Search results for ""British Museum Press""
British Museum Press The British Museum Guide: (English)
This practical guide is split into seven main sections, each covering a key geographical area or historical period: Africa, the Americas, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. An introduction to the collections in each of these areas is followed by a curated selection of key objects, arranged by room number to help orientate your visit. Following this are seven themed galleries: Enlightenment, Collecting the World, the Waddesdon Bequest, Living and Dying, Clocks and Watches, Money, and Prints and Drawings. Fully illustrated in colour, there is a complete map of the Museum at the front of the guide, which gives detailed directions. This is a perfect companion for visitors who want to savour the highlights of the collection.
£6.84
British Museum Press The Lacock Cup
The Lacock Cup is a rare object with a unique English history. Made in the 1430s, it is one of a handful of pieces of secular silver from the Middle Ages, which both survived the changing culture of Tudor fashion and the turmoil of the Reformation. Originally created as a drinking cup for feasting in the fifteenth century, the Cup later became a sacred chalice for the community of Lacock in Wiltshire at the parish church of Saint Cyriac. With an unbroken local heritage of over 400 years, this piece was a central feature of religious ceremony until the late twentieth century. The remarkable story of this special cup is brought to life in this short and accessible book. Its history, from drinking vessel to holy chalice, opens a window into the culture of late medieval England and having survived the centuries in near perfect condition, it acts as a witness to these times of great change. Charting the journey of the Cup, from fifteenth century medieval society, through the Reformation and later Civil War to the present day, this book will also explore the Cup’s role as a communion vessel in its local setting of Lacock, and its treatment at the British Museum where it has been on loan since 1962. The Cup remained in irregular use by the parish until the 1980s, and this story of over 500 years of outstanding care and use provides a fitting conclusion to one of England’s most important silver objects.
£6.27
British Museum Press The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone contains a decree written three times in Greek, Demotic and hieroglyphic that provided the key to the mysterious hieroglyphic script of ancient Egypt, and opened up 3,000 years of the country's history and culture. This book tells the fascinating story of one of archaeology's icons, from its creation in the second century BC, to its discovery in 1799 during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, to the subsequent race to decipher its hieroglyphic text. Undertaken by two brilliant scholars - the Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion, and the English physicist Thomas Young - it was the former who eventually succeeded in making the crucial breakthrough. Today the Rosetta Stone stands in the Museum as an enduring symbol of human understanding and communication through the ages.
£6.84
British Museum Press The British Museum Little Book of Mummies
The mummified forms, along with beautifully painted masks and coffins, of animals, scribes, viziers, noblemen and women, priests, pharaohs and queens from the Pharaonic period, all feature in this miniature but magnificent introduction to the world of the Ancient Egyptian mummy.
£5.13
British Museum Press Explore the Parthenon: An Ancient Greek Temple and its Sculptures
The Parthenon in Athens is the most famous Greek temple in the world and an icon of Ancient Greek art. It was built to house a colossal statue of the goddess Athena, and the temple itself was decorated with sculptures and reliefs of the most magnificent quality. These sculptures are now on display in London and Athens, and are admired by thousands of visitors each year. This book explores in detail these lovely carvings, with the aid of new detailed digital photography. Who are the people, animals, and gods and goddesses shown on the frieze and what are they doing? Why were they shown on a temple? How were the sculptures made, and how did the carvers give such an amazing illusion of ranks of horsemen, chariots and people in carvings only a few centimetres deep? Ian Jenkins, a world expert on Ancient Greek sculpture, describes and explains these wonderful sculptures in a vivid and simple way for children, and puts them in the context of Ancient Greek religion, life and art. Children will enjoy discovering the wonders of the Parthenon sculptures for themselves but in the process they will also gain a much greater understanding of the people who created the Parthenon and of the world of classical Athens.
£6.27
British Museum Press Treasures from Sutton Hoo
Discover the real story behind The Dig, streaming now on Netflix, starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes The objects unearthed in 1939 from an Anglo-Saxon ship-burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, rank among the most splendid treasures in the collection of the British Museum. Bringing together fine craftsmanship from England, Germany, Scandinavia, Alexandria and far Byzantium, the spectacular finds included gold and garnet jewellery, silverware, drinking vessels with silver-gilt fittings, a lyre and a sceptre, as well as the iconic helmet, all deliberately buried in the early seventh century as grave-goods for an important, though unidentified, warrior. The Sutton Hoo ship-burial was one of the most exciting discoveries ever made in British archaeology. This beautifully designed introduction to the treasure details the most significant pieces contained within it and explores the circumstances of its burial, discovery and excavation, as well as its lasting legacy and fame.
£6.84
British Museum Press Michelangelo the last decades
Tracing the final 30 years of Michelangelo's career, this book examines how the great master used art and faith to explore the common human experience of ageing in a rapidly changing world. This fascinating and beautifully illustrated catalogue demonstrates the creativity of Michelangelo's late years in a way that is both accessible and scholarly.' Jill Burke, author of How to be a Renaissance Woman and The Italian Renaissance Nude Michelangelo Buonarroti (14751564) was one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. He was not the isolated, tortured genius of artistic myth, but a man who maintained a close circle of friends and associates into old age. He developed collaborative working relationships with younger artists, thereby maintaining his fame and reputation even as he aged, relinquishing the hardest physical work to others. His late drawings offer a powerful insight into his psychology, reflecting his Catholic faith, his commanding intellectual engagement and his hope for
£31.50
British Museum Press Thomas Bewick Graphic Worlds
£9.99
British Museum Press Out of Australia: Prints and Drawings from Sidney Nolan to Rover Thomas
This ground-breaking book follows the rise of a distinctive school of Australian art that first emerged in the 1940s. Beginning with the artists of the ‘Angry Penguins’ movement, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester and Sidney Nolan, whose work exhibited a new strain of surrealism and expressionism, the book continues with the rich variety of 1970s work by Jan Seberg, Robert Jacks and George Baldessin, moving through to contemporary artists such as Rover Thomas and Judy Watson. Stephen Coppel traces the major developments in Australian art from the 1940s to the present day, and examines the significant interplay with the British art scene. The book includes a substantial essay outlining the major developments in Australian art since the 1940s, the reception of Australian art in Britain and the recent rise of Aboriginal printmaking. It features 127 works by 61 artists, and includes concise artists’ biographies and individual commentaries on the works.
£22.50
British Museum Press Silk Roads
A richly illustrated publication that explores the networks of contacts and exchanges spanning Afro-Eurasia from 500 to 1000 ce, highlighting how the movement of people, objects and ideas shaped cultures and histories. The term Silk Road' conjures a range of romantic images. Camel caravans crossing desert dunes. Merchants trading silk and spices. Far-flung commerce between East' and West'. The reality was far richer. Focusing on a defining period between 500 and 1000 CE, this beautifully illustrated book reimagines the Silk Roads as a web of interlocking networks linking Asia, Africa and Europe, from Japan to Ireland, from the Arctic to Madagascar. It tells a remarkable story of people, objects and ideas flowing in all directions, through the traces these journeys left behind including ceramics from Tang China recovered from a shipwreck in the Java Sea, sword-fittings set with Indian garnets buried in England, and a selection of letters and legal texts from a synagogue in Cairo r
£40.50
British Museum Press Haiku
Japanese Haiku has been a much-loved form of poetry for many centuries. Composed of 17 syllables, it can convey the essence of an emotion, a fleeting moment in nature, or a throwaway comment. This collection features 60 classic haiku by masters such as Basho, Kyoshi and Shiki, arranged by season and covering all the most popular subjects. The text features an introduction explaining the background to Japanese haiku and a short biographical note about each of the major poets. An excellent introduction to the treasures of Japanese poetry and art.
£9.99
British Museum Press Chronicles of the Vikings: Records, Memorials and Myths
There have been many books about the Vikings, but few that see them from their own point of view. Most accounts rely heavily on the records of prejudiced observers (who saw the Vikings only as savage raiders) or the archaeological record, which tells us much about their material culture but little about their values. This classic book reveals how the Vikings saw themselves: portrayed in their own writings or in the reports of people who knew them closely. Using a series of translations from primary sources including runic inscriptions, literary works, rare historical accounts and eye-witness reports, this book brings the Viking world to life.
£12.99
British Museum Press The Parthenon Frieze
The artistic genius of Athens in the 5th century BC reached its peak in the sculpted marble reliefs of the Parthenon Frieze. The original composition of the Frieze and its precise meaning have long been the subject of lively debate. Designed by Phidias and carved by a team of anonymous masons, the Frieze adorned the temple of Athena on the Acropolis and represents a festival procession in honour of the Olympian gods. Through photographs and drawings, this authoritative book reconstructs the Frieze in its entirety according to the most up-to-date research, with a detailed scene-by-scene commentary. The superb quality of the carving is revealed in a series of close-up photographs. In his introductory text, Ian Jenkins places the Frieze in its architectural, historical and artistic setting. He discusses the various interpretations suggested by previous scholars, and finally puts forward a new view of his own.
£14.99
British Museum Press The Gayer-Anderson Cat
The Gayer-Anderson Cat has been one of the most admired objects at the British Museum since its arrival in 1947. This book presents a detailed description of the cat and a discussion of its possible meaning and role in ancient times. Surprising new finds from scientific analyses are presented for the first time, shedding light on the cat’s modern history, from its acquisition by the British Army major and avid antiquities collector John Gayer-Anderson to its donation to the British Museum. The fascinating narrative is complemented by outstanding new photography.
£6.84
British Museum Press Angels & Ducats: Shakespeare's Money & Medals
Deniers and ducats, groats and guilders, crowns and cruzados: this fun, engaging and beautifully illustrated little book explores the role of money and medals in William Shakespeare’s world and work. "A fascinating account of Shakespeare's cosmopolitan world, illustrated with breathtaking images that bring to life the rich material culture that shaped Shakespeare's writings and his age. This is a superb volume, one that will have pride of place on my bookshelf." -Professor James Shapiro, author of 1599 and Contested Will Angels & Ducats: Shakespeare's Money and Medals "Barrie Cook knows more about coins and medals in Shakespeare's world and works than anyone alive; Angels and Ducats is an invaluable guide for anyone interested in how money mattered in Elizabethan and Jacobean England." -Professor James Shapiro, author of 1599 and Contested Will
£9.99
British Museum Press Eric Gill: Lust for Letter & Line
Eric Gill (1882–1940) is one of the twentieth century’s most controversial artists. This illustrated introduction focuses on the clarity of Gill’s drawn and cut line. It explores his genius as a letter cutter, wood engraver, sculptor and typographer in the light of his refined finished drawings and preparatory sketches. Like all modernists of the early twentieth-century, he used stylised form, explicit sexuality and the influence of other cultures to position himself at the forefront of the avant-garde. An outsider and a radical, Gill nevertheless became one the establishment’s favourite artists, with his patrons including the Catholic Church, the Lord Chancellor’s office, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Mint, the London Underground, the BBC, the Post Office and the League of Nations. The authors illuminate here the quality, complexities and contradictions of Gill’s fascinating life and art.
£9.99
British Museum Press Sailing the Monsoon Winds in Miniature: Understanding Indian Ocean Boat Models
Models of non-European watercrafts are commonly found in museum collections in the UK and throughout the world. These objects are understudied, rarely used in museum displays and at risk of disposal. In addition, there are several gaps in current understanding of traditional watercraft from the Indian Ocean, the region spanning from East Africa through to western Australia. Using models of a range of boats from 13 museum collections throughout the UK, this book considers the value of these objects for both researchers and museums. The book explores how models can help us to understand traditional boats and boat-building practices, some of which no longer exist. Two case studies investigate a number of ideas about the physical attributes of these objects and how representative they are of full-size vessels. In addition, the wider cultural processes and contexts of the models are considered, including ideas about collecting, miniaturisation and the iconic symbolism of watercraft.The aim of this publication is to encourage the use of models of boats from the Indian Ocean and throughout the world in future studies of traditional watercraft. At the same time, the research presented here will help museums to re-evaluate the significance of model boats in their collections, and to use them in displays in the future to explore a range of narratives.
£40.00
British Museum Press The Meroë Head of Augustus
Made from Bronze with eyes inlaid with glass pupils set in metal rings, the ‘Meroe Head’ is a magnificent portrait of Julius Caesar’s great nephew and adopted heir Augustus (63 BC–AD 14). Once forming part of a statue of Rome’s revered first true emperor – one of many such statues that were erected in Egyptian towns – the head was violently separated from the body and carried away in triumph by ancient Meroitic tribesman shortly after its creation. For nearly two millennia it remained buried in front of a temple in their capital city of Meroe (modern Sudan), so that worshippers ritually had to trample the face of the supreme leader of Rome. The head was recovered in 1910 and remarkably well preserved, is one of the British Museum’s most treasured objects. This book reveals the significance of the head in light of Augustus’ rise to power and the role of portraits in the Roman world. Accompanied by a series of new photographs that highlight the wonderful, dramatic qualities of the head, this is an absorbing introduction about a portrait which was made as a continuous reminder of the all-embracing power of Rome, yet whose fate is a graphic illustration of resistance to its rule.
£7.16
British Museum Press Shakespeare's Britain
From the common playgoers to the royal patrons, this book explores Britain from the perspective of Shakespeare’s audience – revealing how the significant issues of the day were explored at the playhouse through objects and quotations from Shakespeare’s plays.
£9.99
British Museum Press Pots, Prints and Politics: Ceramics with an Agenda, from the 14th to the 20th Century
From the introduction of woodblock printing in China to the development of copper-plate engraving in Europe, the print medium has been used around the world to circulate knowledge. Ceramic artists across time and cultures have adapted these graphic sources as painted or transfer-printed images applied onto glazed or unglazed surfaces to express political and social issues including propaganda, self-promotion, piety, gender, national and regional identities. Long before photography, printers also included pots in engravings or other two-dimensional techniques which have broadened scholarship and encouraged debate.Pots, Prints and Politics examines how European and Asian ceramics traditionally associated with the domestic sphere have been used by potters to challenge convention and tackle serious issues from the 14th to the 20th century. Using the British Museum’s world-renowned ceramics and prints collections as a base, the authors have challenged and interrogated a variety of ceramic objects – from teapots to chamber pots – to discover new meanings that are as relevant today as they were when they were first conceived.
£40.00
British Museum Press Charles Masson: Collections from Begram and Kabul Bazaar, Afghanistan 1833–1838
The book discusses and catalogues Charles Masson’s 1833–8 collections from the urban site of Begram and Kabul bazaar. It utilises Masson archival material which appears as a supplementary BM online publication The Charles Masson Archive: British Library, British Museum and Other Documents Relating to the 1832–1838 Masson Collection from Afghanistan: http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Masson%20archive%20Vol.%202.pdf The catalogued objects will be selected from c. 7600 coins and c. 1500 artefacts from Begram and Kabul bazaar now in the British Museum, supplemented by illustrated coins recorded in Masson's archival manuscripts (F526/1a) and in H.H. Wilson (Ariana Antiqua London 1841), but no longer in the collection. A key resource will be the records and images of all the artefacts already available on the Museum’s Collection online database: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=Charles+Masson
£40.00
British Museum Press Aztecs Sticker Book
The first title in a colourful series of sticker books, Aztecs, introduces the famous civilization of the Aztecs who flourished about 600 years ago in what is now central Mexico, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in 1519. The Aztecs had a sophisticated civilization based around their capital city, Tenochtitlan, and were skilled in making beautiful objects of mosaic, jade, stone, featherwork and metal. The book features six ‘galleries’ which children will enjoy filling with stickers of real Aztec objects. Each gallery has a theme, such as Gods and Goddesses and Aztec Life and each space has a descriptive ‘label’ so that children can identify and place the relevant object stickers in the display. While they have fun with the stickers, they are learning about the objects and the culture from which they come. The final gallery is an empty ‘exhibition space’ which the children can furnish with their own choice of objects to create a completely personal Aztecs exhibition. The stickers are peelable, so if they are lifted up with care, the display can be re-created again and again. The book features approximately 100 colourful stickers.
£4.49
British Museum Press Munch and his World: Graphic Arts and the Avant-garde in Paris and Berlin
The art of Edvard Munch is striking for the originality and universality of its themes, which cross moments in place and time. Yet he was very much an artist of the nineteenth century, and the focus of this publication is to show how especially in his prints and photographs Munch was enabled by technical advances developed by his contemporaries to create an entirely new visual language. Munch is probably best known for his desire to express emotions surrounding love, illness and death. However, the authors in this volume show that this preoccupation was not only based on biographical events but reflects wider contemporary debates on developments in medicine and science, including treatment of mental illness, as well as a proliferation of technical expertise in the production of prints.The arguments presented expand on subjects touched upon in the critically acclaimed British Museum exhibition Edvard Munch: love and angst (2019). Munch's remarkable prints were fundamental to establishing his international career, but there remains much to investigate in connection with the background to his innovatory techniques, his relationship with contemporary printmakers and his experiments with photography. The authors in this volume go some way to address these themes and outline future avenues of research.
£39.56
British Museum Press 5000 Years of Tiles
5000 Years of Tiles is the essential, single-volume colour compendium of tile art and production around the world, from ancient times to the present day. Over 350 beautiful colour illustrations showcase an incredible range of tile arts, including the first fired roof tiles in ancient Greece in the third millennium BC, English medieval floor pavements from Clarendon Palace, figural tiles from China, richly patterned Iznik tiles from the Islamic world and stylized ceramic tiles of the Arts and Crafts movement. Placing the tiles firmly in their historical and cultural context, this richly illustrated book highlights the continuity and diversity of tiles, examining how tile art in one time and place has inspired and rejuvenated those in others. The function and form of this versatile art is examined in stunning detail, from floors to roofs, stoves to bathrooms, cathedrals to metro stations to reveal a fascinating history of design, colour and decoration.
£22.50
British Museum Press The Holy Thorn Reliquary
Made in gold and enamel and decorated with precious stones, the Holy Thorn Reliquary depicts the salvation of mankind through the sacrifice of Christ. It was commissioned around 1400–10 by Jean duc de Berry, a member of the French royal family, to house a single thorn from the relic of Christ’s Crown of Thorns. Having left the duke’s possession, it was recorded in Vienna from around 1544 until the 1860s, eventually being acquired by a member of the wealthy Rothschild family, with its true identity remaining undiscovered until the twentieth century. This book explores the meaning and history of this fascinating object, and tells the tale of its remarkable survival and eventual passage to the British Museum.
£6.84
British Museum Press Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything
Shortlisted for Exhibition Catalogue of the Year in the British Book Design and Production Awards 2022. ---------- 'Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything... is both an important contribution to the existing scientific knowledge of the work of this outstanding Japanese artist and an important illustrative source for researchers representing such fields as art history, sinology, Japanese studies, Korean studies, cultural anthropology and cognitive anthropology. For a reader who is not professionally connected with any of the scientific disciplines, Hokusai's mastery of drawing may prove to be an inspiration to broaden their knowledge in the field of history of art and history of culture.' – Ethos, quarterly magazine ---------- A landmark publication of a major new discovery of over 100 drawings by foremost Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Acquired by the British Museum in 2020, these previously unpublished drawings had been forgotten for over 70 years. Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) is considered by many to be Japan’s greatest artist. During his seventy-year career, he produced a considerable oeuvre of some 3,000 colour prints, illustrations for over 200 books, hundreds of drawings and over 1,000 paintings. These 103 exciting and exquisite small drawings were made for an unpublished book called Great Picture Book of Everything – featuring wide-ranging subjects from depictions of religious, mythological, historical and literary figures to animals, birds, flowers and other natural phenomena, as well as landscapes. They are dominated by subjects that relate to ancient China and India, and also Southeast and Central Asia. Many subjects found in the collection are not found in previous Hokusai works, including fascinating imaginings of the origin of human culture in ancient China. This beautifully produced book draws on the latest research, illustrating the complete set of drawings, published for the first time.
£22.50
British Museum Press The Medieval Cookbook
Drawing on the cuisine of the Middle Ages, from the fall of the Roman Empire to Henry VIII's break with Rome, this new treatment of a classic book explores the relationship between food, religion and the ever-widening gap between the tables of the rich and the poor. Featured is an appetizing collection of recipes inspired by medieval manuscripts, richly illustrated throughout with stunning scenes of food, feasting and cooking from paintings, tapestries and drawings. The Medieval Cookbook has been thoughtfully adapted for the modern kitchen, whilst retaining the true essence of dining in medieval Britain.
£14.99
British Museum Press Edward Burne-Jones: The Hidden Humorist
Edward Burne-Jones, member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood is renowned for his beautiful but usually melancholy evocations of a mythical, literary, ancient or medieval world, as well as his life-long friendship with William Morris. It will surprise many therefore to discover that he was a talented caricaturist and comic sketch artist. This charming book reveals a man brimming with imagination, a keen eye and impish sense of humour who took delight in drawing to amuse and entertain. His witty but affectionate caricatures of friends and family feature familiar faces, such as Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, while his self-caricatures are endearingly self-deprecating. Accompanying these are enchanting sketches he created to illustrate letters and entertain children, and an introduction discussing the life and work of the artist in wider context. Beautifully illustrated with rarely published pieces from the large collection at the British Museum, this book provides an insight into another side of Burne-Jones and illuminates the personality and relationships of one of the most beloved English romantic painters.
£9.99
British Museum Press China’s hidden century: 1796 - 1912
'[H]andsomely illustrated’ – Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide ‘The exhibition catalogue’s seven essays…are a guide to [a] re-reading of the past, threading the relics on display into a rich tapestry of what life entailed under the last century of Manchu reign.’ – Rhoda Kwan, The Mekong Review Cultural creativity in China between 1796 and 1912 demonstrated extraordinary resilience at a time of intense external and internal warfare and socioeconomic turmoil. Innovation can be seen in material culture (including print, painting, calligraphy, textiles, fashion, jewellery, ceramics, lacquer, glass, arms and armour, silver, and photography) during a century in which China’s art, literature, crafts and technology faced unprecedented exposure to global influences. 1796 – the official end of the reign of the Qianlong emperor – is viewed as the close of the ‘high Qing’ and the start of a period of protracted crisis. In 1912, the last emperor, Puyi, abdicated after the revolution of 1911, bringing to an end some 2,000 years of dynastic rule and making way for the republic. Until recently the 19th century in China has been often defined – and dismissed – as an era of cultural decline. Built on new research from a four-year project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and with chapter contributions by international scholars from leading institutions, this beautifully illustrated, 336-page book edited by Jessica Harrison-Hall and Julia Lovell sets out a fresh understanding of this important era. It presents a stunning array of objects and artworks to create a detailed visual account of responses to war, technology, urbanisation, political transformations and external influences.
£40.50
British Museum Press Chinese Ceramics: Highlights of the Sir Percival David Collection
Sir Percival David made one of the finest collections of Chinese ceramics outside Asia. It includes many items of imperial quality, with beautiful examples of extremely rare Ru and guan wares as well as the famous David vases. Their inscriptions date to 1351, making them an internationally acknowledged yardstick for the dating of Chinese blue and white porcelain. Here are 50 selected highlights, all illustrated with colour photographs taken especially for this publication. The accompanying text provides details and draws out the important features of each piece. The range and scope of the collection provide the material for a stunning overview and accessible introduction to Chinese ceramic art.
£14.99
British Museum Press Masterpieces: Early Medieval Art
This beautiful volume explores the lesser-known history of Europe and the Mediterranean, bridging the gap between the Mediterranean and the North of Europe, the Byzantine and Roman empires and the ‘barbarian’ world of the Dark Ages; a period that saw Christianity established as a major world religion as well as the rise of Islam. Drawn from all the major cultures of the period and covering an extensive geographical and chronological sweep, this richly illustrated book celebrates the artistic accomplishment of objects made from a varied and attractive array of materials such as gold, silver, precious stones, ivory, glass, ceramics and textiles. Showcased are some of the British Museum collection’s most outstanding and internationally renowned objects, including the Projecta Casket, treasures from the Sutton Hoo ship burial and the Fuller Brooch. The text reveals a fascinating insight into their makers and owners as well as the world in which they were created.
£22.50
British Museum Press Legion: life in the Roman army
The Roman army has been immortalised in heroic art and screen epics, but what was life really like for an ordinary soldier? ‘Everything the best history books can be: erudite, entertaining and eloquent.’ – Terry Deary, author of Horrible Histories ‘Splendidly direct, clear and jargon free… You are unlikely to find a clearer or more comprehensive account’ – Classics for All This book tells the story of everyday life in the army – including the experiences of women and enslaved people – through a range of rare objects and testimonies. These include letters from Apion and Terentianus, young Egyptian soldiers writing home to their families; the tombstone of 4-year-old Vacia, a touching reminder of the presence of children near forts; the remains of a soldier found at Herculaneum, killed in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79; and a board game played by soldiers in their spare time. Human experiences are set within the context of the first three centuries of the common era, widely recognised as the Roman army’s heyday. During this period, forces were split into legions of citizen-only troops and auxiliary units of non-citizen troops, with the latter offered a chance at citizenship and social advancement after around 25 years of service. As well as describing the social forces behind the army, this book addresses its violent reality for civilians and troops – battle tactics, weaponry and the risk for convicted soldiers of becoming amphitheatre entertainment are all explored. Travelling from the deserts of North Africa to the freezing climes of Scotland, and moving from the gruesome life of a medic to loving correspondence between friends, readers gain a vivid picture of life in the Roman army, with all the spectacular and ordinary experiences it involved. Praise for the British Museum Legion: life in the Roman army exhibition The Times ***** Telegraph ***** Guardian ***** Evening Standard **** Time Out ****
£40.50
British Museum Press Cuneiform
Cuneiform script on tablets of clay is, as far as we know, the oldest form of writing in the world. The choice of clay as writing medium in ancient Mesopotamia meant that records of all kinds could survive down to modern times, preserving fascinating documents from ancient civilization, written by a variety of people and societies. From reading these tablets we can understand not only the history and economics of the time but also the beliefs, ideas and superstitions. This fascinating book will bring the world in which the cuneiform was written to life for the non-expert reader, revealing how ancient inscriptions can lead to a new way of thinking about the past. It will explain how this pre-alphabetic writing really worked and how it was possible to use cuneiform signs to record so many different languages so long ago. Richly illustrated with a wealth of fresh examples ranging from elementary school exercises to revealing private letters or beautifully calligraphic literature for the royal library, we will meet people that aren’t so very different from ourselves. We will read the work of many scribes – from mundane record keepers to state fortune tellers, using tricks from puns to cryptography. For the first time cuneiform tablets and their messages are not remote and inaccessible, but wonderfully human documents that resonate today.
£9.99
British Museum Press Luxury and power: Persia to Greece
An eye-opening publication that contrasts perceptions of luxury – together with its positive and negative connotations – in imperial Persia, democratic Athens and the Hellenistic world between 600 and 200 BCE. ‘Luxuriously illustrated’ – Asian Review of Books Luxurious objects are celebrated for their exoticism, rarity and style, but also disparaged as indulgent, extravagant and corrupt. The ancient origins of these attitudes emerged at the boundary between the imperial Persian and democratic Athenian Greek worlds. Luxury was at the centre of the royal Persian court and behaviours of ostentatious display rippled through the imperial provinces, whose elite classes emulated luxury objects in lesser materials. But luxury is contrastingly depicted through Athenian eyes – within the philosophical context of early democratic codes and the historical context of the Greco-Persian Wars, which suddenly and spectacularly brought eastern luxuries into the imagination of the Athenian populace for the first time. While Greek writers rejected luxury as eastern, despotic and corrupt, the Athenian elite adopted Persian luxuries in imaginative ways to signal status, distinction and prestige. Under the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great and its subsequent kingdoms, royal Achaemenid luxury culture would later be adopted and displayed by the Macedonian and local elite across the Greek and Middle Eastern worlds: behaviours of ostentatious display were a means to seek advantage in the new Hellenistic world order. Ultimately, this publication demonstrates how competing political spins woven around 2,500 years ago still continue to shape modern perceptions of luxury today.
£31.50
British Museum Press The Horse: From Arabia to Royal Ascot
Published to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum in 2012, this beautifully illustrated book celebrates the relationship between horses and humans through the ages, revealing the immense influence of horses on human history. From the domestication of the Arabian horse circa 3500BC to the present day, this book explores how entire peoples and cultures have been characterized by the horse and its central role in society, in peace and war, in mythology and literature. Featured are 200 stunning images ranging from north Arabian rock drawings to European watercolours, illuminating how the horse represents the history of civilization itself.
£22.50
British Museum Press The British Museum Pocket Explorer The Ancient Greek World
£7.19
British Museum Press Egypt: faith after the pharaohs
Due to its arid climate, Egypt preserves a unique range and abundance of evidence providing insights into the emergence and establishment of new religions, their relationship to each other and the pagan past. Over 300 objects have been specially selected for this publication, drawing on the significant collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the British Museum and reflecting the rich cultural diversity of the Nile Valley from the first to the twelfth century AD. Through beautiful works of art, including jewellery, painted panels, textiles, sculpture, calligraphy, manuscripts, glass and ceramics, we gain a better understanding of the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people in this important period in Egyptian history. The book also reveals the different types of sacred buildings - synagogue, church, and mosque - and explains their architectural history and dissemination in Egypt.
£22.50
British Museum Press The Colossal Statue of Ramesses II
One of the largest pieces of Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum, the upper part of the colossal statue of Ramesses II, also known as the ‘Younger Memnon’, was perhaps the first piece of Egyptian sculpture to be recognized as a work of art by connoisseurs, who traditionally judged things by the standards of ancient Greek art. Weighing 7.25 tons, this fragment of his statue was cut from a single block of two - coloured granite, and shows Ramesses wearing the nemes head - dress surmounted by a cobra diadem. The statue was retrieved from the mortuary temple of Ramesses at Thebes (the 'Ramesseum') by Giovanni Belzoni in 1816. Belzoni wrote a fascinating account of his struggle to remove it, both literally, given its colossal size, and politically. After its arrival in England and its acquisition, the Colossal Statue of Ramesses was to become among the most famous objects in the British Museum’s Egyptian collection and is of significant historical interest. Beautifully illustrated with photographs of the statue and contextual images, and including archival material relating to the British Museum’s acquisition, this book tells the story of this magnificent artefact, discussing alongside the draw of colossal Egyptian sculpture, the history of the reign of Ramesses II and the nature of the statue’s acquisition.
£6.84
British Museum Press Designs of the World British Museum Pattern Books
A sourcebook of hundreds of designs drawn from the work of artists and craftsmen throughout time, from the Pacific cultures of Oceania to the rich and varied heritage of Ancient Greece.
£17.09
British Museum Press The British Museum Colouring Book of Bible Peoples
A selection of attractive pictures to colour, based on people and objects from the Bible lands. All the images are based on artefacts in the British Museum.
£5.13
British Museum Press Living with Art: The Alexander Walker collection
‘A fascinating catalogue, torqued around the notion of a film critic watching moving images by day and then focussing on still ones at night’ -- Irish Art ReviewIn 2004 the British Museum received a bequest of 211 modern and contemporary prints and drawings from the influential film critic Alexander Walker (1930–2003). Undoubtedly one of the most important bequests in recent years, the acquisition of these works has transformed and significantly expanded the Museum’s collection of modern and contemporary Western graphic art. Walker was born in Portadown, Northern Ireland but spent most of his career in London, writing weekly film reviews for the Evening Standard for over 40 years. He also wrote a number of highly successful books about film including the ground-breaking 1969 publication Sex in the Movies, a trilogy of books about the British film industry and numerous biographies of directors and actors including Stanley Kubrick, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Sellers. Walker’s collecting began tentatively in the early 1960s but gained in momentum as his confidence grew and his disposable income increased due to the success of his books. In a letter to a fellow collector in 1996, Walker wrote ’Audrey goes on selling strongly and has enabled me to buy some things I could hardly have afforded a few years ago: a beautiful Matisse etching ..., a rare print by Morandi ... and a marvellous woodcut by ... Vija Celmins‘. He lived with his collection around him, using every inch of space in his modest London apartment including the walls of his bathroom and kitchen. Walker developed a network of art dealers, gallerists and publishers whom heviewed as advisors, mentors and friends. These trusted figures introduced him to the work of many of the artists represented in his collection and recommended books, exhibitions and museums to visit. Walker remarked of his collection to one art dealer: ‘It’s an eclectic one, I know, but everything in it has added to my pleasure (and education), and the sum total has introduced me to a vast range of new acquaintances...’. As part of the bequest, the British Museum obtained Walker’s complete archive of correspondence and paperwork relating to his prints and drawings collection, which this publication draws on in both the essay and the catalogue. As a result, Walker’s own voice is fully present in this book.
£18.00
British Museum Press Dürer
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) is arguably the first truly international artist, a celebrity both during his own lifetime and since. A major artist of the northern Renaissance, he was praised by his contemporaries and described shortly after his death as ‘the prince among German painters’. Dürer’s achievements as a painter were matched by his remarkable manipulation of the traditional techniques of woodcut and engraving, which altered the history of printmaking and ensured that his works were admired and collected throughout Europe. The British Museum holds one of the finest collections of Dürer’s graphic art in the world, with superlative prints and drawings from all phases of his career. Beginning with an introduction to the life of the artist, the book presents a selection of Dürer’s best-known works including early figure studies, landscape watercolours, animal studies drawn from nature and his imaginative famous prints such as Adam and Eve, Rhinoceros and Melancholia. As well as demonstrating Dürer’s astonishing range of subject matter, the book explores his working method and the versatile, spontaneous nature of his draughtsmanship. The development of Dürer’s ideas from drawings to related woodcuts and engravings is also investigated, making the book a perfect concise introduction to this fascinating and much-admired artist.
£9.99
British Museum Press The Print Before Photography: An introduction to European Printmaking 1550 - 1820
Winner of the 2017 IFPDA Book Award, honouring excellence in research, scholarship, and the discussion of new ideas in the field of fine prints. Copper-plate printmaking, developed alongside Gutenberg’s invention of moveable type, was a huge business employing thousands of people, and dominating image production for nearly four centuries across the whole of Europe. Its techniques and influence remained very stable until the nineteenth century, when this world was displaced by new technologies, of which photography was by far the most important. Print Before Photography examines the unrivalled importance of printmaking in its golden age, illustrated through the British Museum’s outstanding collection of prints. This unique and significant book is destined to be a leading reference in print scholarship, and will be of interest to anyone with an interest in this era of art history.
£54.00
British Museum Press Germany Divided: Baselitz and his generation: From the Duerckheim Collection
Germany Divided explores a selection of unpublished and unseen works from some of the leading names in contemporary art. Showcased are key works from six artists who re-defined art in Germany in the second half of the twentieth century: Georg Baselitz; Marcus Lüpertz; Blinky Palermo; A.R. Penck; Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter. In-depth biographical essays on each artist show how the division of Germany into separate states affected their work; and the importance of the experience of migration from East to West. The new consumer culture in the West contrasted starkly with the planned economy of the East. Artists on both side of the Wall were faced with the difficult emotional task of negotiating with the past; not only the recent history of the Third Reich, but the ‘lost’ traditions of German painting, particularly Expressionism, from which they had been cut adrift. Germany Divided explores the work of these artists in the broader historical context of Germany and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, and shows how these debates placed crucial emphasis on the creation and display of art. Graphic traditions, reaching back through Expressionism to older traditions of print-making in Germany, were an essential part of the reconstruction of artistic life, and a basis for the phenomenal international success of German art on an international stage in the decades to follow.
£31.50
British Museum Press Prints and Printmaking: An introduction to the history and techniques
This revised work provides a basic introduction to prints and printmaking. The book provides explanations of different techniques of printmaking and illustrates both details and whole prints to show the effects that can be achieved. Woodcut, engraving and mezzotint are among the different processes explained and placed within an historical context.
£12.99
British Museum Press Peru: a journey in time
‘The exhibition is now over, but the splendid book lives on.’ ‘A delightful, very readable eyecandy dive in the history of the cultures of Peru’ ‘An excellent book as you would expect from the British Museum, and a delight to dive into.’ -- Sacred Hoop Magazine, March 2022 The environments of the Central Andean region in Peru, South America, are some of the most geographically rich and diverse in the world. This publication highlights the history, beliefs and cultural achievements of the different peoples who lived in these remarkable landscapes from 1500 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, and the importance of their legacy up until today. Over thousands of years, the people of the Andes have approached agriculture, economy, gender, power and belief in fascinating ways. Many archaeological sites in Peru are uniquely preserved, and the book discusses key examples with a thematic and geographical approach. The vibrant and varied material depicted includes ceramics, colourful textiles, golden objects and wooden carvings, drawn from the British Museum and museums and collections in Peru and beyond. When juxtaposed with breathtaking photography of archaeological sites and landscapes, they reveal new narratives about the country’s rich history.
£27.00
British Museum Press Netsuke: 100 miniature masterpieces from Japan
Netsuke have once again come to the fore in the popular imagination of the public. In part this is due to the phenomenal success of Edmund De Waal’s 2010 book, Hare with the Amber Eyes, which highlights a treasured netsuke collection that was challenged by war and the vicissitudes of time. Intricately carved from various materials including ivory, wood and metal, these small toggles served a practical purpose in Japan: a netsuke was used to fasten a man’s sash, an integral part of Japanese costume. Up until the seventeenth century netsuke were relatively insignificant objects that were rarely of artistic interest, but as time passed they evolved in terms of both materials and workmanship, and were then used by men to flaunt their wealth or as an expression of status. Today netsuke are considered an art form in their own right and are prized by collectors around the world. They are found in a variety of forms and depict a wide range of subjects – including figures of human and legendary form, ghosts, animals, botanical subjects and masks. Skilfully worked, these miniature carvings are of great artistic value, but they also provide a window into Japanese culture and society. This book brings together one hundred of the most beautiful and interesting netsuke from the extensive collection of the British Museum, each of which has its own special charm and story to tell. Uncovering the stories behind these netsuke and coupling them with stunning new photography, this book reveals why these tiny objects have captivated so many, the meaning they have held for those who wore them, and what they can tell us about Japanese everyday life.
£14.99
British Museum Press Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art
Discover Japanese art like no other. Originally created by the artists of the ukiyo-e ‘school of the floating world’ to advertise brothels in 17th-century Yoshiwara, these popular ‘spring pictures’ (shunga) transcended class and gender in Japan for almost 300 years. These tender, humorous and brightly coloured pieces celebrate sexual pleasure in all its forms, culminating in the beautiful, yet graphic, work of iconic artists Utamaro, Hokusai and Kunisada. This catalogue of a major international exhibition aims to answer some key questions about what shunga is and why was it produced. Erotic Japanese art was heavily suppressed in Japan from the 1870s onwards as part of a process of cultural ‘modernisation’ that imported many contemporary western moral values. Only in the last twenty years or so has it been possible to publish unexpurgated examples in Japan and this ground-breaking publication presents this fascinating art in its historical and cultural context for the first time. Within Japan, shunga has continued to influence modern forms of art, including manga, anime and Japanese tattoo art. Drawing on the latest scholarship and featuring over 400 images of works from major public and private collections, this landmark book sheds new light on this unique art form within Japanese social and cultural history. Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art is published to accompany an exhibition at the British Museum from October 2013 to January 2014.
£45.00
