This is a book about why medieval manuscripts matter. Coming face to face with an important illuminated manuscript in the original is like meeting a very famous person. We may all pretend that a well-known celebrity is no different from anyone else, & yet there is an undeniable thrill in actually meeting & talking to a person of world stature. The idea for the book, which is entirely new, is to invite the reader into intimate conversations with twelve of the most famous manuscripts in existence & to explore with the author what they tell us about nearly a thousand years of medieval history
- & sometimes about the modern world too. Christopher de Hamel introduces us to kings, queens, saints, scribes, artists, librarians, thieves, dealers, collectors & the international community of manuscript scholars, showing us how he & his fellows piece together evidence to reach unexpected conclusions. He traces the elaborate journeys which these exceptionally precious artefacts have made through time & space, shows us how they have been copied, who has owned them or lusted after them (and how we can tell), how they have been embroiled in politics & scholarly disputes, how they have been regarded as objects of supreme beauty & luxury & as symbols of national identity. The book touches on religion, art, literature, music, science & the history of taste. Part travel book, part detective story, part conversation with the reader, Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts conveys the fascination & excitement of encountering some of the greatest works of art in our culture which, in the originals, are to most people completely inaccessible. At the end, we have a slightly different perspective on history & how we come by knowledge. It is a most unusual book.
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This is the exhilarating, life-affirming call to spiritual arms from world-renowned spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. ` Gurdjieff`s voice is heard as a call. He calls because he suffers from the inner chaos in which we live. He calls to us to open our eyes. He asks us why we are here, what we wish for, what forces we obey. He asks us, above all, if we understand what we are...` Part adventure narrative, part travelogue, part spiritual guide, Meetings with Remarkable Men is suffused with Gurdjieff`s unique perspective on life. With vivacity & charm, he organizes his account around portraits of the remarkable men & women who accompanied him through remote parts of the Near East & Central Asia, & who aided his search for hidden knowledge. Among them are Gurdjieff`s own father (a traditional bard), a Russian prince dedicated to the search for Truth, a Christian missionary who entered a World Brotherhood deep in Asia, & a woman who escaped slavery to become a trusted member of Gurdjieff`s group of fellow seekers. Meetings with Remarkable Men conveys a haunting sense of what it means to live fully
- with conscience, with purpose & with heart.
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Meetings with Remarkable Muslims is a collection of personal reminiscences of friendships & chance encounters which have left an indelible mark on the author. Throwing a bridge across the divide, it shows how immeasurably richer our lives are for sharing & understanding different cultural traditions
- what a source of inspiration they can be. This diverse collection of writers draws together a world which stretches from Morocco in the West to India in the east. What shines through is a common humanity
- shared by both writers & subjects
- a need to earn, to love, to protect, to enjoy & to make sense of life.


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With this astonishong collection of tree portraits, Thomas Packenham has produced a new kind of tree book. The trees are grouped according to their characteristics; roughly half are ancient native trees in the UK, while the rest are exotic newcomers from Europe. ...

Topographical survey of Belgium at 1:20, 000 from Nationaal Geografisch Instituut / Institut Géographique National, the country’s national survey organization. Each 20K map covers one quarter of the corresponding 1:50, 000 map (with adjustments in the border & coastal areas). The maps provide all the information expected of topographic mapping at this scale & in addition have an unusually large amount of vegetation and/or land use information (different types of woodlands, gardens, orchards, heath, etc). The maps have a 1-km UTM grid, with margin ticks for latitude & longitude at intervals of 1`. Map legend & a glossary of terms used on the maps include English. Stanfords keeps as regular stock 20K maps for the World War I battlefields around the Ypres, Messines & Passchendaele, & for the area of the Battle of Waterloo. The 1:20, 000 survey covers the whole of Belgium & maps for other regions can be supplied as special orders. To see the list of titles in this series please click on the series link.PLEASE NOTE: the Long-Distance Footpaths Map of Belgium at 1:300, 000 which shows the division of Belgium into the 50K survey sheets can also be used to see in more detail coverage by the 20K maps. ...

There are surprises galore for Meg, Mog & Owl in these three classic Meg & Mog stories: ” Meg`s Eggs”, ” Meg at Sea” & ” Mog in the Fog”. As ever, Meg casts her spells with the best of intentions but always with hilarious results. Children will love exploring the colours, sounds & shapes in this bumper volume, perfect for sharing or reading alone. ...

Megaliesberg
- Pilanesberg & the Waterberg in a series of double-sided touring maps with GPS coordinates for selected road junctions,
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Stanford`s Children`s Book of the Month February 2016. The story of the alien visitor’s adventures in the great city of Megalopolis quite literally unfolds along with the single continuous & meticulous three metre long illustration. There’s even a challenge to find every single giraffe, bicycle, ghost cake & more when you’ve finished reading. The combination of intricately detailed illustrations, charming story & inventive design come together to create a truly magical experience that children & adults will both love. It’s out of this world
- sorry, you must have known that was coming.
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Technology moves fast
- so where will it have taken us by 2050? How will it affect the way we live? & how far are we willing to
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Topographic survey of France at 1:25, 000 in IGN`s excellent TOP25 / Série Bleue series. All the maps are GPS compatible, with a 1km UTM grid plus latitude & longitude lines at 5’ intervals. Contours are at 5m intervals except for mountainous areas where the maps have contours at 10m intervals, vividly enhanced by hill shading & graphics for rocky terrain. Colouring with graphics indicates different types of vegetation or land use (deciduous or coniferous forests, moors, orchards, vineyards, etc). PLEASE NOTE: coverage of France at this scale is currently being revised – the format & the presentation of each title are indicated by the letters at the end of its Sheet Reference number (e.g. 0416ET, 3531ETR, 1923SB, etc.)MAPS WITH FULL TOURIST OVERPRINT & AN ENGLISH MAP LEGEND: all TOP25 maps & the SB editions of Série Bleue have an overprint highlighting waymarked walking trails including long-distance GR routes &, where appropriate, ski routes. Symbols indicate campsites, gîtes d’etape, refuges, equestrian centres & other recreational facilities or sites, tourist information centres, cultural heritage, etc. Towns & locations of particular interest are highlighted.- ET or OT = single-sided TOP25 map covering approx. 29x 21 km / 18x 13 miles.- ETR or OTR = waterproof & tear resistant TOP25 map covering the same area as the corresponding ET or OT number, but double-sided, printed on a smaller size sheet with a good overlap between the sides.- SB = Série Bleue map with full tourist overprint; these maps, first introduced in summer 2014, each cover approx. 29x 24km / 18x 15 miles.SÉRIE BLEUE maps with numbers ending in E (Est) or O (Ouest): most editions now indicate the GR routes, but do not show any other tourist information. Map legend is in French only. Each map covers approx. 14x 20km / 9x 12 miles. ...