The Bells


Book Description

Dazzling, enchanting and epic, The Bells is the confession of a thief, kidnapper and unlikely lover — a boy with the voice of an angel whose exquisite sense of hearing becomes both his life's tragic curse and its greatest blessing. Moses Froben was born in a belfry high in the Swiss Alps, the bastard son of a deaf-mute woman banished to the church tower to ring each day the Loudest and Most Beautiful Bells in the land. His life is simple but he is content, until the day his father recognizes Moses's singular sense of hearing and its power to expose his sins. Cast into the world with only his ears to protect and guide him, Moses finds refuge in the choir of the great Abbey of St. Gall and becomes its star singer, only to endure the horrifying act of castration meant to preserve his angelic voice and turn him into a musico. In a letter to his son, Moses recounts his humble birth in eighteenth-century Switzerland and his life as a novice monk, and tells of the two noble friends — and a forbidden lover — whom he cherished during his chaotic years in Mozart's Vienna as apprentice to the great Gaetano Guadagni, and even as he ascended Europe's most celebrated stages as Lo Svizzero. But in this letter he will also reveal the astonishing secrets of his past and answer the question that has shadowed his fame: how did Moses Froben, world-renowned musico, come to raise a son who by all rights he could never have sired?




Village Bells


Book Description




More Collectible Bells


Book Description

Bells have played a prominent role in our society since the earliest of civilizations, yet few realize the scope of objects encompassed by this broad heading. While all bells share certain qualities--like the ability to produce sound--they vary amazingly in terms of size, shape, style, and material. A flat round Chinese gong is as much a bell as the graceful figurine hiding a swinging clapper beneath her skirt or a strap of round metal "sleigh bells" from the nineteenth century. Featuring over 620 beautiful color photos, this absorbing and entertaining book showcases the wonderful diversity of collectible bells, from animal bells, call bells, and rattles to commemoratives, figurals, miniatures, and holiday bells. Here you will find bells made of different materials, bells with more than one purpose, bells with common motifs, and much more. Both antique and modern, well-known to unique, one of these bells is sure to grab your fancy! Values, an index, and a bibliography are all included.




Llama Llama Jingle Bells


Book Description

It’s almost Christmas! Time for gift giving, song singing, and cookie decorating. Llama Llama and Mama celebrate the holidays in this fifth board book by Anna Dewdney.




The Five Bells and Bladebone


Book Description

When a dismembered corpse is found in the compartments of an antique writing bureau, Marshall Trueblood, recipient of the precious piece of furniture, is the first to protest: “I bought the desk, not the body, send it back.” Who would want to kill Simon Lean, the greedy nephew of the wealthy Lady Summerston? Leave it to Superintendent Richard Jury of Scotland Yard to suggest a connection to the murder of brassy Limehouse lady named Sadie Driver, found dead near Wapping Old Stairs…if that stone-cold body on the slipway is really Sadie. Not even her brother, Tommy, on a visit from Gravesend, can swear to it.




Collectible Bells


Book Description

A wonderful assortment of bells from around the world identified and shown in over 590 color photographs includes bells of many sizes, shapes, styles, colors, and textures, from school bells, cowbells, and bicycle bells to souvenir bells, commemoratives, and figurines. Basic bell types include open mouth bells, crotals, gongs, mechanical bells, and chimes. Bells for every taste and inclination!




Twelve Bells for Santa


Book Description

Three children, off to the North Pole to deliver 12 chocolate bells to Santa for winning a contest, become very hungry on the way.




California's El Camino Real and Its Historic Bells


Book Description

Californias El Camino Real and Its Historic Bells is the first book to trace the history, development and preservation of this historic West Coast transportation corridor.




A City of Bells


Book Description

Jocelyn Irvin, a dispirited Boer War veteran, opens a bookshop in an English cathedral town and produces a play started by a former occupant.




The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret


Book Description

"[A] page-turner…The Telephone Gambit is solid history, and Seth Shulman makes it as much fun to read as an Agatha Christie whodunit." —John Steele Gordon, Wall Street Journal Throughout his career, Alexander Graham Bell, one of the world’s most famous inventors, was plagued by a secret: he stole the key idea behind the invention of the telephone. While researching at MIT, science journalist Seth Shulman scrutinized Bell’s journals and within them found the smoking gun, a hint of deeply buried historical deception. Bell furtively—and illegally—copied part of Elisha Gray’s patent caveat in the race to secure what would become the most valuable U.S. patent ever issued. Delving further into Bell’s story, Shulman unearths the surprising truth behind the telephone—and with it, a tale of romance, corruption, and unchecked ambition. The Telephone Gambit challenges the reputation of an icon of invention, rocks the foundation of a corporate behemoth, and offers a probing meditation on how little we know about our own history.