An inquisitive set of essays uncovering the treasures of the Pepys Library and its idiosyncratic owner.

Samuel Pepys’s famous library, a remarkable collection of over 3,000 items and a rare surviving example of a private 17th century library, was willed by Pepys to Magdalene College, Cambridge. This celebratory volume has been edited by the Pepys Librarian and President of Magdalene College, Dr M.E.J. Hughes, in tribute to her predecessor Dr Richard Luckett (Pepys Librarian 1982-2012).

This insightful text features contributions from eminent scholars, including Professor Sir Jonathan Bate, Professor Helen Cooper, Dr Hester Lees-Jeffries and Professor James Raven, focusing on items housed in the Pepys Library and on the illuminating narrative of how the collection was conceived and developed by its idiosyncratic owner.

As the first ‘Founder’s Choice’ to join Scala’s popular ‘Director’s Choice’ series, this stunning book highlights the favourite items of design and culture collected by museum founder Micky Wolfson. Rooted in the greatest century of growth and change humanity has ever known – 1850 to 1950 – The Wolfsonian traces the odyssey from agrarian to urban, colonial empires to Cold War superpowers, the first spike of the Transcontinental Railroad to the advent of television. Offering a unique and personal take on the museum’s rich and and varied collection of cultural artifacts, this handy book offers both a guide to Wolfsonian highlights and a glimpse into the art of collecting.

This elegant volume presents 44 outstanding Old Master paintings, primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries, that Jordan and Thomas Saunders III collected over the past 25 years. Included in the Saunders Collection are works by renowned Dutch, Flemish, French, Italian, and English masters, among them Frans Hals, Jan Davidsz de Heem, Jan Brueghel, Peter Paul Rubens, Nicolas de Largillière, Canaletto, Francesco Guardi, and Thomas Lawrence.

This richly illustrated catalogue was written by a team of specialists under the guidance of Arthur K. Wheelock Jr, former curator at the National Gallery of Art. The introductory essay discusses the principles that guided the Saunders in forming their collection, and the individual entries examine how artists fused careful observation with the imagination to create beautiful and thought-provoking paintings. These texts also examine the social, economic, and political realities that had an impact on these artistic creations.

A royal castle for nearly a thousand years, Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world. Today it remains an official residence of His Majesty the King. It is very much a working castle, and a spectacular backdrop to ceremonial and state occasions throughout the year. An enduring symbol of the monarchy, and of the history and traditions of Britain, Windsor Castle is also a royal residence of The King.

This beautifully illustrated souvenir guide offers a history of this magnificent castle, from its foundation by William the Conqueror in the eleventh century to its continuing role in the twenty-first, and highlights some of the extraordinary works of art and other treasures on display in the state and semi-state apartments.

Contents: Introduction; Plan of Windsor Castle; The Medieval and Tudor Castle; The Order of the Garter; St George’s Chapel; Treasures of Windsor Castle; The Restoration Castle; Treasures Lost and Found; The Georgian Castle; The Royal Parks at Windsor; The Victorian Castle; The Twentieth-Century Castle; Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House; The Castle Today; The Fire of 1992; The Castle Community.

Published to accompany an exhibition at the Science Museum, London, in spring 2016, this catalogue features 100 high-quality reproductions of Talbot’s work.

Through two introductory essays, the book examines how Talbot’s invention of photography in the 1830s, evolved to establish the artistic, scientific and industrial possibilities for photography. As a radically new way of seeing, Talbot set out how the medium of photography had the ability to open up the visual world to a different kind of scrutiny, as well as to reaffirm what was considered to be ‘real’. Such experiments make Talbot’s practice and thinking all the more complex and lasting but also provocative as he sits between ambitions of art and science through photography, and economic gain. The book furthermore discusses the relationships between a network of photographers who gravitated towards Talbot’s process but each of whom took photography into different territory. Assessing their artistic contribution and social legacy, it reflects on how enthusiasm for photography was initially limited to a small close-knit, elite group of people.

William Henry Fox Talbot is a testament to Talbot’s magical and industrial visions for his invention, that range from the delicate capture of natural specimens to more staged and functional ambitions for photography as means of mass production. It will be of interest to the art enthusiast and general historian of nineteenth-century innovation, as well as to all those curious to learn more about this pioneer of photography.

Historically, washi paper has been used as a base for Japanese calligraphy, painting, and printmaking as well as a material in architecture, religious ritual and clothing. In recent years, contemporary Japanese artists have turned this supple yet sturdy paper into a medium for expressing their artistic vision – layering, weaving, dyeing, shredding, folding, or cutting the paper to form abstract sculptures, lyrical folding screens, highly textured wall pieces, and dramatic installations. This elegantly designed volume examines the extraordinary creations of these diverse contemporary artists from Japan, France, and the United States. The publication also demonstrates the resilience, versatility, and unique stature of this ancient artistic medium in the realm of international contemporary art.

Published to accompany a travelling exhibition:
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA October 10, 2021 – January 2, 2022
Longmont Museum, Longmont, CO January 28, 2022 – May 15, 2022
D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA June 11, 2022 – September 4, 2022
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, FL November 3, 2022 – April 2, 2023

Founded in 1842 by Daniel Wadsworth, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art houses collections of nearly 50,000 works of art, spanning 5,000 years and embracing European art from antiquity through to Modernism as well as American art from the 1600s to today. Highlights include works by Caravaggio, Frederic Edwin Church, Salvador Dalí, Fra Angelico, Paul Gauguin, Sol LeWitt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Robert Rauschenberg and Kara Walker. This fully illustrated book is the first in many years to encapsulate the breadth of this prestigious collection, which has recently been re-presented in strikingly refurbished and reinstalled galleries.

Follow @TheWadsworth on Twitter (9,760 followers).

The Villa Wolkonsky, Rome, is the incongruously named official residence of the British ambassador to Italy. Nestled within the city’s Aurelian Wall, the site’s history dates back to antiquity, its gardens dominated by the remains of a first-century imperial Roman aqueduct. In the 19th century a remarkable Russian princess, Zenaïde Wolkonsky, turned it into a country home and salon d’art with such illustrious visitors as Gogol, Turgenev and Fanny Mendelssohn. Following generations excavated Roman tombs, collected antiquities and built a new grand mansion, before selling the Villa to the German government in 1922. It remained the German embassy, being much enlarged, until the Liberation of Rome in 1944. After the war the UK bought it, first as embassy offices and residence and, since 1971, as the residence for the ambassador and other staff.

In this handsomely illustrated volume, Sir John Shepherd, former ambassador, has undertaken new research to debunk long-held myths and present, for the first time, a comprehensive history of this hidden Roman treasure.

The definitive guidebook to Valletta’s key historical heritage sites and glorious Maltese architecture. 

Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1980, Valletta is the capital city of the small island-state of Malta. The foundation stone was laid on 28 March 1566, and although still under construction, it was adopted as convent of the Order of St John on 18 March 1571.

The Office of the Head of State and the legislative, judiciary, fiscal and executive arms of the Maltese Government have been amassed within its modest footprint ever since. In addition to housing hundreds of noble Knights from the major kingdoms of the Christian West, and a sizeable contingent of foreign administrators, thriving maritime activity connected Valletta with the entire Mediterranean littoral and further afar.

Heritage Malta is the national agency of the Government of Malta set up in 2002 and entrusted with the management of national museums and heritage sites in Malta and Gozo, including seven sites inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Tyrolean State Museums, Innsbruck, Austria, hold a treasure-trove of over 5 million objects and offer an extensive, interdisciplinary program of exhibitions and events to introduce new audiences to the region and to explore the links between past and present.

The core of the collection, the Ferdinandeum, is a sprawling art and culture complex that has continued to thrive since it was founded in 1823. Named after Archduke Ferdinand, it is the third oldest national Museum of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Inside, visitors can explore the Tyrol’s past, present and future through archeological, historical, scientific, cultural, music and art exhibits that help define the Tyrol’s place in the world.

Thirty-seven significant objects were selected for this guide in order to highlight the wide range and complexity of the collections.

Uncover the secrets of the Tyrolean at this world-class institution, which showcases the unique stories, events and characters that have helped shape the Tyrol’s history.

“Claas Kirchhelle brings the story of typhoid to life in this compelling narrative taking us from the early medical references through the dawn of microbiology, the first use of immuno-diagnostics to the amazing power of modern vaccines to control this ancient killer. It is a book that meticulously observes the story and the science behind the discoveries that underpin modern understanding of infectious disease, on which our very lives depend.” ― Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, FMedSci, Director, Oxford Vaccine Group
“Typhoid is one of the classic diseases of humankind that has been with us, perhaps since humans moved out of Africa. It still persists in many places, particularly where public infrastructure is weak and impoverished. The disease has killed many significant people in history, and has imprinted on our way of thinking. This book provides a unique and eloquent discription of the disease and its continuing impact. Very relevant in the modern interconnected world.” ― Prof Gordon Dougan, FRS, FMEDSCi, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Wellcome Sanger Institute.
“This lively illustrated account gives typhoid the prominence it deserves and links the past with the present.” ― Dr Margaret Pelling, Centre for the History of Science, Medicine, And Technology, University of Oxford.
A killer of paupers, princes and presidents, typhoid was an invisible threat in Victorian times and remains dangerous in many areas today. In this exploration of the past, present and future of typhoid control, Dr Claas Kirchhelle uses the stories of both literary characters and real-life figures to trace typhoid’s transformation from a mysterious scourge into a controllable microbial threat. Drawing on the award-winning Typhoidland exhibitions, the author dispels the myth of typhoid as an eradicated disease and shows how cutting-edge vaccines and collective international action offer new hope amidst surging drug resistance – a subject that has gained new relevance in a post-COVID world.