Originally published in 1934, it remains an essential guide to the field. To describe the worldwide range and variety of weaponry, Stone drew upon the more than 4,000 items in his private collection of Eastern arms and armor, as well as the European arms collection of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a variety of other sources. Since the author subsequently bequeathed his entire collection to the Metropolitan Museum, this volume serves as an abbreviated visual reference to that institution's Arms and Armor collection.By profession a metallurgist, the author focused on techniques of manufacture and workmanship to derive his method of codifying the typology of weapons, relying on an alphabetized dictionary format to avoid the confusions he found in a field without standardized nomenclature. This "glossary" format makes it easy for anyone to locate material on the astonishing variety of weapons covered. These include arquebuses, blunderbusses, flintlocks, wheel locks, matchlocks, and other antique guns; German armor; French rapiers; Roman short swords; Turkish crossbows; all the Japanese bladed weapons (katana, wakizashi, naginata, etc.); the East Asian kris in its countless permutations; and many more.Illustrated with 875 detailed figures, incorporating thousands of individual photographs and drawings, the book was written from the unique viewpoint of an expert who devoted a lifetime to the field. Hard to locate today (original editions are worth hundreds of dollars), Stone's Glossary represents a peerless resource for scholars, experts, collectors, students, hobbyists, and institutions — any student of the long history and development of weapons and armor around the world.

    Cloth and Human Experience explores a wide variety of cultures and eras, discussing production and trade, economics, and symbolic and spiritual associations.

    In Design Discourse, Victor Margolin gathers together a body of new writing in the emerging field of design studies. The contributors argue in different ways for a rethinking of design in light of its cultural significance and its powerful position in today's society.

    Concentrating on the work of one man, woodworker and chairmaker Chester Cornett, Jones not only describes the tools and techniques employed by Cornett but also his aspirations and values. Cornett possessed a deep knowledge of his materials and a mastery of construction methods. Some of his chairs represent not objects of utility but aesthetic developments of the chair form. Cornett sought to cope with the problems of his life, Jones maintains; their massiveness provided a sense of security, the virtuosity of their design and construction, a feeling of self-esteem. Jones also compares other area craftsmen and their views about their work.

    Technological innovations in lighting, plumbing, and construction completely transformed the functional aspects of the domestic interior, while in the field of aesthetics, the century witnessed the birth and ascendancy of the crucial concept of 'interior decoration.'

    "A lively and controversial symposium ... thought-provoking"—The Sunday Times (Paperbacks of the Year, 1989)"The essays are all distinguished by their topicality and lucidity."—MuseumNews"A welcome addition to the library of Museology"—Art Monthly"The New Museology is essential reading for all those seeking to understand the current debate in museum ideologies."—International Journal of Museum Management and Scholarship

    . . . Her book is not about works of 'primitive art' as such, but about the Western construction 'Primitive Art.' It is a critique of Western ignorance and arrogance: ignorance about other cultures and arrogance towards them."—Jeremy Coote, Times Literary Supplement"The book is infuriating, entertaining, and inspirational, leaving one feeling less able than before to pass judgment on 'known' genres of art, but feeling more confident for that."—Joel Smith, San Francisco Review of Books"[A] witty, but scholarly, indictment of the whole primitive-art business, from cargo to curator. And because she employs sarcasm as well as pedagogy, Price's book will probably forever deprive the reader of the warm fuzzies he usually gets standing before the display cases at the local ethnographic museum."—Newsweek

    It is the story of insecure and fearful societies, haunted by the specter of famine and disease, in battle with adverse weather and warring neighbors, and creating against the hazards of life a material culture of substance and strength.