Brilliant Doorstop Dept:

The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography has joined the 21st Century. With 846 pages and weighing nearly seven pounds, this new $100 tome is guaranteed to stop any door — and to answer any question whatsoever about the history or the craft of photography. It also brings to mind a host of clichés: "must-have for serious students of photography!," "the definitive reference!," "truly a Bible!" etc. etc.

First published in 1956, The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography has long been one of the most trusted and comprehensive reference books on all aspects of the medium, from historic developments to key biographies to descriptions of terms and techniques. (A 1973 companion volume, The Focal Dictionary of Photographic Techniques, specializes in the latter.) But the highly regarded Third Edition of the Encyclopedia came out in 1993 — when digital technology was just beginning to reshape the medium — so it's high time for an update. The new Fourth Edition is heavily focused on digital developments, as well as contemporary issues, from the archiving qualities of digital media to the ethics of photojournalism to the future of publishing in the Web era. The book also comes with a keyword-searchable CD-ROM containing PDFs of its contents; to see more about this click here.

Edited by RIT professor Michael R. Peres and produced with a huge team of scholars, the Encyclopedia varies in tone from anecdotal to clinical, but the emphasis is on clear, detailed descriptions that can be referenced by index or browsed by subject. Though the text has been thoroughly reworked from the Third Edition, some material was held over and updated, like the book's 20-page timeline on photo advances — from Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's first photograph in 1826 through Wacom's 2005 pen tablet incorporating wireless technology — and sections on selected photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Though it's surprisingly text-heavy and photo-light — with many so-so illustrations submitted by editor Peres as opposed to the master photographers cited in the text — this book nonetheless invites fun perusal by the casual viewer or deeper reading by the serious scholar. For order information, go to the publisher's Website. — Jack Crager