Back Cover Summary Essays: The Art of Description is a magnificent vista of thrilling collectibles - relics of Americana that might not quite make the grade for featuring in the Smithsonian (or Cooperstown for that matter), yet in many instances, these are intensely appealing to an expansive audience beyond the world of collectingdom. These are objects d'art - most of them with fabulous heritages, and many of them with compelling visual presence as well. The catalyst in all this however is the dynamic supportive narrative that attends each essay. Seen through the prism of what is real, we may appreciate that the very human Ted Williams struggled to tolerate any manner of nuisance, or that art of the highest caliber could be expressed through the simple medium of a hand-held scoring device used by umpires over a century ago. There really aren't any (or very few) "characters" in Essays. Instead, we see famous people (often sporting celebrities) sometimes basking in their lofty stations; but equally, we may see pathetically fallible creatures in these otherwise American luminaries.