John Ruskin wrote this fable for a teenage family friend, Effie, and later he married her. The marriage was famously disastrous, but before it fell apart the Ruskins allowed The King of the Golden River to be published. It became one of the most popular works for children of its time. Richard Doyle contributed over 25 full-page illustrations and vignettes.

The King of the Golden River is the first literary fairy tale in English (as opposed to collected folk tales). Ruskin himself said it was ‘a fairly good imitation of Grimm and Dickens, mixed with some true Alpine feeling of my own’. Later he spoke of the capacity of the traditional tales ‘to fortify children against the glacial cold of selfish science’.

It remains a powerful fable about humanity’s dual capacity for destructiveness and redeeming love, with as strange fairy-tale creatures as one could hope to meet.

An essay by Simon Cooke explains the book’s importance.

The Ashcan School and The Eight are now recognized as America’s first modern art movement: rejecting their academic training and the practices of the National Academy of Design, they forged a new art that represented America’s shifting values. By focusing on urban streets scenes, the lives of immigrants, popular entertainments, and the working poor, this loosely affiliated group of artists became synonymous with ordinary, everyday subjects — in the words of one critic, “pictures of ashcans.” Yet this is only part of their story: they also experimented with complex color theory and embraced scientific studies about movement and perception, while also creating scenes of bourgeois leisure and society portraits in attempts to reconcile their high-art practices with their populist reputations.

This catalog features nearly 130 works across media, including paintings, drawings, pastels, and prints — rarely seen objects and popular favorites. Collectively these works emphasize the Ashcan School’s and The Eight’s valuable contributions to the formation of American modernism at the beginning of the 20th century.

The last work of Burne-Jones: a series of woodcut illustrations to the first chapters of Genesis, making a perfect epitome of his art. Reprinted from the original edition of 1902.

The definitive photographic guide to discovering the beauty of Rome. A historical-archaeological introduction immerses the visitor in the Eternal City. The 15 itineraries explore the main riches of the historic center of the Urbe, with its fountains, squares, churches, palaces, museums and parks, also include precious gems, far from the traditionally visited routes. Each itinerary features a map, a rich corpus of descriptive images, historical information, curiosities and tips for enjoying an authentic Roman stay.
QR codes at the opening of chapters get to digital contents that enrich the experience of getting to know the Eternal City, from paper to digital.

This highly anticipated monograph focuses on the architectural output of Enrique Browne, a talented and prolific Chilean architect and co-founder of Browne & Swett Arquitectos, based in Santiago. Over the last 40 years, this South American architect has been trying to reconcile natural and artificial worlds through architecture. They are one indissoluble unity. This book showcases in rich photographic detail how his innovative projects incorporate multiple environmental aspects that result in a complex, layered response to the challenges of place, form and identity in Chile.

Browne’s practice has developed architectural designs in a diverse range of scales, with emphasis on sustainability and energy efficiency. This volume delves into Browne’s processes, such as developing variations of the “grapevinestructure typology” to create a “double green skin” as a green wall (or roof), to protect dwellings from the region’s strong westerly sun; or combining vegetation and its oxygenation benefits with building to counter pollution; or using both artificial and natural light as a material for illuminating spaces or volume. This book also includes commentary on the new zeitgeist surrounding modernity and the impacts of the digital and globalized world on architecture today. Highly regarded, and a prolific writer and designer, Enrique Browne has a unique way of looking at the world. Showcasing the wide range of his design, this title is sure to impress.

In 1751, John Holker (1719-1786), an English textile manufacturer exiled in France, undertook an industrial espionage mission to England to collect samples of English textiles on behalf of the French king, Louis XV. On his return, the samples were assembled in a manuscript volume, which is now preserved at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. Each sample in this album is accompanied by a handwritten technical description specifying the quality of the fabric, its price, its dimensions and the manufacturing processes. This album is famous for preserving the oldest identifiable samples of jean fabric.

Completely bilingual, the book includes a facsimile reproduction of the album, accompanied by a transcription of its handwritten text and a dozen essays. The essays, written by academics, curators and specialists from France, Britain and North America, explore the album from various angles: the globalization of commerce, the slave trade, industrial espionage, economic rivalry between France and England, the taste for cotton and its role in the history of fashion, etc. The book demonstrates the importance of centuries-old links between France and the United Kingdom and is an indispensable work of reference for the history of textiles.

Text in English and French.

“Dachshunds, debutantes and Donald Trump: capturing the glitzy, bizarre world of 80s high society.” — The Guardian on Saturday Magazine
“Through these varying shades of grey, Jones was able to capture the pomp and grandeur of 1990s New York.” — Air Magazine
“British photographer Dafydd Jones documented New York’s upper class in the 1990s. His photo book “High Life, Low Life” is a testimony to a time lost in dreams.” — Die Welt Germany
“The renowned photographer, known for his images of debauchery at Oxford University, has released a new book of his time among East Coast socialites.” — The Times UK

“Dark, glamorous and hedonistic…captures New York in the 1990s.” — Wallpaper*
‘In England, I’d become too well-known as a Tatler photographer. It was wonderful to be invisible again.’

At the end of the 1980s, society photographer Dafydd Jones began a new life in New York. He had been hired by Vanity Fair to attend the most talked-about parties in the city and soon found himself descending into a world of human tableaux, ladies who lunch, princesses in powder rooms and dachshunds scrapping over canapés. Camera at the ready, Jones quickly filled the society pages of the illustrious magazine, snapping the likes of Leona Helmsley, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Imelda Marcos as they celebrated, mourned and unravelled in the bright lights. During the day, he captured the city streets and the ordinary citizens grounded in the real world. In these pages, the author of England: The Last Hurrah reveals the story of New York, the highs and the lows, as the ’90s unfolded in front of his expert lens. 

‘Mr. Jones goes about his business with cheery zest and a wicked eye.’ – New York Times, 1993

“The London Youth Portraits (ACC Art Books), a sumptuous collection of never-before-seen photographs of punks, skinheads, New Romantics, goths, ravers, and fetishists.” — Huck Magazine

“A new edit of a beloved classic.” — Marc Jacobs Instagram

“Across 176 pages, the oversized volume documents Ridgers’ vision of England’s seminal youth culture from the height of punk to the birth of acid house, each image a tribute to the trials and triumphs of youth.” — 10 Magazine

‘As time passes, this kind of observational photography attains a new importance’ – Sean O’Hagan, The Observer

‘Ridgers’ portraits of young boys and girls are weighted with a raw poetry and beauty’ – Cory Reynolds, artbook.com

Between 1978 and 1987, renowned British photographer Derek Ridgers captured London youth culture in all its glory. With skinheads, punks and new romantics, in clubs and on the street, his images have come to define a seminal decade of British subculture.

Broadly based on the now out of print book 78/87 London Youth, this showcases a completely fresh selection of images from the depths of Ridgers’ exceptional archive – including many previously unseen – beautifully printed and bound in an oversized volume.

Each picture is a tribute to the trials and triumphs of youth, and a precious document of style and culture in 1980s England, from the height of punk to the birth of acid house. Several have been exhibited internationally in cities as far-ranging as Moscow, Adelaide and Beverly Hills, in the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Somerset House. Ridgers has also collaborated with a number of major fashion houses, including Saint Laurent and Gucci, and his images continue to inspire photographers, artists and fashion designers around the world.

“This book opens the door to Scotland’s hidden past, to places scarred by death, betrayal, disaster, and unresolved trauma.” — NL Magazine

‘Dark Tourism’ involves traveling to sites associated with death, disaster, or the macabre. Scotland is filled with these ‘dark places’ that embody pain, shame, and ‘difficult heritage.’ 111 Dark Places in Scotland That You Shouldn’t Miss provides an engaging, accessible, and authoritative guide to these significant sites within Scotland’s castles, ancient cities, towns, and natural landscapes. This book delves into the darker aspects of the nation’s heritage.

Scotland, while part of the UK, maintains a distinct cultural identity with a history steeped in conflict, especially with its dominant neighbor, England. The country’s legacy of turmoil has shaped its strong sense of national identity, often the core of dark tourism. This guidebook is the first of its kind, designed for both locals and visitors to explore Scotland’s dark tourism sites. It complements 111 Dark Places in England and provides a distinctly Scottish perspective on the nation’s challenging past.

“Dafydd Jones’s photographs capture the future establishment at their most unguarded.”— FT How To Spend It

“This book is one for Waugh nostalgics, dark academia dreamers and anyone who is about to start at Cambridge.” — The Times
Cambridge Balls is the sensational new book by bestselling social photographer Dafydd Jones. The Cambridge University colleges are renowned for many great alumni and important achievements… and also a series of marathon all-night parties, known as the May Balls, held annually to celebrate the end of the academic year. Dafydd Jones, who according to The New York Times, ‘goes about his business with cheery zest and a wicked eye’, has been granted unique access to this hidden world of revelry since 1981, during which the author of England: The Last Hurrah and Hollywood Confidential has captured an extraordinary tableau of antics and shenanigans now beautifully reproduced on these pages. From former British Prime Minister David Cameron in his Bullingdon coat to victorious rowing teams celebrating into the night, from gate crashers punting across the river to the more international student groups of modern times toasting their successes, this is a fascinating portrait of jubilation among the young, the wealthy and the academic elites of one of the world’s most famous universities.

Praise for England: The Last Hurrah…
“Wonderfully ironic, every point in the picture ignites and knows how to entertain very well.” — Lovely Books
“Dafydd catches those moments of genuine exhilaration, wealth and youth.” — The Hollywood Reporter
Praise for Hollywood Confidential…
“With his new collection of photographs, Dafydd Jones offers a sensational dive into the excitement of the awards season in the 1990s.” — Vanity Fair France

Praise for New York: High Life / Low Life…
“The New York book is an evocative historical document, brimming with nostalgia and menace.” –– Hannah Marriott, The Guardian
Praise for Dafydd Jones…

“Modest though he is, Dafydd’s photographs will endure for having perfectly captured a society on the brink of decline.” –– Country & Townhouse podcast
“Sublime vintage photographs…” –– Hermione Eyre, The Telegraph
“Some carefully tended public images are punctured with such rapier precision that one can hear the hiss as they deflate.” –– Mitchell Owens, The World of Interiors

The wee folk have returned! Uncover the mystery of who they are and why they are here in the first book of the Vinetrope Adventures. Following a young girl, Sara, who has recently lost her mom to cancer, Return of the Vinetropes tells the story of a remarkable fairy-like creature found in Sara’s back yard. Lucinda Vinetrope: born wise, full-grown, and all alone. She may only be 12 inches high, but her personality is huge! Her arrival signifies the return of the Vinetrope nation, but also the return of their evil counterparts, the Chargons and the Vinkali. Joined by a supporting cast of comedic characters, animal and human alike, Sara and Lucinda set off on their quest to find the other Vinetropes and protect their world from danger.

Between 1885 and 1891 the Swiss pastor Wilfried Spinner sojorned in Japan on behalf of the East Asian mission. He founded the first Christian parishes in Tokyo and Yokohama and began to intensively teach there. However, his interest was also directed at local beliefs, which informed the everyday lives of the population. He brought back to Europe around eighty religious scrolls, comprising some painted hanging scrolls and numerous black-and-white prints (ofuda). Ofuda are paper amulets featuring representations of important deities, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, which were printed in and distributed from temples. Some of them additionally feature calligraphy, which was written by the monks in the presence of the pilgrims. They are evidence to their pilgrimage and accompany them onwards as protection and good luck charms. The recently discovered collection of Wilfried Spinner in the Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich covers a broad spectrum both figuratively and in content.

Text in English, German, and Japanese.

History Today carried a feature in 2015, describing The Origin of Museums as “a cult book [that] spawned a new discipline in the history of collecting”. Indeed, the first publication of this book in 1985 undoubtedly marked a propitious moment in the development of interest, in what has since grown to be a dynamic subject-area in its own right. That an appetite for such matters was already there is confirmed by the fact that the first impression sold out within a few months, a second impression a year or two later, and the third in 1989. There was to be no further printing by the original publishers, Oxford University Press. However in 2001 a new edition appeared with a new publisher. Demand again proved buoyant, but within a few months the company failed; having operated on a print-on-demand basis, it left behind it no unsold stock. The Origins of Museums reverted to a scarce (though much sought-after) volume. With original copies now selling for hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, the Ashmolean is proud to make this important volume readily available again.

Joaquin Sorolla’s catalogue raisonné is the culmination of a project that was initiated by Francisco Pons-Sorolla and Blanca Pons-Sorolla, which assembles all the work of the painter known so far (over 4,000 works). The aim of this project is the publication of five volumes in which the works by Joaquin Sorolla Bastida (1863-1923) will be presented by themes: 1. Sorolla Museum; 2. The Sea and the Beach; 3. Portraits; 4. Landscapes; 5. Composition Works. Within these themes, the works will be presented chronologically, so that the evolution of the painter can be observed in each case.

This first volume of the catalogue is dedicated to the collection of the Sorolla Museum, which houses the largest collection of the artist’s works. It displays a comprehensive panorama of the painter’s oeuvre through 1,300 pieces.

The project is currently being financed by the Sorolla Museum Foundation, and is being carried out by Blanca Pons-Sorolla, with the collaboration of Teresa Jiménez-Landi and Mónica Rodríguez Subirana. Since the beginning of the project in 1987, a profoundly better understanding of Sorolla’s work has been achieved.

The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University is honored to offer viewers in the United States their first opportunity to contemplate masterpieces from the leading historic private art collection in Spain. The treasures of the Alba family represent more than five hundred years of patronage and collecting of European art of the highest quality and importance. One hundred thirty-eight exemplary objects from these vast holdings will be presented in Dallas and then travel to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville. Coinciding with the Meadows Museum s golden anniversary, the exhibition Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting and this companion publication trace the history of the Alba family from the fifteenth century through the present day through the works they collected. The book explores the family’s wealth of paintings, sculptures, furniture, tapestries, and other objects, as well as the Alba archives and library. The stature of the painting collection is clear from the artists represented in the exhibition, among them Fra Angelico, Titian, Rubens, Mengs, Goya, Ingres, Sorolla, and Renoir. The relationship of the Alba legacy to America is highlighted in decorative objects and in a selection of documents from the Alba library related to Columbus and his voyages. The ten essays in this publication shed light on the dynasty’s particular interest in collecting tapestries; its patronage of writers such as Garcilaso de la Vega; the influence of Eugenia de Montijo, empress of France, who was directly related to the Alba family; the pivotal roles of the Seventeenth Duke of Alba and his daughter, the Eighteenth Duchess, in the twentieth century, both of them keenly engaged with the art of their time; and the three palaces Liria, Monterrey, and Las Dueñas that house much of the collection today. Finally, there is one essay covering the biographical life of the Albas as well as an article that discusses their artistic legacy. As a result, the book provides an in-depth study of the rich life and cultural achievements of this legendary dynasty that still lives strong today.

While the foundations of the Josette and Jean-Claude Weill Collection lie in painting, their passion for seeking out exciting new forms soon led them to embrace the infinite diversity of tribal art. Expanded over the decades under the enthusiastic stewardship of their son Jean-Pierre, the collection now includes over 120 works of the very highest order, covering Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Several large categories can be discerned, reflecting the Weill family’s liking for daring, expressionistic forms: Dogon and Tellem statues combining geometric shapes with textured surfaces, as well as Kongo powerful figures endowed with magic properties. The expressive arts of Nigeria, Cameroon, and Melanesia are also well represented in the collection. Among the more classic works there are pieces that have iconic status – such as the Bena Lulua statue that used to belong to Jacques Kerchache, Edward Robinson’s Fang reliquary figure, or the Biwat powerful flute plug from the Lemaire Collection – that testify to the sureness of the Weill’s taste and to the shrewd instinct that led them to appreciate this art from another world. An important group of finely carved small ivories makes up one-third of the whole collection. This book will provide an opportunity to unveil the Parisian collection shrouded in mystery, whose importance is matched only by its confidentiality. In order to enable the reader to capture the full richness and diversity of its contents, the works are all accompanied by notes written by experts, including Viviane Baeke (Africa Museum, Tervuren), Philippe Dagen (historian and art critic), Jean-Paul Colleyn (anthropologist), Bertrand Goy (author specializing in the Ivory Coast), Hélène Joubert (Musée du Quai Branly-Jaques Chirac), Hélène Leloup (historian and antiquarian), Sean Mooney (the Rock Foundation), and Philippe Peltier (formerly at Musée du Quai Branly-Jaques Chirac).

An impressively tattooed but unnamed Easter Island (Rapa Nui) man appears often in the pages of Pacific Island histories and museum catalogs. The Swedish ethnographer Dr. Knut Hjalmar Stolpe knew him only as Tepano, the Tahitian version of the Christian name Stephen. But what was his real Rapanui identity, and what can his life story tell us about the history of Easter Island?

This book reveals his identity, who illustrated him, and how he transcended the tragic events of 19th-century Rapa Nui to become one of the most iconic faces of the Polynesian past. The authors summarize the history of tattoo as practiced by Rapanui artisans, link that history to island geography, and present rare barkcloth sculptures as a visual record of tattoo patterns.

This title is the first in a new series on Polynesian Arts & Culture by Mana Press, in partnership with Floating World Editions.

For a list of future titles, visit: www.FloatingWorldEditions.com. For more on Rapa Nui, the Mana Gallery and Mana Books, visit: www.eisp.org.

Since the early seventeenth century, Taoism – the native religion of China – has been generally regarded by authorities there as base superstition and potentially subversive. The Taoist poetry of medieval China was consequently ignored by Chinese arbiters of taste and, until recently, most Western scholars and translators have accepted this judgment uncritically; a body of beautiful verse, with analogs in the poetry of Christian mysticism, has remained virtually unknown in our time. This book augments the efforts of a few contemporary Western scholars to recover the meaning and value of this literary heritage. The eminent sinologist Edward H. Shafer translated all the surviving verse of the ninth-century poet Ts’ao T’ang, and to the selections published here has added introductory remarks on the source of the poet’s imagery and short essays on his treatment of figures of the Taoist pantheon. Ts’ao T’ang has placed these deities in celestial gardens, sparkling palaces on the summits of sacred mountains, and secret places of rendezvous on magic islands in the eastern sea. The poet creates a world of illusions, in which it is difficult to distinguish vestments from rainbows, castles from crags, birds from spirits, sea-waves from sea-mounts – even lords from ladies. These contrived wonders are all metaphors for a world completely inaccessible to our mortal senses.

Although Chinese scholars’ stones fascinate, they do not speak; they reveal their mysteries only grudgingly to those who take the time to observe and to investigate. In seven essays the author relates important lessons learned over a lifetime of collecting and researching these intriguing creations of nature. What did Chinese connoisseurs of a thousand years ago mean by the enigmatic terms shou, zhou, lou, and tou? Were ‘ink mountain stones’ the earliest collected stone form, and were they valued primarily for their utilitarian function? What are the ‘Qingzhou stones’ mentioned in one early text, but ignored in subsequent writings? What should we be looking for when we evaluate an ancient stone? How can we tell if it is ancient without written records and how much weight can be given to any documentation? Finally, using the tools of connoisseurship and textual evidence, is it possible to verify that a stone first collected in the former Han dynasty is the stone we are looking at today? In exploring these and other issues, Kemin Hu illuminates a depth and complexity of stone appreciation not touched upon in other publications, yet understood and appreciated by serious modern collectors as well as Chinese stone lovers of old.

This is the first book in English to present a comprehensive history of Japanese theater illustrated with monochrome photographs of performances, costumes, masks and props.