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Thread: Mandolin Coffee Table Book

  1. #1
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    Are there any books dedicated to the history of mandolins? I would love something with TONS of pictures. I would like something which referenced as wide a variety of luthiers/companies as possible.

    My wife has a great book on French Art on display as our "coffee table book" at the minute and I believe my hobby needs to be equally represented to our guests when they stop by. Also, any other suggestions on titles that might be worth looking at that deal more with the bluegrass genre maybe?

    Thanks!
    Pen

    "How many of you folks have seen that movie "O Brother, Where Ya At?"--Ralph Stanley

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    I've been hoping for an exhaustive, lavishly illustrated mando book, and even rattled a few cages to spark some interest, but no luck.

    There are afew good mandolin books out there, but none of the coffee table type, and most of them are somewhat narrow in focus. Sparks has written "The Classical Mandolin", which is of interest regarding the mandolin in general over the last century or two, but it's out of print and hard to find. A recent book on the Embergher mandolin was published overseas, and is certainly full of info and beautiful photos, but it is limited, of course, to Embergher instruments. (It's also soft-covered, which is a bit of a bummer, since it'll run you $50 or more).

    Tsumura's huge "1001 Banjos" is a visual documentary of collector's excess, and contains mandolins as well as banjos, but it too is hard to find, and breath-takingly expensive. New, it ran around $500, and brings more than double that when a copy comes up for sale.

    Gruhn has published some handsome books, but again they are not mando-specific. At least they're affordable and available. I'd think that they'd be closest to what you're looking for, and being a Nashville kinda guy, there's more than a bit of a slant toward country and 'grass.

  3. #3
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    My instructor, Curtis Buckhannon, has a great coffee table book on the illustrated history of Gibson instruments. It has some great stuff on the mandolin family. It looks pretty old and I have no idea if it is in print anymore. I can find out the info on it, though, if you like.

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    It's not coffee table, but there's a guy on ebay that sells a cd chock full 'o mandolins.

  5. #5

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    What about the Larson Brothers book? It's chock full of info on mandos and guitars and the color pictures are GORGEOUS--just the thing for those of us with VMAS (as in vintage mandos!)
    "There are two refuges from the miseries of life--music and cats" Albert Schweitzer

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