Product Description

The collections of The British Museum span all cultures and all ages, ranging from ancient Egyptian mummies to masterpieces of Greek and Roman art; from Celtic gold to Japanese paintings and traditional textiles from Africa. Today the Museum is bringing its collections up to date, and this highly illustrated book also features many recent acquisitions from all over the world. In his introduction the present Director, Robert Anderson, outlines the historical background to the Museum's recent redevelopment programme and offers an insight into the diverse range of activities engaged by this great storehouse of the world's culture. A final chapter outlines the work of conservation and scientific research.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1049222 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Library Journal
This book takes the reader on a breathless tour of the museum's major departments and collections. The inventory of objects is interwoven with a basic art historical text. In fact, even the book's design reminds one of a cramped, small-scale version of a textbook. Rarely is more than a sentence or two devoted to an object, although the picture captions add further brief descriptions. The audience for whom the book is intended is a mystery: not enough information is provided for it to be of use to scholars, yet the language seems to assume a certain knowledge. On the other hand, fundamental terms are occasionally painstakingly defined. The illustrations are plentiful and of high quality, but many of the objects mentioned are, annoyingly, not illustrated. While a book on the British Museum could be a useful tool in many libraries, in comparison with other exquisite collection catalogs recently published, this one is disappointing.
- Lynell A. Morr, John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art Lib., Sarasota, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Sir David Wilson was Director of the Museum from 1977 to 1991. A former professor of medieval archaeology, he is a Fellow of the British Academy. His many publications include Viking Art, The Bayeux Tapestry, and Awful Ends: The British Museum Book of Epitaphs.