Briefly noted: the season's highlights from scholarly publishers; The Story of Craft, by Edward Lucie-Smith. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 288 pp. $29.95.

This well-illustrated and thoughtful book explores the role of the craftsman through history in all its irregularity and social complexity.

Beginning with the ancient world it traces craft through the Middle Ages and Renaissance to the various stages of the Industrial Revolution. It exposes the reactionary arts and crafts movement of the late 1800s, which argued for preserving man's humanity in the face of the machine and viewed the decorative arts as a moral force. The 20th-century concerns include craft and consumerism and the blurred line between craft and fine art.