into producing it--and at a time when conchophilia, or shell fancying, was at its height--Perry's Conchology disappeared from scientific literature, after being suppressed by the leading conchologists of the day and then cruelly mocked for decades after. Beautiful Shells reproduces the stunning, exquisitely drawn, and sometimes fanciful shell illustrations from this extraordinary forgotten volume. Following an introduction exploring our fascination with shells and their impact on human history, culture, and science, each of the sixty-one color illustrations is included alongside a description of notable shells and what is known of the mysterious organisms that make them. From the common limpet and razor clam to the valuable cowry and spectacular divine conch, the wide range of featured shells form a treasure trove of natural beauty from our oceans and shores.

An extraordinary account of Oxford's role in the Second World War. Oxford played a unique part in the national endeavor to defend Britain in the Second World War. Thanks to its proximity to London, the city provided an alternative base for civil servants from the Ministry of Food, the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Home Security, the Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of Works. The Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry, MI5, and Bletchley Park all also had a presence in Oxford. Colleges became military hospitals, evacuee centers, and both cadet and senior officer schools. Students fit for active service took shortened degree courses and underwent military training while they studied. Grassy quadrangles were converted into vegetable plots and the New Bodleian Library provided underground storage for treasures from Parliament and national museums. Drawing on first-hand narratives and the University of Oxford's archival material, this pioneering account reveals the essential role Oxford played in producing military intelligence, creating propaganda, and developing radar and the atomic bomb. It also explores how the university provided sanctuary for academics fleeing fascism who in turn made significant contributions in their fields of expertise, painting an astonishing picture of the war's profound impact on an ancient seat of learning.

A fascinating collection examining the spread of books in Jewish vernacular languages and Hebrew characters. From Cairo Genizah to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, the spread of books in Jewish vernacular languages and Hebrew characters offers an extraordinary insight into the linguistic richness of Jewish life. For over two millennia, Jewish communities have used languages other than Hebrew for daily oral communication, including Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-French, Judeo-Italian, Yiddish, and Ladino. However, they used the Hebrew alphabet to write these languages down and developed sophisticated systems to transmit texts in them. Many of these vernacular languages also became languages of book culture. The Bodleian Libraries' collections host an unparalleled collection of texts in Judeo-languages, giving a picture of how these works were produced and communicated. As some of these languages are now extinct or moribund, these writings are also important testimonies to lost cultures. Generously illustrated and ranging in time from the Middle Ages to the Emancipation, this collection of essays showcases important hallmarks in the intellectual and social history of Jewish culture.

An authoritative collection of essays celebrating Kafka's life and work, and examining how his writing has continued to provide inspiration for over a century.

An illumination of writing's mysteries through examining the words and ideas that were edited out of renowned novels, poems, and plays. Imagine looking over your favorite author's shoulder and witnessing the moment they begin writing the opening chapter of their best-loved novel. What you might see is that the author has to write, cut, and rewrite their words--often many times--in order to find the right form. Unearthing what has been jettisoned, moved, or edited can give us valuable insights into the creative process. Editorial decisions are documented in an extraordinary number of literary manuscripts, notebooks, and letters preserved in libraries and archives. What would Frankenstein have looked like if Mary and Percy Shelley had not collaborated on the draft? Would we view The Wind in the Willows differently if its title had remained The Mole & the Water Rat? This highly illustrated book invites you to explore these roads not taken and discover ideas that did not make it into renowned novels, poems, and plays. With insights into the drafting techniques of writers as varied as Jane Austen, Christina Rossetti, Raymond Chandler, Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka, John le Carré, Barbara Pym, Philip Pullman, and Alice Oswald, this is a fascinating unveiling of the mysteries of writing, cutting, rewriting, and publishing creative works.

A richly illustrated volume, which reproduces one of the finest collections of eighteenth-century ornithological art in its entirety.

"This translation modernizes the language of this comedy and takes the archaic humor and renews it for a contemporary audience"--

A charming guide to potatoes, covering everything from how to grow them to their origins and history. "Everybody who possibly can ought to grow potatoes." First published towards the end of the First World War, this charming little book is a love letter to the potato, from its origins in South America to Sir Francis Drake's travels, the Irish potato famine, and the great potato boom of 1903 when the "El Dorado" changed hands at eye-watering prices. Filled with practical advice much of which still holds true today, The Potato Book was written to advocate growing potatoes as a cheap and effective crop against a background of spiraling costs and food shortages. Chapters cover soil preparation, methods of propagating, chitting, planting, earthing-up, and recommended varieties from King Edward to Kerr's Pink. It also describes, with handy diagrams, how to guard against common pests and diseases. With a witty and wonderful introduction by Kathy Clugston, The Potato Book is a perfect gift for vegetable growers or anyone with enduring affection for the humble spud.

A fascinating exploration of the history of alcohol in Victorian Britain via the 'drink maps' that were produced by the temperance movement to promote sobriety.