The end of summer always signals an outpouring of new books on every conceivable subject, including many that are of particular interest to the collector. This year is no exception. Here are a few outstanding early arrivals:

"The Railway: Art in the Age of Steam" by Ian Kennedy and Julian Treuherz, Yale University Press, $65.

Today we see the railway as just another, fairly unremarkable way of getting from one place to another, perhaps with a nostalgic glance back at the glories of its golden age. Yet, when they first appeared in the 19th century, steam locomotives pulling trains of coaches along iron tracks amounted to a form of transportation as novel and unprecedented as space travel seems today. In an era when a galloping horse defined the concept of speed, vehicles that could transport scores of people at 40, 50 or 60 mph boggled the mind. Steam trains opened up continents, provided travelers with new levels of convenience and luxury, and newspapers with sensational stories of then-common train wrecks, often with significant loss of life. No wonder artists such as J.M.W. Turner, Honore Daumier, Claude Monet and Edward Hopper were fascinated with them. This comprehensive and superbly illustrated book is the last word on railway-related art, and will appeal equally to anyone building an art library and to collectors of railroad memorabilia.

"Performance: Richard Avedon" by John Lahr, Mike Nichols, Andre Gregory, Mitsuko Uchida, and Twyla Tharp, Harry N Abrams, $75.

This is an elegantly produced object in itself — a portfolio-style bound book — featuring more than 200 portraits of a remarkable range of mid- to late 20th century entertainment icons. Avedon, a performance artist in his own right, was able to tease great poses out of the greats of stage, screen and the concert arena, from Judy Garland and Humphrey Bogart to Rudolph Nureyev and Leonard Bernstein to the Monty Python gang and Jon Stewart. Some simply strike a pose for the camera, some are caught en dishabille in their dressing rooms, others are caught in full regalia in front of Broadway footlights or on a Hollywood set, in addition to which there are, by contrast, extremely affecting pictures of aging street performers in Rome, born thespians whose theater is the sidewalk. The celebrities listed as authors offer appreciative memories of the photographer.

"Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection" by Mario S. De Pillis and Christian Goodwillie, Yale University Press, $75

There has been considerable interest of late in Shaker design, and this is a particularly enlightening volume, focusing as it does on the superb collection formed by Edward Deming and Faith Young Andrews, starting in the 1920s, before these simple objects were valued for their singular pure aesthetic. The book — documenting a traveling exhibition of the collection — contains some 600 photographs, most of them never before published — of "Tree of Life" and other "Gift Drawings," Shaker manuscript and printed works, visual art, furniture, wooden boxes, baskets, kitchenware, metalware, tools, and textiles. The comprehensive text chronicles the fascinating story of the Andrews' collecting, scholarship, and relationship with the Shakers.

Antique and Collectible Dictionary by Robert & Claudette Reed, Collector Books, $24.95

The Reeds have undertaken a massive task, and performed it admirably, covering both antiques and many areas of collectibles. Entries are arranged alphabetically, from Philadelphia silversmith Joseph Aaron to the ancient beer-like beverage Zythum, covering thousands of proper names, terms, companies, materials, furniture makers, silversmiths and clockmakers — a 20-year-long ancient beer-like beverage, project. Definitions vary in size and depth from a couple of lines for many of the craftspeople, to longer paragraphs on types of furniture, dolls and toys, pottery, etc. Well illustrated with color examples on every page, this is recommended as a valuable, quick and handy reference.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, including "Cool Names for Babies" and "The Baby Name Bible" (St. Martin's Press; www.babynamebible.com). She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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