An exquisitely illustrated and fascinating short history of opium culture. "Opium" will open people's eyes to the bizarre and shocking history of a drug that began with use in religious ceremonies, then raised high hopes as a cure for many ills in Victorian times and was regarded as an embodiment of the romantic East, leading to its horrific consequences today. In her meticulously researched text, Barbara Hodgson delves into the nature and history of opium, focusing on its exotic incarnation as a drug to be smoked. As well as examining its factual history—in memoirs, science, and travel books—she explores portrayals of opium use in fiction and film. The book captures the heady essence of the opium era and is packed with illustrations that trace the changing image of the drug: artifacts and apparatus of opium use; illustrations of opium dens in Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco, Toulon, and Canton; portraits of drug-taking writers; lurid covers of nineteenth-century illustrated newspapers and twentieth-century pulp-fiction drug titles; and stills from drug-related films. Text and images in this beautifully designed book perfectly evoke the insiduous allure and devastating dangers of opium smoking.

Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon

History

HODGSON, BARBARA

World

Souvenir Press Ltd.

Opium

Historical Study & Educational Resources

BOOKMARK REMAINDERS

"I'm beside myself, I can barely write this the design on my left hand is now extended up my wrist ..." So deepens the enigma of The Tattooed Map, a richly illustrated and thoroughly captivating first novel by Barbara Hodgson. Somewhere in Northern Africa, an intrepid traveler awakens with a mysterious mark on her hand that soon develops into a detailed, macabre map spreading across her skin. As Lydia's private journal entries unfold complete with fold-out maps, photographs, drawings, and handwritten notes the reader becomes as drawn into the conundrum of the tattooed map as Lydia herself. When Lydia disappears and her friend Christopher takes up her journal to record his search for her, the situation becomes even more puzzling until the book's haunting resolution. In this unique novel, as engrossing to look at as it is to read, Hodgson has crafted a spine-tingling mystery that will make armchair adventurers want to embark upon their own journeys if only they could be sure of their return.

The Tattooed Map

Literature & Fiction

United States

Chronicle Books+

Resting fitfully on the night train to Vienn a, Helen discovers, quite literally, that she is losing her senses. In this novel, the author has created a mystery that weaves together the unseemly history of anatomical art with a gruesome murder '

The Sensualist: A Novel

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Chronicle Books LLC.

With its connotations of mystery and sinister beauty, opium holds a near mythical place in the popular imagination. From swaying poppy fields to dimly lit, smoke-laden opium dens, author Barbara Hodgson traces the path of opium's creation and consumption, and describes how it has been alternately rhapsodized, demonized, and anointed. A seductive muse that fueled the visions of artists, writers, and poets including Baudelaire, Coleridge, Wilde, and Poe, opium was also used in hundreds of commonly consumed patent medicines. Today, opium remains one of the most widely trafficked drugs and its story is by turns strange, comic, and dark. Illuminated by an amazing array of archival photographs, rare engravings, movie stills, and lurid dime store book covers, Opium is an engrossing look at this illicit indulgence.

In search of a new adventure, Hippolyte Webb, quixotic spirit, modern-day explorer, and natural historian, sets his sights on the Auroras, a group of tiny islands in the middle of the South Atlantic. His destination wouldn't be so unusual, except that these islands were last spotted almost two hundred years ago. Equipped with a centuries-old map, an inadequate sailboat, and an advance payment for a book about his quest, Hippolyte embarks on an unforgettable voyage, not just through unfamiliar seas but through the uncharted territory of his own mind and heart. This new novel by the author of The Sensualist and The Tattooed Map--lavishly illustrated with over forty illustrations and a fold-out map--is an enigmatic tale bridging the space that lies between what we believe and what we know.

Hippolyte's Island: An Illustrated Novel

Contemporary

With its genius for art and culture, there is no country in the world as wonderfully civilized (and civilizing) as Italy. But seething below this surface is a long and shadowy history of corruption, cruelty, and the generally bizarre. For centuries it has been overrun by waves of invaders, all contributing their own questionable bits of culture, and all wantonly adding to the confusion. So, how is a poor visitor supposed to make sense of this anarchic place? Co-creator of the cult favorite Paris Out of Hand, Barbara Hodgson has neatly brushed away the chaos and assembled an eclectic treasury of forgotten and overlooked oddities: long-lost popes, bloodthirsty mercenaries, tempestuous artists, and inexplicable follies. Italy Out of Hand is not a traditional guidebook, with hotel addresses and hours of operation. Rather, it is an idiosyncratic tour of a country that is too overwhelming and extravagant for most of us to comprehend without a little guidance. Illustrated with an equally eclectic selection of photographs, portraits, and art, Italy Out of Hand is the perfect companion for those who like their truths to be stranger than fiction.

Italy Out of Hand: A Capricious Tour

Travel

Europe

Now in paperback, this potent mystery draws readers into a tangle of lost loves, vengeance, and murder. Set in the dark world of a European winter, and illuminated with Barbara Hodgson's haunting illustrations, The Sensualist is a visual and literary exploration of the limitations of looking and the boundless power of seeing.

The Sensualist: An Illustrated Novel

Hippolyte's Island (Seuil)

In the spring of 1914, a restless young man leaves England for a tour of the exotic east. A bit of Egypt, a glimpse of Syria, a nod to Constantinople -- that's all that was supposed to happen. Instead, Julian Beaufort becomes mesmerized. Wandering in idle admiration through the labyrinthine streets of Damascus, he stumbles upon Bait Katib, a house that takes possession of his heart. It is elegant; it is ancient; and it is, after a bit of negotiation with the owner, his. He has every intention of staying there for the rest of his life. But the world doesn't relinquish its hold so easily. Two bloody wars -- one in Europe and one in Syria -- leave Julian wounded and the city of Damascus in ruins. He returns from battle to find his precious house still standing, but no longer entirely his. It seems someone else may be occupying the shadows of Bait Katib. A mystery, a love story, and a journey to a sepia-toned past, Barbara Hodgson's new illustrated novel will haunt and delight her many devoted readers and tempt legions more to take a guided journey into another world.

The Lives of Shadows: An Illustrated Novel

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by HODGSON, BARBARA. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by HODGSON, BARBARA

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by HODGSON, BARBARA. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon

Opium

The Tattooed Map

The Sensualist: A Novel

Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon

Hippolyte's Island: An Illustrated Novel

Italy Out of Hand: A Capricious Tour

The Sensualist: An Illustrated Novel

Hippolyte's Island (Seuil)

The Lives of Shadows: An Illustrated Novel