Books of the Day: Three remarkable views of the world of art

Jones, Owen, The Grammar of Ornament: The Victorian Masterpiece on Oriental, Primitive, Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Design and Decorative Art (Portland House, 1st ed., 1987). ISBN 0-517-62486-9. Reprint of the 1856 classic study of the taxonomy of design, which- after its 1880 American publication- influenced many, including the young architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Jones (1809-74) won fame for his advocacy of polychrome design, most notably in the Crystal Palace of 1851, after falling under the sway of Moorish architecture on his Grand Tour. Folio size, near fine condition in like dust jacket. HBB price: $50.

Paintings in the Collection of Henry Clay Frick, at One East Seventieth Street, New York (Privately printed, 1910). Rare volume produced before the Frick opened as a museum. Softcover, full limp morocco with gilt titling; sepia illustrations. 151 pp., octavo. Some rubbing along the front joint and at the spine’s head and tail. Otherwise in very good condition. HBB price: $150.

Van Loon, Hendrik Willem, The Arts (Simon & Schuster, 1st ed., 1937, later printing, 1939). A Dutch-American journalist, historian, children’s book author and political activist, Van Loon (1882-1944) moved- seemingly effortlessly- between genres, producing scores of books on all kinds of topics over a thirty-year period. He covered the 1905 Russian Revolution; so alienated Adolph Hitler that the dictator banned Van Loon from entering the country; and won the first Newberry Medal, for outstanding children’s literature, in 1922. Van Loon often illustrated his books, and The Arts is no exception. In this 678 page “story of Painting and Sculpture and Architecture and Music as well as all the so-called Minor Arts from the days of the caveman until the present time,” Van Loon covers the waterfront, with illustrated end papers, many four color drawings in the text, and- most interestingly- a dust jacket that folds out- double size- into a chart of important events in the history of the arts. Some front hinge separation; otherwise, good+ condition. HBB price: $59.95.