Amber: Window to the Past [Paperback]

David A. Grimaldi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

The unique properties of amber (fossilized tree resin) have long intrigued many people, and never more so than now. This fascinating book, which accompanied the most comprehensive exhibition about amber ever mounted, organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, explores the various aspects of this remarkable material, from its part in delineating evolutionary history, though study of the folklore surrounding it, to its use in decorative arts and jewelry. The 230 gorgeous and amazingly varied photographs and drawings vividly illuminate the roles of amber in both nature and art. Author David A. Grimaldi, associate curator and chairman of the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Entomology, looks at the origins and properties of amber and discusses how the objects, called inclusions, preserved within it provide not only clues to where, when, and how species of flora and fauna originated and developed, but also fascinating stories of how particular ones lived and died. Reproductions of amber pieces are supplemented by historical engravings and photographs as well as line drawings by the author that "map" what is going on within amber samples, highlighted by his reconstruction of an ancient Dominican forest from the clues provided by amber found there. A selected bibliography and index round out this engrossing and readable book, now available as an affordable paperback, which will delight lovers of science, history, and art as well as anyone intrigued by stories of how we - and our world - have evolved.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This beautifully illustrated book will be popular among naturalists and artists alike. Grimaldi, chair of the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Entomology, has skillfully combined the natural history of amber with coverage of its uses throughout history in art and sculpture. He discusses the properties of various types of amber, its most common localities, the types of life it typically preserves, and examples of past forgeries. Grimaldi's discussion of objects made of amber, from pipe stems to wall murals, range from the Mesolithic era to the 19th century and include all parts of the world. Among the book's greatest strengths are the copious and outstanding photographs and illustrations of specimens and objets d'art with accompanying descriptive notes. A wide-ranging treatise that will appeal to everyone from lay readers to specialists; highly recommended.?Jeanne Davidson, Oregon State Univ. Lib., Corvallis
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Every semiprecious jewel needs a major motion picture to increase its audience appeal. Five years ago, a book on amber could guarantee an audience--perhaps--only of Lithuanian ladies of a certain age. But after Jurassic Park, is there an American who doesn't know about the miracles of long ago that are encapsulated in petrified resin? This lavish book captures both the beauty and the strangeness of amber: the beauty, in glorious, honey-toned color images of some of the world's most exquisite amber artifacts; the strangeness, in close-ups of leaf fragments, tiny feathers, or whole bees buried among bubbles of ancient air. The text, meanwhile, is solid and comprehensive; the rest of the illustrations, including at least as many black-and-white historical and documentary plates as there are colorplates, excellent. Patricia Monaghan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 1ST edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810926520
• ISBN-13: 978-0810926523
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book for both the expert and browser, July 2, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Amber (Hardcover)

Some of you may be aware of the current amber exhibition at the Natural History Museum in New York. At the same time as the launch of this exhibition David Grimaldi; chairman, associate curator and organiser of this display has authored and published a new book on amber to compliment the show. New books on amber, particularly in English are so rare that I have taken the liberty of reviewing the work here for those who are interested. My credentials are thin for this task. I collect amber and have an extensive collection of pieces with flora and fauna inclusions. I read and collect articles, books and any work on amber I can get my hands on. I have had work published myself in my other existence as a management consultant. So I have some idea of the demands made on writers and authors. However, with your forgiveness I submit this review for your interest; `tis a meagre a thing, but mine own1. The book, `Amber - Window to the Past1 is immediately impressive both by its size and rich colour jacket. The cover shot at first sight might be some kind of artistic abstract picture, but is actually a photograph of several insects trapped in a piece Dominican Republic amber, a great attention grabber. The book was printed and bound in Japan and this countries predilection for quality and precision is clearly present in this work. There are 230 illustrations, which include 115 colour plates. Amongst these are some old line drawings and pictures which have been published in other works. These seek to illustrate certain inclusions and methods of amber collection. They help contextualise and place amber in an historical setting and their presence is understandable. The majority of pictures are however entirely new, 95+%. The photography is exemplary. Photographing amber myself I recognise the difficulties and problems one encounters, but here only the best and most lavish illustrations have been used. The pages simply ooze class. The book is principle divided into two sections: Amber in Nature and Amber in Art. The nature section begins by illustrating the origins of amber, how it came into existence, the types of trees which created it and is replete with interesting quotes and diagrams. Having already mentioned the graphical content of this work I will emphasise that nearly every page of text is supported with pictures and drawings which are comprehensible and useful. They helps immensely with understanding some of the processes and concepts dealt with in the work. There are the merest handful of areas where both facing pages are full of text with no graphical content. That in 208 pages is quite a feat. The following chapter covers geographical distribution of amber deposits. A minor exception here is the Isle of Wight amber deposit just off the South coast of the United Kingdom. This is a rich if very small source of some of the most ancient amber in the world and yet other than a few papers published by Dr Edward A. Jarzembowski has received scant to little attention by the academic press. The emphasis in this section is given to the major source deposits of amber, namely the Dominican Republic and the Baltic Coast though other areas are covered such as Mexico, Burmese, Japanese and the Middle East. A marvellous picture on page 58 shows quite literally gigantic `dunes1 of crude amber being bagged after being extracted from the now defunct Bitterfield mine in Germany. This illustrates better than any list of figures the vast quantities of amber which must have flowed out of this general Baltic region. I have seen a very similar photograph taken of the same scene in the 1995 book `Stenen som flyter och brinner` authored by Ake Dahlstrom and Leif Brost of the Swedish Amber Museum. This is a book written in Swedish, so it has limited distribution. I am glad that Grimaldi has included this picture here, for those people for whom amber has a special attraction or interest, it is simple awesome, and I use this word carefully. There then follows a rich selection of photographs illustrating the different types of inclusions which can be found within amber. Only the best and rarest are presented here and might give the casual reader the impression that this type of inclusion is present in nearly every other piece of amber ever found. Nothing could be further from the truth. These pieces are only the Creme de la Creme of the amber world. It is only when flicking through these pictures, time and time again and reading where they have come from that one realises the gargantuan task Grimaldi undertook in gathering together so many of these items not only for photography but also for display in the NHM exhibition. As well as the normal photographs in this section there is also a range of electromicrographs. These illustrate the micro preservative qualities of amber rather than the macro aspects which the normal pictures do so well. This leads logically into a section on DNA and its presence within such well preserved inclusions. This latter issue seems to have become a hot topic amongst many journalists, no doubt inspired by Crichton1s Jurassic Park and all the accompanying publicity. What frankly is more interesting I believe are the deductions and insights which can be drawn from the range of inclusions in amber about the ancient forests, their ecological workings, the animals present and the environmental conditions which existed. This too is also addressed in the book with a section on the ancient communities of the amber forests and woodlands. A final chapter in this section addresses amber forgeries and is especially interesting showing the lengths to which some people have gone in creating fake or counterfeit amber pieces with large or rare inclusions. This chapter draws on an earlier article written by Grimaldi et al in the NHM Journal which specifically addresses amber forgeries. This earlier work shows in even greater detail the deviousness of some amber forgers. However, the best photographs have been transferred to the book, with the exception of a Tarantula allegedly found in Dominican amber but which the author was unable to tests for its authenticity. The lack of confirmation one way or the other no doubt accounts for its omission from this volume. The second half of the book looks at Amber in Art. The initial part of this section begins by looking at the uses of amber through the ages starting at the Mesolithic Period. This whole section has a predominantly European slant. Here again are some unique illustrations and diagrams. The famous Hove cup from the Booth Museum in Brighton, United Kingdom is shown. It differs from many I have seen in the way the lighting has been set up to illustrate its translucence and the fine craftsmanship needed to have produced this piece. The text goes into some depth on the histories of amber and gives a broad though not heavily detailed account of its prominence in antiquity. It makes for good light reading without becoming bogged down in too many dates or claustrophobic details. The segment on Medieval and Renaissance amber shows some examples of woodcut prints detailing how amber was obtained in the Baltic but only one 17 century piece of jewellery is actually illustrated. The years leading to the beginning of this century are well structured. Ample information provides a rich description of the uses and the levels to which amber in art aspired during these years. Nothing is present on the contemporary use of amber in art and jewellery and would have been interesting. As DNA in amber has become a focus for many people so too has the `amber room1, an 18 century concoction of the Prussian and later Russian nobility. In essence this was a room completely covered in amber which mysteriously went missing during the second world war. Russian craftsmen are now in the slow and laborious process of re-creating this masterpiece from old photographs and diagrams. Some of the first pictures I have ever seen of their efforts appear in this book and show the amazing level of opulence they have achieved to date.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Source Book on Amber, September 2, 2008

By 

Michael H. Cooper (Bronx, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Amber: Window to the Past (Paperback)

For those familiar with the semiprecious gemstone know as amber, once you see it and come to know of it's origins and eventually start to collect it, it becomes somewhat of a quest to know all there is to know about amber. Mr. Grimaldi's work, Amber: Window to the Past, is an excellent source book. The various pictures included inside the book are worth the price alone. He covers the historical facts surrounding the discovery of amber, as well as the myths about amber.
Unlike other works on this subject Mr. Grimaldi covers in detail how amber is mined and the various locations in the world where amber is found. He also talks about how amber varies depending on where its found. For instance Baltic amber is very different from amber found in the Dominican Republic. There are other interesting facts and details about amber that are well covered in this book.
One disappointment however that I had, having nothing to do with the book, was that I recently visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The collection on display was minimal. There was no information about how amber is formed or any information about inclusions sometimes contained within the amber. There are other museums around the world which treat the subject with much more detail.
Whether you are a beginner or a long time collector of amber, this book is enjoyable and would be a welcome addition to your library.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully done, David, March 28, 1998

By 

Jacqueline Lucier - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amber (Hardcover)

The book has a wonderfully readable text to compliment the beautiful color plates, and David's illustrations of inclusions and the rainforest are impeccable. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand and learn about amber from this work, however, I must say, David, you are a talented genius and I read every word. All my friends are fascinated by the book and the author.