The Oxford Companion to J. M. W. Turner

Rating:
Summary: Lives up to its title
Review: Although certain Oxford Companions have been flawed -- that to "Film" had a lot of errors; and in my minority opinion that to "English Literature" wastes far too much space on tangential matters -- most are informative, authoritative, and endlessly browsable. This new Companion to Turner belongs among them. With all the detail it offers about Turner, it's a substantial work and one that will only appeal to those who already have one or more collections of his works; it's understandable that this volume does not duplicate these; if it did, its weight and size (and unwieldiness) and price would rocket.

My only disappointment so far is admittedly peripheral: why does such a scholarly (and expensive) volume not come in the black (or immensely dark blue) cloth that OUP gives to most of its hardbacks?

Rating:
Summary: Lives up to its title
Review: Although certain Oxford Companions have been flawed -- that to "Film" had a lot of errors; and in my minority opinion that to "English Literature" wastes far too much space on tangential matters -- most are informative, authoritative, and endlessly browsable. This new Companion to Turner belongs among them. With all the detail it offers about Turner, it's a substantial work and one that will only appeal to those who already have one or more collections of his works; it's understandable that this volume does not duplicate these; if it did, its weight and size (and unwieldiness) and price would rocket.

My only disappointment so far is admittedly peripheral: why does such a scholarly (and expensive) volume not come in the black (or immensely dark blue) cloth that OUP gives to most of its hardbacks?

Rating:
Summary: WORDY AND FEW PAINTINGS
Review: Maybe I am silly but if you are going to call a book a companion on a painter you should have plenty of paintings from each of the periods in his/her life to share with the reader. This book is primarily sound even exciting scholarship with a paltry amount of paintings.
If you are taking a graduate course in art history it is right on target however if you are madly in love with the art of this giant go elsewhere for your pleasure.