Making Marvels

Featuring more than 150 treasures from several of the world’s most prestigious collections, Making Marvels explores the vital intersection of art, technology, and political power at the courts of early modern Europe. It was there, from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, that a remarkable outpouring of creativity and learning gave rise to exquisite objects that were at once beautiful works of art and technological wonders. By amassing vast, glittering collections of these ingeniously crafted objects, princes flaunted their wealth and competed for mastery over the known world. More than mere status symbols, however, many of these marvels ushered in significant advancements that have had a lasting influence on astronomy, engineering, and even international politics. Incisive texts by leading scholars situate these works within the rich, complex symbolism of life at court, where science and splendor were pursued with equal vigor and together contributed to a culture of magnificence.

Innovation, technology, and spectacle come together in wondrous works of art and science. Embodying the creative achievements of the royal courts of Europe, the objects featured in Making Marvels demonstrate how European royalty, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, expressed status through ingeniously crafted inventions. These works, beautifully illustrated and engagingly discussed, inspired technical advances that had a vast influence on astronomy, engineering, craftsmanship, and even international politics.

"Since he first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #180, Marvel's Wolverine has become one of the most popular super heroes of all time, stealing the hearts of millions with his gruff Canadian charm and no-nonsense attitude. Now, for the first time ever, Wolverine: Creating Marvel's Legendary Mutant presents a comprehensive look at the wild history of this savage mutant. Diving deep into the behind-the-scenes evolution of the character, this book showcases the stunning art of Wolverine comics and features exclusive interviews with legendary Marvel Comics creators. Covering everything from Wolverine's iconic Adamantium-plated claws to his integral history with X-Men, this exceptional volume allows fans to discover their favorite Marvel hero in a whole new light, making it a must-have addition to any comic collector's shelf.

At a moment when France was coming to new prominence in the production of furniture and fashion, the fairy tales of Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy (1652–1705) and Henriette-Julie de Murat (1670–1716) gave pride of place to richly detailed descriptions of palaces, gardens, clothing, and toys. Through close readings of these authors’ descriptive prose, Rori Bloom shows how these practitioners of a supposedly minor genre made a major contribution as chroniclers and critics of the decorative arts in Old Regime France. Identifying these authors’ embrace of the pretty and the playful as a response to a frequent critique of fairy tales as childish and feminine, Making the Marvelous demonstrates their integration of artisan’s work, child’s play, and the lady’s toilette into a complex vision of creativity. D’Aulnoy and Murat changed the stakes of the fairy tale, Bloom argues: instead of inviting their readers to marvel at the magic that changes rags to riches, they enjoined them to acknowledge the skill that transforms raw materials into beautiful works of art.

Guide to making woodworking projects that move, whiz and whir, flip, and more.

Collects Marvel (2020) 1-6. Unforgettable stories from a once-in-a-lifetime assemblage of talent! Thirty years ago, Alex Ross had a vision for a new series showcasing Marvel’s heroes in a way they’d never been seen before. The first realization of that idea became the blockbuster MARVELS — but Ross Alex finally brings his original dream to life! MARVEL is an anthology of stories by unique, exceptional talents, many of whom are working with these characters for the very first time. And all these tales are linked together by an overarching story by Ross featuring the dread dream lord Nightmare, who threatens the entire Marvel Universe — and possibly beyond! Featuring Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, the Thing, Doctor Doom, the Vision, Namor, the Sub-Mariner, Warlock, Rocket Raccoon, the Golden Age Black Widow and more!

Don't miss Selznick's other novels in words and pictures, The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, which together with The Marvels, form an extraordinary thematic trilogy! A breathtaking new voyage from Caldecott Medalist Brian Selznick.Two stand-alone stories--the first in nearly 400 pages of continuous pictures, the second in prose--create a beguiling narrative puzzle.The journey begins at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage.Nearly a century later, runaway Joseph Jervis seeks refuge with an uncle in London. Albert Nightingale's strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits and ghostly presences, captivates Joseph and leads him on a search for clues about the house, his family, and the past.A gripping adventure and an intriguing invitation to decipher how the two stories connect, The Marvels is a loving tribute to the power of story from an artist at the vanguard of creative innovation.

A cross-cultural study of magical phenomena in the Middle Ages. Marvels like enchanted rings and sorcerers’ stones were topics of fascination in the Middle Ages, not only in romance and travel literature but also in the period’s philosophical writing. Rather than constructions of belief accepted only by simple-minded people, Michelle Karnes shows that these spectacular wonders were near impossibilities that demanded scrutiny and investigation. This is the first book to analyze a diverse set of writings on such wonders, comparing texts from the Latin West—including those written in English, French, Italian, and Castilian Spanish —with those written in Arabic as it works toward a unifying theory of marvels across different disciplines and cultures. Karnes tells a story about the parallels between Arabic and Latin thought, reminding us that experiences of the strange and the unfamiliar travel across a range of genres, spanning geographical and conceptual space and offering an ideal vantage point from which to understand intercultural exchange. Karnes traverses this diverse archive, showing how imagination imbues marvels with their character and power, making them at once enigmatic, creative, and resonant. Skirting the distinction between the real and unreal, these marvels challenge readers to discover the highest capabilities of both nature and the human intellect. Karnes offers a rare comparative perspective and a new methodology to study a topic long recognized as central to medieval culture.