“If you really want to get under the skin of a city, the 500 Hidden Secrets series, which covers a number of cities from Chicago to Ghent, all written by people who know the cities inside out, is ideal. It’s an innovative and refreshing take on the traditional travel guide.”- The Independent

What are the 5 restaurants for new Flemish cooking? Where would you find the 5 best antique shops? Where can you find the most unexpected view of Ghent? Where are the cool coffee bars that play the best music? And if you wanted to find the most mysterious places in the Citadelpark, where are they? The 500 Hidden Secrets of Ghent is a wonderfully eclectic guide to this multifaceted city. An insider’s view of Ghent featuring little known facts and snippets of useful information, presenting the quirky and the off-beat, and sharing the whereabouts of some of the city’s wonderful hidden gems like the Hotel d’Hane-Steenhuyse and the Gruut City Brewery.

The 500 Hidden Secrets of Ghent offers a practical guide to Ghent’s finest places, and Derek Blyth covers all bases to ensure no visitor to the city is ever anything short of captivated. Packed with accessible, easy-to-read information summarised in handy lists, maps, itineraries, sections on food & drink, accommodation, green spaces, museums, galleries and shops; this guide is an essential resource for the inquisitive traveler.

Also available: The 500 Hidden Secrets of London, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Dublin, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Paris, The 500 Hidden Secrets of Lisbon, and many more. Discover the series at the500hiddensecrets.com

Fully revised and updated for its sixth edition, this benchmark book chronicles the changing face of Sherry – its viticultural methods, the complex production techniques, the growth of the wine’s trade and the region itself – taking us from the area’s early Phoenician settlers right up to the present day. Detailed sections on cultivation and production include information on both traditional and the now more commonly used modern methods of viticulture. Manzanilla, the ‘wine of joy’, receives an entire chapter to itself, before Jeffs brings the information on blending and tasting Sherry up to date. Sherry provides extensive details for all the shippers, updated for 2019, from the traditional family firms to the new boutique bodegas, along with thorough appendices for those who wish to delve into the fine details. This classic wine book unravels the timeless appeal of one of Spain’s greatest wines, making it an essential resource for anybody with an interest or involvement in the world of Sherry.

The photo-tear-off-calendar will delight us again every day in 2025 with an ­instant photo and its own little story. ­­The front side of the calendar page always presents an instant picture in original size, on the back side is a short text about the origin of the photo as well as ­information about the photographer and the used film used. 

Paul Starosta is a French nature photographer, famous for finding and highlighting the artistic beauties of nature. The 200 superb photographs in this book illustrate the splendor and complexity of seeds, including the very smallest specimens. Drawing on the collections of Jean Laty and the La Voie des Fleurs society in Draveil (France), they showcase the infinite shapes, colors and stunning details to be found in objects often ignored: some seeds look like flowers, others stones or sculptures, while still others suggest jewels fashioned by some imaginary goldsmith.

The almost magical beauty of these little masterpieces, which enclose the mystery of life in both the infinitely small and the infinitely large, is brought out by the play of light and shadow. These little wonders conjure up others and are reminiscent of works of art or architectural features. Human beings are themselves nature and have found inspiration in it to create their own bold and curious works.

At the end of the volume, miniature photographs are accompanied by scientific information on the seeds, their life, characteristics and different families.

Molluscs are extraordinary builders; indeed, their architectural skills are almost unparalleled in the animal world. Who among us has failed to marvel at the wonderful structure of the smallest shell picked up on the beach? Some enthusiasts collect them throughout their lives – attracted by their beauty if they are aesthetes, or sought out for scientific purposes, as in the case of Jacques Senders. In this book, Paul Starosta’s spectacular photographs take the reader on a journey through this astounding collection, first started 50 years ago.

These shells, marvels of nature as they are, naturally suggest exotic or futuristic architecture, ancient or Art Nouveau vases, or even precious stones or volcanic rocks, and reaffirm the importance of nature as a source of inspiration for artists and architects. By celebrating the extraordinary variety and architectural refinement of the shells in Jacques and Rita Senders’s collection, the book reveals a world where nature far surpasses human imagination and invention.

At the end of the volume, miniature photographs are accompanied by scientific information on shells, their life, characteristics and different families.

During childhood holidays by the sea, the pristine Long Beach was full of treasures from the deep, sharks and dolphins swam near the shore, and the sea and air was vibrant with life and energy. Homo Gaia is written by lifelong environmentalist and citizen scientist, who wishes to pass on a thin strand of hope to the next generation. After a five year project on nature connection at the Greenworld foundation, Thailand, where she was chairperson, was halted by Covid, Oy decided to write a book instead. Showing how others can also experience the wondrous world that surrounds us, she weaves in her own experiences with information and insights from scientists.

The Japanese concept Shosa is hard to translate: it’s about the beauty that lies in the repetition of actions and movements, striving for perfection and efficiency in their execution. You can find it in the rituals of a Japanese tea ceremony, but also in the repetition of cleaning actions (like in the movie Perfect Days) or in the skillful actions of craftsmen and women.

This book portrays 12 Japanese makers from different regions. From a bamboo weaver to a tatami mats maker, from a ceramist to a cook who specializes in puddings. The writer and photographer went to visit these makers in their studios and created profound portraits in words and images. Because the craftsmen and women often rely on locally sourced materials, the stories in this book also cover the surroundings. The aim isn’t to provide tourist guide-like information, but to share a taste of various regions in Japan, so this book can also serve as a source of inspiration when you’re planning a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.

“The most exciting travel guide I’ve read in years.” – Huffington Post

This classic guidebook, full of the little-known treasures of the Île de France, is now fully updated and revised, with two new chapters.

Discover half-hidden chateaux and artists’ country houses; walk, boat or dance by the river; explore old towns and country footpaths; and eat in family-run restaurants with 1950s décor. Based on over 20 years’ experience of exploring the Paris countryside by train, each visit includes the essential historical context and practical information to help you discover places unknown to many Parisians.

Written with humor and a flair for the unusual and authentic, the text is illustrated with original photos and local maps. It includes a unique guide to using the excellent local train network.

Italian Wines is the English-language version of Gambero Rosso’s Vini d’Italia, the world’s best-selling guide to Italian wine, now in its 38^th edition. It is the result of a year’s work by over 60 tasters, coordinated by three curators. They travel around the entire country to taste 45,000 wines, only half of which make it into the guide. More than 2,500 producers are selected. Each entry brings together useful information about a winery, including a description of its most important labels and price levels in Italian wine shops. Each wine is evaluated according to the Gambero Rosso bicchieri rating, with Tre Bicchieri awarded to the top labels. The guide is an essential tool for both wine professionals and passionate amateurs around the globe: it provides the instruments for finding one’s way in the complex panorama of Italy’s wine world. 

Exclusive Cruises takes you into the world of the most beautiful and luxurious cruises worldwide. In this book, the experienced journalist and sailor’s daughter Kiki Baron presents 25 fascinating routes that take extraordinary ships around the globe – from the majestic ocean liners of the Cunard Line to the exclusive yachts of Explora. Each chapter offers detailed insights into the unique suites, luxurious amenities and special offers on board. All rounded off with exclusive tips on the best harbors to visit during the voyage – from the historic coastal cities of Europe to the exotic islands of the Pacific. Exclusive Cruises is not just an illustrated book, but a source of inspiration for anyone who wants to explore the world in an elegant way. Aimed at both experienced cruise lovers and those planning their first trip at sea, the book offers a wealth of information and inspiration for an unforgettable experience on the high seas.

“This exhaustive study will be an invaluable tool in identifying not only where a piece was made and when, but in understanding the processes of its manufacture” The Regional Furniture Society
“Cataloguers now have an impressive volume of new information to draw on when describing anything from a simple tea tray to those suites of papier mâché furniture which remain as impressive today as when they dazzled visitors at the great international exhibitions of the 19th century” Antiques Trade Gazette
As one of the few decorative arts about which little has been written, japanning is today fraught with misunderstandings. And yet, in its heyday, the japanning industry attracted important commissions from prestigious designers such as Robert Adam, and orders from fashionable society across Europe and beyond. This book is a long overdue history of the industry which centered on three towns in the English midlands: Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Bilston. It is as much about the workers, their skills, and the factories and workshops in which they labored, as it is about the goods they made. It tells of matters of taste and criticism, and of how an industry which continued to rely so heavily upon hand labor in the machine age reached its natural end in the 1880s with a few factories lingering into the late 1930s. Richly illustrated, it includes photographs of mostly marked, or well-documented, examples of japanned tin and papier mâché against which readers may compare – and perhaps identify – unmarked specimens. Japanned Papier Mâché and Tinware draws predominantly upon contemporary sources: printed, manuscript and typescript documents, and, for the period leading up to the closure of the last factories in the 1930s, the author was able to draw on verbal accounts of eyewitnesses. With a chapter on japanners in London, other European centers, and in the United States, together with a directory of japan artists and decorators, this closely researched and comprehensive book is the reference work for collectors, dealers and enthusiasts alike. Contents: From Imitation to Innovation; Enter the Dragon!; The Lion of the District; Japanning & Decorating; Not a Bed of Roses!; Clever Accidents?; Decline of the Midlands Japanning Industry; The Birmingham Japanners; The Wolverhampton Japanners; The Bilston Japanners; Japanners in London and Oxford; Products; Other Western Japanning Centres; Appendices.

This is the story of the Reeves Collection of botanical paintings, the result of one man’s single-minded dedication to commissioning pictures and gathering plants for the Horticultural Society of London. Reeves went to China in 1812 and immediately on arrival started sending back snippets of information about manufactures, plants and poetry, goods, gods and tea to Sir Joseph Banks. Slightly later, he also started collecting for the Society but despite years of work collecting, labeling and packing plants and organizing a team of Chinese artists until he left China in 1831, Reeves never enjoyed the same degree of recognition as other naturalists in China. This was possibly because he had a demanding job as a tea inspector. Reeves himself never claimed to be a professional naturalist and the plant collecting and painting supervision were undertaken in his own time. Furthermore, fan qui (foreign devils) were restricted to the port area of Canton and to Macau, so that plant-hunting expeditions further afield were impossible. Furthermore, Reeves never published an account of his life in the country, unlike Clarke Abel and Robert Fortune, but he left us some letters, notebooks, drawings and maps. The Collection is held at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library in Vincent Square, London. It is a magnificent achievement. Not only are the pictures accurate and richly colored plant portraits of plants then unknown in the West, but they stand as a record of plants being cultivated in nineteenth-century Canton and Macau. In John Reeves: Pioneering Collector of Chinese Plants and Botanical Art, Kate Bailey reveals John Reeves’ life as an East India Company tea inspector in nineteenth-century China and shows how he managed to collect and document thousands of Chinese natural history drawings, far more than anyone else at the time.

The Chapel of the Magi in Palazzo Medici-Riccardi is one of those places in Italy – there are a certain number of them, though not an enormous number – in which history and art combine to bear witness to the past in a way that is absolutely exceptional. In this case we are dealing with a period in the past that has been extraordinarily celebrated, studied and loved, so as to achieve an almost mythic status: the age of the Renaissance in Medicean Florence. Ten years after the conclusion of restoration work, Franco Cardini distils the essence of countless scholarly studies on the subject in this richly illustrated volume. His synthesis is completed by Lucia Ricciardi’s essay, full of useful information on the heraldic, symbolic and allegorical imagery related to the Medici family.

Kathakali Dance-Theatre records the art of Kathakali comprehensively, right from the scenario that paved the way for Kathakali’s origin and development to its present history. The book chronicles its various facets – the acting, music and costumes, crucial contributions of the masters, momentous incidences, evolution of styles, riveting anecdotes, and related socio-political issues affecting Kerala. The firsthand personal rendition of the author’s experience and the detailed glossary make it immensely readable. Full of photographs depicting the masters of the art, green room activities and the vibrant theatre of Kathakali, this book will be a treasure trove of information for uninitiated readers, arts scholars, theater buffs, potential researchers and students keen about the art and its future.

This work centers upon Manaku of Guler – older brother of the greatly celebrated Nainsukh – reconstructing whatever little is known of his life, but following closely his artistic journey. Manaku came from an obscure little town in the hills of northern India – home to his singularly talented family – and yet his vision knew almost no limits. Endowed with soaring imagination and great painterly skills, this man – with a name that literally means a ruby, whose glow keeps hinting at an inner fire – was capable of painting giant rings of time upon timeless waters, envisioning the world of gods and demons, littered with cosmic battles and earthly triumphs. At least three great series were painted by Manaku: the Siege of Lanka which took forward the narrative of the Ramayana from the point where his father, the gifted Pandit Seu, had left it; the Gita Govinda and the Bhagavata Purana. Every single folio that has survived and is at present accessible – the number comes close to five hundred – from these series finds a place in this uncommonly rich volume. For the second time – Nainsukh of Guler was the first (also published by Niyogi Books) – Professor Goswamy looks here at the entire body of work of a great Indian artist from the past.

The book presents traditional, easy-to-cook Rajasthani meals and related food recipes, for young homemakers, future chefs and all food connoisseurs. It transfers homegrown knowledge to the young generation and caters to multicultural readership. Each recipe has been combined with supplementary food items to present the concept of a tasty, wholesome and nutritious meal. They focus on a fast-changing society where “snacking” is replacing full sit-down meals and “finger food” and “quick bites” fulfill the purpose of a light dinner. The dishes add plenty of nutritive value to the diet and cater to the eating habits and fast lifestyle of the multi-tasking generation.

The select recipes are grouped in five categories cereals, pulses, vegetables, non-vegetarian dishes and special dishes for festivals.

Contents: Welcome to Rajasthan and the Local Cuisine (Padharo Mahre Desh); Flavours of Cereals (Zaika Anaj Ka); Wheat; Sadi bati; Churma; Dupper; Missi roti; Gulgule; Lapsi; Daal dhokli; Wheat ghughari; Wheat flour roti; Puri; Plain paratha; Bharwa / aloo paratha; Sabzi paratha; Meetha paratha; Halwa; Doodh dalia; Maize; Maize roti; Makki ka dhokla; Raab; Maize papadi / khichiya; Bhutta pakodi; Bhutta sabzi; Bhutta pulav; Jajaria; Bhutta barfi; Bajra; Bajra kheech; Bajra gudmudia; Bajra khichada; Power of Pulses (Damdaar Daalen;) Mixed daal; Mangodi / badi; Mangodi ki sabzi; Kadhi pakodi; Pakodi sabzi; Besan gatte; Sabut moth; Besan chakki; Vegetables in a Variety (Sabziyan Swaad-bhari); Ratalu sabzi; Bharwa besan mirch; Mirchi bada; Kachha kela chhilka sabzi; Dried vegetables curry; Pach kuta / ker sangri; Meethi dana methi sabzi; Dana methi papad; Lahsan chutney; Papad sabzi; Kachhi haldi ki sabzi; Mirchi ke tapore; Meat, Poultry, Eggs (Maansahaari Zaika); Laal maans; Keema matar; Chicken curry; Egg curry; Fish curry; Fish fry (snack/ starter).

In the internet age, the means of communication keep changing along with the increasing formation. It becomes more difficult to catch the public’s attention and the monotonous and invariable logos can’t meet the needs of current and future commercial society any more. Designers need to seek new design language to express a brand. Flexible logos are a kind of design form with more variability, stronger adaptability, wider coverage, and fresh visual effect. This new form perfectly follows the development trend of globalized, diversified, and internet integration of online and offline operations in the new commercial society. However, the birth of flexible logos is not only to adapt to new media – and new means of communication – but also a breakthrough of logo design itself that creates new possibilities for the innovation of logo form and breaks the fixed, monotonous, and invariable characteristics of the traditional static logos.

This book explores the creation and methods of the flexible logo design process, and analyses its application across dozens of international projects. Each project explores the notion of broader brand extension stability, as well as the stability of consumers’ psychological recognition.

In 2009, the College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University was established. The transition from a former Art and Design Department – steeped in the Bauhaus tradition – to an independent school named ‘Design and Innovation’ attests to the university’s vision to move design education and research beyond an artefact-centred crafts tradition and toward a design discipline that drives innovation at the intersection of business, technology, and the humanities.

Every autumn since 2012, the Tongji Unversity College of Design and Innovation has organized a small design research and education conference titled ‘Emerging Practices’. The Emerging Practices Conference (EPC) witnesses the developing trajectory of design as a discipline in a Chinese design school that is grounded in thinking and practice addressing local issues and is in the meanwhile actively connected globally.

A small group of design scholars and educators, who gathered at the EPC in 2014, announced their intention to explore how design can address the complex issues the world faces today. They called their agenda ‘DesignX’ using ‘X’ to refer to the turbulent, unknown future of design. The initial DesignX Manifesto has triggered a deeper interest in asking how designers could play a role in designing for complex sociotechnical systems. This anthology selected viewpoint essays and cases, presented at the EPC 2016, as a preliminary endeavour to understand the challenges and opportunities of designing in such complex systems as healthcare, education, public sector innovation, food and culture, and so on.

It is inspiring to see that our drive to reform design education and research – and situate design within a shifting social, economic, and technological context – has attracted the attention and participation of a wider community. Our common challenges arise out of a need to reform design education, bridge design research and practice, design for social well-being, and target sustainability on a planet with limited resources.

Contents: Introduction; Viewpoints; Globalization, and the Effective Supply of Design Education; Design and the Economy of Choice; The Expanding Scope and Paradigm Shift of Design; Making Things Happen; The Ethics of Ignoring Rashomon; Chicken Run; Information Visualization; Design, Work, and Intelligence Cases; Embedding Designers in Government Innovation Teams; Policy Design to Improve the Delivery of Old Age Security in Canada for Vulnerable Seniors; Design Research and Practice for the Public Good; Movable Feasts; Design for Human-Robot Acceptability; DREAM Complexity.

“Terry was everywhere in the 60s – he knew everything and everyone that was happening” Keith Richards

“Terry O’Neill rates rightly as one of the best photographers in the world. He captures something special” Sir Michael Caine

“When it comes to photographic legends there can be few more prolific or revered than Terry O’Neill, the man who shot the greats.” VOGUE

“This sumptuous collection of portraits, taken over six decades, represents the best of his memorable career and should grace every coffee table in the land” The Daily Mail

“I’ve been repeatedly asked to write my autobiography – I have seen an awful lot of famous people at their best and worst – but I’m not interested in making money trading their secrets or mine. I want my pictures to tell a story not sell a story.” Terry O’Neill

Terry O’Neill is one of the world’s most celebrated and collected photographers. No one has captured the frontline of fame so broadly – and for so long. For more than 50 years, he has photographed rock stars and presidents, royals and movie stars, at work, at play, in private. He pioneered backstage reportage photography with the likes of Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, Sir Elton John and Chuck Berry and his work comprises a vital chronicle of rock and roll history.

Now, for the first time, an exhaustive cataloging of his archive conducted over the last three years has revisited more than 2 million negatives and has unearthed unseen images that escaped the eye over a career spanning 53 years. Similarly, his use of 35mm cameras on film sets and the early pop music shows of the 60s opened up a new visual art form using photojournalism, to revolutionise formal portraiture. His work captured the iconic, candid, and unguarded moments of the famous and the notorious – from Ava Gardner to Amy Winehouse, from Churchill to Nelson Mandela, from the earliest photographs of young emerging bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace. O’ Neill spent more than 30 years photographing Frank Sinatra, amassing a unique archive of more than 3,000 Sinatra negatives.

Add to that the magazine covers, album sleeves, film poster and fashion shoots of 1,000 stars, and Terry O’Neill – comprises the most compelling and epic catalog of the age of celebrity. Terry O’Neill has worked for the most prestigious magazines in the world including Time, Newsweek, Stern, Bunte, Figaro, The Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, People, Parade, Vogue and many others. And his award launched to showcase the work of young emerging photographers is now one of the most highly prized global competitions in art. The Royal Society of Arts has honored him with the rare Centenary Medal for his lifetime achievement. Only a dozen have ever been awarded in recognition of ‘outstanding contributions to the art and science of photography.’

The papers in this volume discuss the situation of artists during the early age of industrialization in several European countries, the benefits and challenges that the new materials brought to artistic practice and their effect on the ways in which techniques were taught in the art academies. For innovative artists the new materials were significant, but others were skeptical of the new industrial products and there was a struggle towards the standardization and documentation of working processes, paints and even aesthetic concepts.

Painter, draughtsman, graphic artist, sculptor, wall designer, set designer, choreographer, author: Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943) is one of the most diverse artists of the modern age. Embodying the all-encompassing Bauhaus concept of uniting the arts and crafts, his works always focused on a vision of the future in which modern man would live in harmony with technical and societal innovations.

To mark the Bauhaus anniversary in 2019, the first monographic exhibition on Oskar Schlemmer in Eastern Germany is to take place in Gotha in 2019. With two inspiring essays as well as a biography and chronology, this catalog introduces us to the Bauhaus master’s fascinating world of ideas, in particular those generated during the vibrant 1920s and 1930s.

The exhibition will be held at the Herzogliches Museum Gotha (DE), 28 April – 28 July 2019.

Text in German.

The Jewellery Museum, with its collection that is unique in the world, is a place of wonder and learning. The treasure hunt with Schmucki provides many journeys of discovery for the whole family, accompanied by the pearl pig Schmucki who helps with her sensitive nose. Divided by thematic islands and stages, children learn in a playful way about the meaning of jewellery both in the past and still today as a magical protector, status symbol or in relation to other people. They thereby gain insight into the cultural life of various eras in different countries. The reading of the book doesn’t necessitate a visit to the museum, even at home one can go on a wonderful journey of discovery. This children’s museum guide is intended as a book that grows alongside the children, as it offers the reader stories and riddles with graded levels of difficulty to captivate them. These can be solved either alone or with the help of adults, depending on their age. They learn new concepts, discover worlds of symbols, can learn about working in a museum or can be inspired creatively. This museum guide is suitable as a picture book for reading out loud and it encourages interaction between children and adults with its fascinating questions. The treasure hunt also encourages independent explorations suitable for different age groups. The topic of jewellery is accompanied by craft projects and furthermore a timeline, a glossary and a red magnifying glass for decoding secret clues. Text in German.