Coffee Table Books

292 books

Marvel Comics Library. Spider-Man. 1962-1964 - Hardcover

$80.00

by Ralph Macchio (Author), Steve Ditko (Illustrator), Stan Lee (Illustrator)When Stan Lee first pitched the idea of Spider-Man in 1962, his boss was full of objections: People hate spiders. Teenagers aren't lead characters; they're sidekicks. He should be glamorous and successful, not a friendless loser. But Stan persisted and Martin Goodman let him give the unlikely hero a tryout in Amazing Fantasy, which was already slated for cancellation. With Spider-Man on the cover, No. 15 shot to the t...

Great Escapes Greece. the Hotel Book - Hardcover

$60.00

by Angelika Taschen (Editor)Greece's ancient art and culture form the cradle of Western civilization--numerous monuments and museums tell to this day of the country's rich history. Greece is unique also by virtue of its breathtaking landscapes, the hospitality of its inhabitants, and its fabulous hotels, making it the dream destination of many travelers. The fresh and healthy cuisine, the crystal clear sea, and the canvas-worthy sunsets do the rest--a trip to Greece is pure delight. Angelika ...

Philip Montgomery: American Mirror - Hardcover

$60.00

by Philip Montgomery (Photographer), Patrick Radden Keefe (Text by (Art/Photo Books)), Jelani Cobb (Text by (Art/Photo Books))"Montgomery's photographs capture the reality of Americans in crisis, in all our flawed, tragic, ridiculous glory." --Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty American Mirror is award-winning photographer Philip Montgomery's dramatic chronicle of the United States at a time of profound change. Through his intimate and po...

D'Hancarville. the Complete Collection of Antiquities from the Cabinet of Sir William Hamilton - Hardcover

$100.00

by Madeleine Huwiler (Author), Sebastian Schütze (Author)Antiquarian, archaeologist, vulcanologist, and envoy to the British Embassy in Naples, Sir William Hamilton (1731-1803) was a leading European figure of his time. Though the romance between his wife Lady Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson tends to eclipse Sir William's own activities, his work as a scientist and a classicist made major contributions to the study of Pompei, Herculaneum, and Mt. Vesuvius. As an expert in ancient art, Hamilt...

Ellen Von Unwerth. Fräulein. 40th Ed. - Hardcover

$30.00

by Ingrid Sischy (Author), Ellen Von Unwerth (Photographer)Ellen von Unwerth was a supermodel before the term was invented, so she knows a thing or two about photographing beautiful women. Now one of the world's most original and successful fashion photographers, she pays homage to the world's most delectable females in Fräulein. This celebration of our era's sexiest female icons includes Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Vanessa Paradis, Britney Spears, Eva Mendes, Lindsay Lohan, Dita von Teese, ...

Fashion Designers A-Z. 40th Ed. - Hardcover

$30.00

by Suzy Menkes (Author), Robert Nippoldt (Illustrator)From Azzedine Alaïa, Cristóbal Balenciaga, and Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Vivienne Westwood, more than a century's worth of fashion greats are celebrated in this new edition of Fashion Designers A-Z. An accessibly priced and updated volume features photographs of hundreds of garments selected from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) museum's permanent collection. Elegant gowns from the turn of the centu...

$40.00

by Steven Heller (Author), Jim Heimann (Editor)Both eclipsed and influenced by television, American print ads of the 1970s departed from the bold, graphic forms and subtle messages that were typical of their sixties counterparts. More literal, more in-your-face, 70s ads sought to capture the attention of a public accustomed to blaring, to-the-point TV commercials. All was not lost, though; as ads are a sign of the times, racial and ecological awareness crept into everything from cigarette to ...

Das Ddr-Handbuch. the East German Handbook - Hardcover

$50.00

by Justinian Jampol (Author)For 40 years, the Cold War dominated the world stage. East and West Germany stood at the frontlines of the global confrontation, symbolized by the infamous Berlin Wall, which separated lovers, friends, families, coworkers, and compatriots. The Wende Museum in Los Angeles, California, is named after the period of change immediately following the wall's destruction. It was established in 2002 to study the visual and material culture of the former Eastern Bloc, and, w...

San Francisco. Portrait of a City - Hardcover

$70.00

by Richie Unterberger (Author), Reuel Golden (Editor)Starting with an early picture of a gang of badass gold prospectors who put this beautiful Northern California city on the map, this ambitious and immersive photographic history of San Francisco takes a winding tour through the city from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Enjoy eye-catching views of the city's most enduring landmarks and symbols: the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, the picturesque trams that wind up and down the ...

$30.00

by Barbara Hitchcock (Author), Steve Crist (Editor)The Polaroid Corporation's photography collection is the greatest portfolio of Polaroid images in the world. Begun by Polaroid founder Edwin Land and photographer Ansel Adams, the collection now includes some 23,000 images by hundreds of photographers throughout the world, including pieces by the likes of David Hockney, Andy Warhol, and Jeanloup Sieff. The Polaroid Book dives into these archives, paying tribute to a medium that continues to d...

$16.00

by Yang Liu (Illustrator)Yang Liu uses her wonderfully apt pictograms to display the discordances between American and European customs with wit and wisdom. In Europe meets USA she captures her own experiences of living on both sides of the Atlantic, twinkling a fresh light onto the more obvious confusions. She also reveals the less conscious prejudices that exist between the denizens of the small continent of Europe and those of the giant United States. If the usual view of our divergences i...

Homes for Our Time. Contemporary Houses Around the World. Vol. 2 - Hardcover

$80.00

by Philip Jodidio (Author)Climate, environment, history, and technology are transforming architecture worldwide. The second volume in the Homes for Our Time series documents this housing revolution. What role do homes play in our endangered world? How can they innovate? In Sri Lanka, Palinda Kannangara created the Frame Holiday Structure on a budget of $ 40,000. Built from steel scaffolding, exposed brick, and wood floors, the house can be easily disassembled and moved, adapting to the realit...

Andy Warhol. Polaroids 1958-1987 - Hardcover

$20.00

by Richard B. Woodward (Author), Reuel Golden (Editor)Andy Warhol was a relentless chronicler of life and its encounters. Carrying a Polaroid camera from the late 1950s until his death in 1987, he amassed a huge collection of instant pictures of friends, lovers, patrons, the famous, the obscure, the scenic, the fashionable, and himself. Created in collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation, this book features more than hundred of these instant photos. Portraits of celebrities such as Mick ...

Mick Rock. the Rise of David Bowie. 1972-1973 - Hardcover

$20.00

by Barney Hoskyns (Author), Michael Bracewell (Author), Mick Rock (Photographer)A unique tribute from David Bowie's official photographer and creative partner, Mick Rock, compiled in 2015, with Bowie's blessing. In 1972, David Bowie released his groundbreaking album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. With it landed Bowie's Stardust alter ego: a glitter-clad, mascara-eyed, sexually ambiguous persona who kicked down the boundaries between male and female, straight an...

$30.00

by Steven Heller (Author), Jim Heimann (Editor)Gleaned from thousands of images, this book offers the best of American print advertising in the age of the "Big Idea." From the height of American consumerism, bold and colorful campaigns paint a fascinating portrait of the 1950s and '60s, as concerns about the Cold War gave way to the carefree booze-and-cigarettes capitalism of the Mad Men era. Digitally remastered for optimum reproduction quality, the ads burst with crisp fonts and colors, as ...

Stephen Wilkes. Day to Night - Hardcover

$80.00

by Lyle Rexer (Author), Stephen Wilkes (Photographer)If you were to stand in one spot at an iconic location for 30 hours and simply observe, never closing your eyes, you still wouldn't be able to take in all the detail and emotion found in a Stephen Wilkes panoramic photograph. Not only does Wilkes shoot over 1,500 exposures from a fixed angle, he also distills this visual information afterward in his studio, painstakingly composing selected frames into a single image. Day to Night presents 6...

Extraordinary Wing Women: True Stories of Life-Altering, World-Changing Sisterhood - Hardcover

$32.00

by Kimothy Joy (Author)A beautifully illustrated gift book celebrating the beauty, power, and joy of female friendship. Wingman: a pilot who flies behind and outside the leader of a flying formation.While researching her first book, That's What She Said, Kimothy Joy discovered that the famous women she was profiling were not alone in their success. Each of them were propelled forward by a supporter--a wing woman--a sister, a mom, a best friend, a close confidant. The remarkable partnerships t...

$35.00

by Kleaver Cruz (Author)Featuring 117 full-color photos and eight breathtaking essays on a force that fuels Black life all around the globe, this is Humans of New York meets The Black Book"A patchwork quilt of visually stunning images, captured moments of triumph, antidotes to trauma narratives and rich, ebullient emotional and verbal spice for the soul." - Michael W. Twitty, culinary and cultural historian, and author of The Cooking Gene and Koshersoul"In literature, there are some books tha...

$20.00

by Andreas Marks (Author)From Edouard Manet's portrait of naturalist writer Émile Zola sitting among his Japanese art finds to Van Gogh's meticulous copies of the Hiroshige prints he devotedly collected, 19th-century pioneers of European modernism made no secret of their love of Japanese art. In all its sensuality, freedom, and effervescence, the woodblock print is single-handedly credited with the wave of japonaiserie that first enthralled France and, later, all of Europe--but often remains ...

$70.00

by Jean Claude Gautrand (Author)As sensitive to human suffering as to the simple pleasures of life, Robert Doisneau is one of the most celebrated exponents of the Photographie humaniste that swept through the 1950s. Cherished in particular for his soulful portraits of Paris, Doisneau demonstrated a unique ability to find - and perfectly frame - charismatic characters, entertaining episodes, and fleeting moments of humor and affection.A summation of a spectacular career, this extensive Doisnea...

$20.00

by Ulrike Becks-Malorny (Author)An Expressionist before the term was coined, James Ensor (1860-1949) was the classic insider-outsider enigma. He knew all the right art-world figures but loathed most of them. His style lurched from the Gothic fantastical to the Christian visionary. He was a cosmopolitan trailblazer of modernism, but lived reclusively in an attic room in the resort town of Ostend.For all his elusiveness, Ensor influenced generations of artists through his vivid often gruesome p...

Dian Hanson's: The History of Men's Magazines. Vol. 5: 1970s at the Newsstand - Hardcover

$70.00

by Dian Hanson (Editor)Pubic hair appeared on the American newsstand in 1970 compliments of Penthouse magazine. Within a year it was everywhere, and in 1975 Midwest redneck Larry Flynt parted the hair and made the pink beyond the centerpiece of Hustler. In Northern Europe censorship laws fell like dominos after Berth Milton confronted Swedish parliament with hardcore photos in 1967, asking what it would do if he published them in Private magazine. The answer was nothing. Denmark followed, pr...

$70.00

by Maria Morris Hambourg (Author), Jeff L. Rosenheim (Author), Alexandra Dennett (Contribution by)The definitive book on the work of a virtuosic and revered American photographer Irving Penn (1917-2009) was among the most esteemed and influential photographers of the 20th century. Over the course of a nearly seventy-year career, he mastered a pared-down aesthetic of studio photography that is distinguished for its meticulous attention to composition, nuance, and detail. This indispensable bo...

1000 Nudes. a History of Erotic Photography from 1839-1939 - Hardcover

$25.00

by Hans-Michael Koetzle (Author), Uwe Scheid (Author)The history of nude photography is the history of people's fascination with the topic. Indeed, the photographic depiction of the human body is the only subject that has enthralled photographers, theoreticians, and consumers over such a long period--more than 150 years. No other motif is as prevalent as this one during all the phases of development comprising the history of photography, no other is present, whatever the technique, and is a s...

$20.00

by Dian Hanson (Author)Many loved The Big Book of Legs but some found it just too darn big, weighing in at nearly seven pounds. True, it was packed with shapely legs spanning six decades, from the first shy emergence of the ankle in the 1910s, through the rolled stockings and rouged knees of the 1920s, to the Betty Grable '40s, the stockinged and stilettoed '50s, on into the sexually liberated '60s and '70s, but it could still put a dent in your own thighs if you sat reading for too long. Fo...

$25.00

by Taschen (Editor)Sportive gentlemen, lascivious ladies: Since the earliest days of photography, people have been getting up to all manner of rannygazoo in front of the lens. This collection presents the finest highlights from the collection of New Yorker Mark Rotenberg, who began collecting antique smut after finding a stash of vintage erotic pictures in a Brooklyn dumpster and now owns a 95,000 strong collection of archive pornography dating from between 1860 and 1960. Flick through these ...

$25.00

by Gilles Néret (Author)From the dawn of time, ever since Adam and Eve, all artists of every age--whether the Egyptian, Greek, or Roman artists of Antiquity, or more recent famous names such as Rembrandt, Courbet, Degas, or Picasso--have succumbed to their fantasies, obsessions, and libido and produced erotic works that the censors have taken good care to keep from the public. For Erotica Universalis, we surface from the subterranean realms of the museums to enter those of our national and pr...

The Little Book of Tom. Blue Collar - Hardcover

$20.00

by Tom Of Finland (Illustrator), Dian Hanson (Editor)As a boy, Tom's first crush was a strapping young farmhand who worked the fields around his family home. Finland is a land of tough physical men, catching fish in the icy sea; cutting logs in the endless forests; threshing oats, rye, and barley on the farms. Tom, a more sensitive boy, admired these rough men and their distinctive clothing, designed for protection and utility. He later said, "When I was young, leather was worn by people who ...

The Little Book of Tom. Cops & Robbers - Hardcover

$20.00

by Tom Of Finland (Illustrator), Dian Hanson (Editor)Tom's taste for police officers and felons--and for sexual tension between the two--developed late in his career. "I've never been to prison," he told a class at the California Institute of the Arts in 1985, "but I hear it's a closed world where there are different roles and people behave different from when they walk free. It fascinates me. It is another subject I come back to again and again." By which he meant fantasized about again and ...

The Little Big Book of Breasts - Hardcover

$20.00

by Dian Hanson (Editor)The Little Big Book of Breasts features over 150 celebrated big breast models from the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, including Michelle Angelo, Virginia Bell, Roxanne Brewer, Joan Brinkman, Lorraine Burnett, Lisa DeLeeuw, Uschi Digard, Sylvia McFarland, Chesty Morgan, Roberta Pedon, Rosina Revelle, Janie Reynolds, Candy Samples, Tempest Storm, Mary Waters, June Wilkinson, and Julie Wills, plus Guinness Book of World Records bra-buster Norma Stitz in a compact and inexpensive f...

Small Stories of Great Artists - Hardcover

$40.00

by Laurence Anholt (Author)It's been thirty years since Laurence Anholt began his beloved series about great artists and the real children who knew them. Since then, these classic tales of Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other geniuses of Western art have provided a springboard into a lifetime's love of art, selling millions of copies around the world. The stories have been adapted in many forms including ballet, opera, Braille editions for blind and ...

Basilius Besler. Florilegium. the Book of Plants - Hardcover

$25.00

by Klaus Walter Littger (Author), Werner Dressendörfer (Author)A magnificent pictorial document of the flowers grown in the greatest German garden of its time, the Hortus Eystettensis is in a class of its own when it comes to the range of flowers engraved. First published in 1613, the 367 copperplate engravings by Basilius Besler (1561-1629) capture the spectacular diversity of the palatial gardens of Prince-Bishop Johann Konrad von Gemmingen (1593/95-1612) in Eichstätt, Bavaria, Germany. The...