Book excerpt: Do you want intricate and convoluted scrollwork for a poster or newspaper ad? Are you looking for an ornate floral design for your decoupage? Are you into collage or boxes filled with mementos from the recent, florid past? Or do you want to make Victorian greeting cards or bookplates like those you found in your great-grandfather's books? You'll find designs for these and a multitude of other imaginative projects in this rich and impressive collection overflowing with remarkable Victorian ornament. Klimsch's exceptional quality of rendering these designs, his use of clean lines, shading, and three-dimensional effects in the most complex ornaments, is truly remarkable. He captures the Victorian love of the fantastic and exotic, of a riotous imagination that is ultimately controlled and ordered. These examples of Victorian ornamentation are among the very best that can be found today. Florid Victorian Ornament contains more than 700 metal-engraved designs on 102 plates: borders, frames, corners, leaves, scrollwork, strapwork, rosettes, escutcheons, and cartouches in varied sizes and styles. There are floral motifs: leaves, flowers, vines, wreaths, and vases filled with incredibly ornate, ever-spreading, ever-germinating greenery. There are intricate geometric patterns: Greek frets, interlocking circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, rococo extravagances, curlicues beyond description. And there are the perennial lions, swans, serpents, heads, hats, helmets, vegetables, innocent waifs, lovers, and healthy, overripe women. From this vivid collection commercial artists, craftspeople, and designers will find numerous designs they can readily use in advertising and graphics work or for their own personal enjoyment. And if you are a lover of Victoriana, grab this book and revel in excess.