Masterworks of Louis Comfort Tiffany by Duncan, Edelberg, Harris
This collaborative volume was written to accompany an exhibition of the same name organised by the Smithsonian Institute. Eidelberg and Harris are historians while Duncan has a background as an expert at Christie's. They each deal with an aspect of Tiffany's life; his influences, the Art nouveau style that he helped to shape and his stained glass windows (secular and ecclesiastical). The style, as you might expect from authors with an academic background, is less accessible than others listed above but the information is highly detailed with extensive notes. The illustrations, as I have already suggested, are the best I have seen in terms of subject matter, photography and print quality. There are some nice touches, too; for example two pencil 'working drawings' by Frederick Wilson for windows, one with notes added by Tiffany.
My copy is hardback but I believe that the original publishers have issued both hard and paperback. Please check if you're buying by mail, because I feel that a book of this superb quality deserves a hard cover.
Book review by Shiela Dixon