It's one of the oldest laws of holiday gift giving--it may even be somewhere in the Code of Hammurabi--that big, sumptuous illustrated books, the kind with lots of full- and double-page photographs and art in ultra-high-thread-count reproductions, are the obvious solution to the problem of what to get practically anybody. If you buy a friend or loved one the right book of that kind, it not only flatters your dear one's intelligence and aesthetics; it also tells everyone just how good your taste and judgment are. You're practically buying your own advertising, since richly illustrated volumes tend to be kept on...
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