A good hosta coffee table book doesn't have to have much information in it. It doesn't have to be written by a hosta expert. It doesn't have to be up to date. It just has to be visually attractive.
You can find very nice hosta coffee table books at discount or used book stores. Wander through the section on gardening books and flip through books on hostas or on shade gardening until you find one or two that appeal to you. It's a very cost effective way to find this kind of book.
If, on the other hand, you want to grow hostas, you need a different kind of book altogether. You need a gardening book. You want a book that tells you how to choose hostas, how to plant and care for them, how to categorize them by size and how to propagate hostas.
Because there are new methods of hosta propagation and many, many new varieties of hostas, your hosta gardening book needs to be up to date, and it needs to be written by a hosta expert.
Your hosta gardening books will probably also work very well on the coffee table. Can you even imagine a hosta book without color pictures of the beautiful plants? It needs to have a section of photos to help you identify hostas you already own, and to plan for the ones you want to add to your collection.
Whether you are looking for a hosta coffee table book or a hosta gardening book or both, there are many good books available. Here are a few:
Genus Hosta by W. George Schmid. (ISBN 0881922013). This book includes information on 3500 varieties of hostas.
Hostas by Rosemary Barrett (ISBN 1552978869). Barrett has been growing hostas for years, and shares her expertise.
The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas by Diane Grenfell and Mike Shadrack (ISBN 0881926183). A new, beautifully illustrated book by two British hosta experts.
The Hosta Handbook by Mark Zillis (ISBN 0967944007). Okay, this one doesn't make a good coffee table book. It is, however, a complete reference for anybody who loves hostas.
You can never have too many good Hosta Books! Visit your local bookstore and pick up something for yourself to enjoy today.
Before the beginning of the 20th Century little had been written about calligraphy except The Story of the Alphabet by Edward Clodd and Maude Thompson's fine work on Greek and Latin Paleography together with his volume on English Illuminated Manuscripts, published in 1895 and out of print before 1906. But since the time that Edward Johnston published his book on Writing, Lettering and Illuminating a steady stream of works upon all aspects of the subject have been written; probably it was because of the interest aroused by the pioneers in the practical side of the craft that this flow of literature occurred, both here and in the United States.
The following are among the most important. The British Museum published a guide to the collection of manuscripts they had in 1906. About the same time John W. Bradley was publishing illustrated books on illuminating, its history and development. During 1907 the British Museum published Reproductions of Illuminated MSS., a series of fifty collotype plates. In 1920 W. A. Mason published in New York a work of considerable scholarship dealing with the subject of picture writing in the Americas together with the growth of letter-form in Egypt, Phoenicia, Babylon, Assyria, Crete, Greece and Rome, a book of great interest to all who wish to study the formation of alphabets.
With the development of photography and process reproduction the range of examples showing epigraphy and paleography has increased to a degree unthought of during the early days of the century. During 1932 B. L. Ullnan of the University of Chicago published Ancient Writing and Its Influence, which brings the history of the alphabet more up to date and includes some observations on the Sinai stones, which may eventually help to solve the riddle of the alphabet. Professor E. A. Lowe of Oxford wrote in The Legacy of the Middle Ages a chapter on "Handwriting" which deals with its growth before the time of Charlemagne. This is an excellent essay, which should be known by all serious students of calligraphy. James Wardrop of the Victoria and Albert Museum has also written on "Palatino and His Circle" in Signature, No. 14, 1952.
World origins and development of alphabets are also dealt with in great profusion by D. Diringer, a scholar in these matters. The French just before the war of 1939-1945 issued some newly discovered material in plates dealing with early specimens of the written small letter under the title of L' Eicriture Latine by J. Mallon, which takes history back earlier than Maude Thompson's great work.
Finally among the smaller and more recent publications comes the "King Penguin" on the subject of writing by Alfred Fairbank, which makes a rapid survey from the fourth to the twentieth centuries; and some beautiful photographic reproductions of the detailed work of twelfth-century artists taken from the Winchester Bible by Walter Oakshott.
From about the year 1930 writing and lettering had made such progress that it had become a subject in the training of Art Teachers and was taught by the immediate followers of the two who had given their lives to its cause. Lettering of Today, first volume, published in 1937, showed the work of some of these who had taken up the craft and were in their turn passing it on to the new generation.
As the art itself has progressed, so has the literature representing calligraphy. The aforementioned books are great historical references, but technical books that will walk you through the art of calligraphy are also available.
Both Jerry Van Der Kolk & Jimmy Cox are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jerry Van Der Kolk has sinced written about articles on various topics from Alternative Medicine, Gardening and Mice as Pets. The author, Jerry Van Der Kolk, has been involved directly with the Horticulture Industry for over 20 years. He now devotes his time to growing hard-to-find hostas for hosta collectors via his popular website. Jerry Van Der Kolk's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.
Jimmy Cox has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Horse Racing and Investments. A Lettering System That Is Proven To Improve Your Calligraphy Pen In Only HoursClick here for FREE online ebook!