No Money Left For The Coffee Table

For a holiday gift that really carries weight, some coffee-table books have heftier price tags than the furniture on which they rest. "Guts and Glory: The Golden Age of American Football, 1958–1978" collects published and unpublished works of legendary sports photographer Neil Leifer ($500; taschen.com). For hard-core fans, 200 tomes are accompanied by two rare prints ($1,350). British publisher Opus offers several notable volumes: Harnessing the spirit of a fashion legend, the company has printed 900 copies—in nine different covers—of "The Vivienne Westwood Opus" ($2,100; krakenopus.com). The regular edition of "The Formula 1 Opus" ($5,000; krakenopus .com) also comes in a special run, featuring photographs, stories and autographs from every living world champion, including the youngest-ever victor, Lewis Hamilton ($30,000). And the cover of FMR's "Michaelangelo: The Learned Hand" features a bas-relief replica of "La Madonna Della Scala" carved into marble ($130,000; www.fmronline.com). Book dimensions correspond to the Fibonacci Sequence—a novel form of smart reading.

© 2008