Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities

by John M. Carrera (Author)

51 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0811867184

ISBN-10: 0811867188

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Share <Embed>

Condition: Used - Very Good

In Stock. Sold by Call Me Ishmael, Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

List Price: $35.00 Save: $8.86 (25%)

37 New from $21.50

FREE Shipping.

Turn on 1-Click ordering

More Buying Choices

37 New from $21.50 63 Used from $4.90

100 used & new from $4.90

See All Buying Options

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

Featuring over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century, this chunky volume is an irresistible treasure trove for art lovers, designers, and anyone with an interest in visual history. Meticulously cleaned and restored by fine-press bookmaker Johnny Carrera, the engravings in Pictorial Webster's have been compiled into an alluring and unusual visual reference guide for the modern day. Images range from the entirely mysterious to the classically iconic. From Acorns to Zebras, Bell Jars to Velocipedes, these alphabetically arranged archetypes and curiosities create enigmatic juxtapositions and illustrate the items deemed important to the Victorian mind. Sure to inspire and delight, Pictorial Webster's is at once a fascinatinghistorical record and a stunning jewel of a book.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $43.09

Buy the selected items together

This item:Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities by John M. Carrera Hardcover $26.14
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details
1300 Real and Fanciful Animals from Seventeenth-Century Engravings (Dover Pictorial Archive) by Matthäus Merian (the Younger) Paperback $16.95
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Matthäus Merian (the…

42

Paperback
$16.95
Jessica Kerwin Jenkins

70

Hardcover
$19.13
Frank Zöllner

11

Hardcover
$20.00
Albertus Seba

81

Hardcover
$33.62
Chronicle Books

253

Paperback
$14.91
John M. Carrera

7

Hardcover
$14.29

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

82

$29.07
Matthäus Merian (the…

42

Paperback
$16.95
Chronicle Books

253

Paperback
$14.91
Jessica Kerwin Jenkins

70

Hardcover
$19.13
John M. Carrera

7

Hardcover
$14.29
Frank Warren

440

Hardcover
$14.75

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John M. Carrera is a printer, bookbinder, and artist who has taught and lectured extensively. He is the founder and proprietor of Quercus Press letterpress and bindery. He lives in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Hardcover: 512 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books (July 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0811867188
ISBN-13: 978-0811867184
Product Dimensions: 6 x 2 x 7.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 51 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #495,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #528 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias & Subject Guides > Art
- #692 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Art History
- #4243 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > History

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Start reading Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Customer Reviews

Write a customer review

See all 51 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

Dictionaries

4.0 out of 5 stars

Reference Books

4.6 out of 5 stars

Art & Photography Books

4.7 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Mars Velvet

This Book Has A Pancreas!

June 4, 2011

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

In the Artist's introduction, a point is made that this book on the surface is an "unabridged visual reference book". Additionally, the reader is informed of an intent behind the images selected and arranged in order to spark a creative narrative in the mind of the reader. A dictionary that tells a story?

When I was 6, I received my first dictionary. I was disappointed because it was a child's dictionary. Over-sized, red covers, big printing and simple words however with nice illustrations. At 8 (after much begging), I received Webster's Concise Dictionary. A proper research tool filled with words I had never heard of in my short life! Finally, an adventure to discover new words!! And thus began my romance with Websters.

This new addition in Pictorial Form is really a gem! A fine emerald green and copper gilt cover entices me to open the book and seek out this new "narrative" that was sneaked in between the illustrations. I choose a page...... in G.

In the letter "G" I find a challenge. A Guard (En Guard!) swordsman is challenging a Grizzly Bear protected only by a Groined Arch. (Which is where I would want protection!). In "M" I find a family of Mammoths grazing on Mandrake being watched by Man (Java Man, Neanderthal, and Cro-Magnon). In "C" a rousing game of Chess is being played by a Cheetah and a Cheiroptera (Bat). My odds are on the bat....

Elsewhere in "S" a marsupial called a Sarigue is counting the Sails on a ship, and in "K" two Knights are outranked by a Kingfisher, a King Penguin, and a King Spider Crab. And in case you need to tie some knots, well just go to page 200 for a chart of 59 knots!!

In "&" (yes, that's ampersand...) I find plans for war! 6 Airplanes, a chart showing the Ballistics of Bombs, and 2 Automatic Pistols!! Is this war??? Or is it Backgammon... either way someone needs to move that Baby Buggy out of the line of fire!

And when I thought the story was over, I found a pancreas in my book!!! Not an appendix mind you, but a Pancreas! Containing a bibliography, production notes, and more!!

And the story is never over as there are thousands of beautiful wood engravings and metal electrotypes that seem to have belonged to dictionaries of yore but have come together in a new way and a new narrative!

Comment 12 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Chris

Invaluable Resource for a Designer & Total Eye Porn

April 5, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book has collected all the old Webster's Dictionary images, that used to ride along next their definitions, and reproduced them in sexy. NOT a dictionary in case you're confused, but for any fan of illustration, printmaking, design, etc, this is a need-to-have item. the art is amazing, and iconic, and timeless. the information the author gives on the process and the artists is amazing, and as a printmaker it was a huuuuge surprise and made me love this book a hundred times over. And, while you'd think that a book collecting the images from a dictionary would be kind of dry, the author has worked in some clever humor that actually made me laugh out loud (the section on fish did it several times), and it really shows you that he loves these images. it's porn for the eyes of any designer, or artist.

All-in-all, this is what happens when you take a great author, a great resource, and great artistry, and you combine them: you get a great book. If my copy ever gets destroyed, stolen, or just too beat up, I will buy a replacement without a second of hesitation. I've been tempted to get the pocket one (red cover), just so I don't mess up the bigger (green cover) one. I might buy a second copy, just to have one at home and one at the studio. That's how serious I am about this book.

Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

the early bookworm

The person who has everything probably doesn't have this.

April 24, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A delightful collection of engravings from old dictionaries. Very precisely drawn, black and white, they are a blast from our pre-photographic past. I scanned them into my classes' handouts; the kids loved them. A perfect gift for the family goth.

CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Wonderful

October 10, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is a wonderful little book. I first saw some pages of it displayed at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. The author is an artist who has carefully curated and reproduced the woodcuts and etchings from 19th century Webster's dictionaries. Little pictures of birds, mechanical tools, whatever corresponded to definitions. The book is beautifully produced, with exquisite attention to detail.

I'm not sure of the copyright status, but would be an excellent source for the graphic artist or web designer.

CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Red Wing

Amazing!

March 8, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is an amazing, amazing book! It's almost indescribable. A book? A puzzle? a stunning work of art? To me, it's a representation of creative genius. Five stars easily. I'd give it six if I could.

The placement of the printed engravings is not just an encyclopedic representation of the best engravings of western European/American science and history. For that alone this would be an incredible achievement. The world class engravings from the original Webster plates are incredible. Thousands of the best engravings ever produced.

The book also attempts to reach the subconscious of the reader, and by the ironic, poignant, whimsical and sometimes tragic placement of the engravings, succeeds in stunning fashion. One embarks on a historical and personal journey by perusing these pages. I could see where ideas came from, how explorers were figuring out the world as they discovered it, and the seeds for present triumphs and future catastrophes. The creative juxtaposition of the engravings, which are reproduced with exceptional clarity, ripple through the place where dreams and visions are made, stirring the creative spirit.

This is better than a course in American and world history, and ten times as interesting! An exceptional gift for the person who thinks they have seen it all, thinks they know it all, or someone who wants to see it all, because, literally, from Aardvark, Abitis to Yeti, it's all there.

Fun, enchanting, serious, and most of all inspiring to the creative genius within. Check out the videos online "Musical References in Pictorial Webster's", and "The Making of Pictorial Webster's". Both are a hoot.

Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Elliott

Neat

June 30, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Very cool little book. Not every picture I've ever seen is in here, but all in all it's a great compilation. Good to practice drawing from.

CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Customer images

See all customer images

Most recent customer reviews

bookie

but loved the old

Expected larger illustrations, but loved the old feel

Published 21 days ago

Elizabeth

Five Stars

Great for anyone with dyslexia.

Published 3 months ago

Pictorial Webster's is a wonderful, delightful and unique book

Pictorial Webster's is a wonderful, delightful and unique book. Fantastic graphic art! This visual dictionary has some rare engravings of inventions and now extinct animals.Read more

Published 1 year ago

A Gift.

This book was a gift for my granddaughter, and she loves it.

Published 1 year ago

travelling mom

I love the images in old dictionaries

I love the images in old dictionaries. Here they all are together by the hundreds in one book. I've never seen one like it. Fantastic!

Published 1 year ago

K.Campbell

Excellent book, terrific condition for a used book! Very pleased..

Nice book, great resource!! It was in excellent condition. Very pleased!

Published on August 3, 2015

Rachel

Five Stars

Gorgeous book!!!

Published on March 27, 2015

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Gave as gift

Published on February 18, 2015

Joanna P Nugent

Five Stars

Neat book to have on your shelf

Published on January 22, 2015

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities

Set up a giveaway

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: visual design, webster dictionary, dictionary encyclopedia