Bound By Tradition

PRE-COLUMBIAN ART AND THE POST-COLUMBIAN WORLD, by Barbara Braun (Abrams; $75). African sculpture and its influence on modern art is well documented. Less so is the effect of ancient American design on 19th and 20th century painters, sculptors and architects. Braun traces the aesthetic roots of artists such as sculptor Henry Moore, painter Paul Klee and architect Frank Lloyd Wright back to the Maya, Aztec and pre-Columbian civilizations of Peru.

GIRLHOOD EMBROIDERY: AMERICAN SAMPLERS AND PICTORIAL NEEDLEWORK, 1650-1850, by Betty Ring (Knopf; $125). For centuries regarded as examples of women's household craft, antique samplers now hang in museums and are coveted by collectors. This scholarly two-volume work explores the origins of needlework and its importance in a girl's education. Illustrating the text are samplers stitched by girls between the ages of six and 18. Here is yesterday's homework transformed into today's art.

THAT'S THE WAY I SEE IT, by David Hockney (Chronicle Books; $35). The English pop artist's aggressive, arresting and restless work has explored nearly every medium -- painting, photography and printmaking. Here he discusses his development, training and inspirations at relaxed length. A generous selection of milestone paintings and drawings illustrates the scope of his visual assault on the commercial symbolism of the middle class, and Hockney's private vision and public persona.

VICTORIAN AMERICA: CLASSICAL ROMANTICISM TO GILDED OPULENCE, by Wendell Garrett (Rizzoli; $65). The over-the-top style known as Victorian celebrated the industrial age's lucky few. Never mind that for the masses, conspicuous consumption usually meant an advanced case of tuberculosis. Still, the rich could be both showy and tasteful. Garrett's homage to opulent eclecticism guides us through the layered textures and studied array of objets that . whisper "old money" while at the same time suggesting the mother of all garage sales.

THE EGYPTIAN JUKEBOX, by Nick Bantock (Viking; $18.95). A taste for archeology and an itch for puzzle solving will enhance enjoyment of this intriguing combination of art book and mystery story by the popular author of the Griffin & Sabine books. The illustrations are composed of curious knickknacks found in a museum cabinet built by a missing eccentric millionaire. The artifacts, reminiscent of Joseph Cornell's haunting boxes, are clues to the whereabouts of their owner. And what of his worried daughter, who has a hand in the text? Stories about the missing man's adventures also harbor clues. Have an interactive Christmas.

ROLLING STONE: THE PHOTOGRAPHS (Simon & Schuster; paper; $30). These pictures from Rolling Stone pose the question why, after years of star-gazing, we still find these faces affecting. Perhaps we needed time's wear and tear to catch up with the overnight ravages shown in the portraits selected for this celebrity retrospective. Janis Joplin is slumped on a torn couch clutching a bottle of Southern Comfort; a slumbering Keith Richards slides off a folding chair. Others superstars appear to take fame in stride: a youthful Arnold Schwarzenegger mugs like a film noir actor of the '40s; and a yet-to-be- President Ronald Reagan calmly awaits his greatest B-movie role.

SPLENDORS OF ISTANBUL: HOUSES AND PALACES ALONG THE BOSPORUS, photographs by Francesco Venturi and Chris Hellier (Abbeville Press; $67.50). Most of the impressive getaway real estate shown in these ornate pages has waterfront views. But to live on the Bosporus, the neck of water that separates European and Asian Turkey, is to gaze at a wide cultural horizon. This is a place where East and West say howdy, and mean it. Differences blend easily on this ancient frontier, especially variations in architecture. This delightful volume is an introduction to a hybrid high life not encountered in the usual armchair package.

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON: THE WATERCOLORS FOR "THE BIRDS OF AMERICA" (Villard Books and the New-York Historical Society; $75). In 1863 Audubon's impoverished widow sold these 464 pictures for about $9 apiece. The buyer was the New-York Historical Society, which in effect saved the national treasures from going to the British Museum. This superb book reproduces the lot, including lone raptors, happily married curlews, bouquets of warblers and a pair of black vultures about to tuck into a venison feast. An excellent biographical essay places Audubon in his world -- a world where science and art could still be indistinguishable.

ANIMA, by James Balog (Arts Alternative Press; $29.95). The author of this provocative picture essay about cross-species friendship notes that 98.4% of the genetic material of Homo sapiens and chimpanzees is identical. Working the 1.6% separation, Balog poses naked men and women in playful contact with chimps that appear to understand the difference between "Say cheese" and "Say banana." The text finds New Age connections, suggesting a common humanity with our wild cousins, although the link is still missing in the images.

PROVENCE, photographs by Sonja Bullaty and Angelo Lomeo (Abbeville Press; $45). Can the camera compete with Cezanne and Matisse? Only in price. These 150 dreamy photos of landscapes, still-lifes and street scenes taken in the south of France come to $3 per image. They are the work of two American photographers, among the latest to be seduced by Provence's visual bounty, exemplified here by acres of sunflowers, market stalls overflowing with produce, tiled roofs sloping toward lush gardens, cliffs leaning over the sea, weathered Roman ruins and a perfectly toasted Yves Montand at play.

CAMILLE PISSARRO, by Joachim Pissarro (Abrams; $67.50). The author has assembled more than 300 of his great-grandfather's paintings, many from private collections and never before reproduced in color. The arrangement of the work stresses the grand old Impressionist's innovations and technical range, beginning with early works from Venezuela and the Virgin Islands and those influenced by Degas and Cezanne. This is a reassessment that should broaden appreciation of an artist who is generally known for his variations on the French countryside and the bustling boulevards of Paris.