Selected poems

SELECTED POEMS
By Peter Redgrove
Titles like ‘young woman with the hair of witches and no modesty and ‘The first Earth quake’ , the first time of which is ; ‘the birds squabbled and fell silent in their million trees like colleges of monks with their mean little ways and their beautiful song’. Wonderful images leap from the pages of this selection of works from ‘The collector’ 1959 to ‘assembling a ghost’ 1996. We can fully appreciate the elements of Red grove’s alchemy – the erotic change and sensuous vibrancy of his language, his wry and cordial humor, the strange, thrilling narratives and the constant clarity and freshness of the observing eye.

Red Canary

RED CANARY
By Tim Birkhead
An unusual story about genetics with all its false starts, dashed hopes and achievements. In 1921 a 40 years old school teacher in Bremen heard a nightingale singing near the cathedral. But this was august and no one had ever heard a nightingale sing in the middle of town at that time of year. In fact the bird he had heard was extra ordinary, a special canary that Karl Reich, a bird keeper had engineered through a decade of dedicated breeding. With Reich’s knowledge of birds and the 40 years old Hans Duncker’s expertise in genetics , the two joined forces with an audacious plan to create a new kind of bird , called –Red Canary.

Medical oddities

MEDICAL CURIOSITIES
By Robert Young son
Here are the therapies involving bacon rashers, toads and other items, bizarre ailments as such fishy odor syndrome and colonic crunch, remarkable feats of the human body including clearing a blockage with a snake, improvised operations, quack cures, bleeding and purging, and other amazing medical ideas. The stranger cases in the medical profession, including fraudsters, fantasists, body snatchers, and those suffering from ‘intellectual deficit’ find their rightful place in this miscellany of medical oddities, horrors and humors.

Mapping of the heavens

MAPING OF THE HEAVENS
By Peter Whitefield
Constellations were recorded in the Egyptian Tomb of Sett Ic, 1275 BC, and the ancient Chinese, Mayas, Indians, Greeks, Romans and Babylonians, all charted stars and produced Zodiacs and the infamous Farnese Atlas and Islamic Celestial Globe. Whitefield plots the course of man’s early learning through to today. During the middle ages he describes the imagery and scripts that adorned manuscripts, about the heavens and the frescos, paintings and tapestries that depicted man’s obsessions with the mysteries of the sky. He describes the classic age of star maps from the likes of Galileo, Kepler, Schoner, and Tycho, and the discovery in 1660 of the Copernican system which captured the universe’s true structure. Eighteenth century significantly expanded man’s understanding, when William Herschel discovering Uranus in 1781 and became the first man to enlarge the bounds of the solar system and grasp the true three dimensional form of the universe and map the milky way in 1785.

Mirror

MIRROR, MIRROR!
A history of the human love affair with reflections
By Mark Pondergrast
Out of all man’s inventions, the mirror is the one most closely associated with our consciousness. As the first technology for the contemplation of the self, its invention compliments one of the fundamental attributes that sets us apart from other animals – self awareness. It can surely be said to be the equal of the wheel in importance. Possibly more so as giant optically perfect mirrors now enable us to peer into the heavens, through the space and time back to the genesis of the universe. The Romans created mirrored rooms for their orgies and the ancient Aztecs created mirrors with which to light fires. What is the truth in the tale of Archimedes burning mirror and did it really set fire to a fleet of roman ships? Venetian mirror makers were compelled to live on a cloistered island, escape from which was punishable by death, and Isaac Newton blinded himself for days following experiments with mirrors and intense sunlight. Then we move into the present and the technology and skill which are required so as to produce the absolutely perfect reflectors for the biggest most powerful telescopes and of course when it does not quite works as happened with the Hubble’s mirror. A fascinating tale of how a reflective surface - which means nothing without an observer – has affected religion, science, psychology and the arts.

Precision trim carpentry

PRECISION TRIM CARPENTRY
By Rick Williams
Step by step color photos for these 20 projects some how make the tricky corners of carpentry seem utterly simple. Projects include a variety of doors and door casings painted or stained wainscot paneling, built in cabinets, shelves and parquet flooring. Author reveals secret of how to line u the corners of skirting boards so that there is no gap at the inter section and the same technique is applied to ceiling moldings. Installing an interior door can be a fiddly business but the author shows how to use a plumb line and spacer blocks for a perfect fit. The surface of the pre finished parquet flooring usually holds up well and the photos are invaluable for reassuring a DIY enthusiast that the floor really is supposed to look like that half way through. After the carpentry projects, a final home improvement focuses on the walls, introducing the technique of bag painting or rag rolling in UK parlance. A guide to wood working terms, adhesives, stains and top coats concludes.

Neem in Ayurveda

The book highlights the importance of the neem tree and its uses. ‘Neem in ayurveda’ is a useful source of information on the medicinal and therapeutic uses of neem, such as its external and internal uses, dental hygiene, fertility regulating materials, ophthalmic uses, treatment of contagious diseases, toiletries etc.

Mind travellers

MIND TRAVELLERS
By W.S.Ranasinghe, Writer of novels in Sinhala. This is his first novel in English.
He collected information on mental capabilities for nearly forty years. He has included material about mind training in this novel. Hence it is far more than a simple novel.
All those who are interested in mind power, spiritualism, meditation, contemplation could benefit from this book. This book has been published by: Sarvodaya – Visvalekha,
41, Lumbini Avenue, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka. Priced Rs: 460/= (Sri Lankan currency)

Leather works

LEATHER WORK
Craft workshop
By Mary Maguire
Sheepskin slippers, Wall pockets, Cushion covers, keepsake wallet, coaster and napkin ring, Indian style stool, leather satchel, shopping bag and suede tassels; each project presented in an accessible step by step sequences, illustrated with color photos. It was not until the discovery of tanning in Ancient Egypt that we first had leather, a hard wearing preserved material and one of the earliest manufactured products. Today it is still essential to life, and our book provides a fresh look at a highly traditional craft. Twenty five practical and desirable designs written for all levels of leather workers. Three hundred specially commissioned photos.

Eternal Egypt

ETERNAL EGYPT
Master works of ancient art from the British museum
One of the greatest loan exhibitions ever to have been mounted from the collections of the British museum. Focusing on over three thousand years of Egyptian history and hundred and forty four diverse works including sculpture , relief, , Papyri, ostraca, jewellery, cosmetic objects and items of funerary equipment, the exhibition was loaned to America while the British museum under went extensive rebuilding. The catalogue presents the items in chronological order and begins with essays that overview the history and nature of Egyptian art as well as the development of the British Museum’s permanent collection.

Street by street

AA STREET BY STREET
Sussex plus Haselemere
In theory, a pocket sized street map of your county may be a luxury but once you acquire one like that, you find your self wondering as to how you survived without it.
Superbly clear and well referenced these AA maps have a good overlap and are easy to join up for route planning purposes.
Ten of the area’s major towns are enlarged including: Brighton, Chi Chester, Bog nor, Crawley, East Bourne, and Worthing; and town centre maps show one way streets and parking.
The street index includes not only the map reference also the area post code too.
An extremely helpful extra, when street names are duplicated.
With indexes of towns and villages, schools, surgeries and sports centres too.

Salisbury

SALISBURY
The changing city
By Bruce Purvis
Originally a pre historic settlement, Salisbury has evolved over the centuries into a beautiful city, which has seen a myriad of changes. This look at the happenings and history, of the area embraces events such as the cholera outbreak in1849 which led to the provision of proper sewerage and water supplies, the arrival of the railways, marked by a banquet at the White hart hotel, and the meteoric rise of the 15th century Salisbury due to the wool trade The magnificent cathedral founded in 1220 took approximately a century to build, though it has had much additional and restoration work since. The final chapters include ‘Tours of the city’, comparing photos of the now and then.