Born in 1926, married in 1947, crowned as Queen in 1953, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has for over six decades steadfastly and loyally carried out her duty on behalf of her country. German art publisher Taschen celebrates her remarkable royal story with a new and keenly priced edition of their collectable photography book Her Majesty, a definitive photographic collection of her public and private life. Brimming with history, tradition, glamour and culture, the book spans the Queen's early years right through to her most recent state tours and ceremonies. Along the way, we trace her coming of age during World War II; her marriage, motherhood, and coronation; her encounters with such icons of their age as the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, and JFK; and her extensive international travels. The hundreds of spectacular photos have it all - history, politics, glamour, fashion, culture, travel, and, of course, hats. We visit the spectacular royal palaces and enjoy the infectious celebration of royal weddings and jubilees. We witness the elegance of official portraits, and the tenderness and humour of informal and family moments. As much a showcase of top photographers as a royal celebration, Her Majesty includes the work of such luminaries as Cecil Beaton, Studio Lisa, Dorothy Wilding, Karsh, Lord Snowdon, David Bailey, Patrick Lichfield, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rankin, and Annie Leibovitz. 25 x 34cm, 3.23 kg, 368 pages. Text in English, French and German. New from Taschen.

From the dawn of time, ever since Adam and Eve, all artists of every age-whether the Egyptian, Greek, or Roman artists of Antiquity, or more recent famous names as Rembrandt, Courbet, Degas, or Picasso-have succumbed to their fantasies, obsessions, and libido, and produced erotic works that the censors have taken good care to keep from the public. Here we discover that not only most of our famous writers, such as Ovid, Aretino, Voltaire, Verlaine or Maupassant, wrote erotic texts that bordered on indecency, but also that great artists like Boucher, Fragonard, Dalí or Matisse were inspired to provide suitable illustrations for these naughty books. For this new hardcover edition of the classic 1995 bestseller, Taschen has culled highlights from our Erotica Universalis collection. A banquet for the imagination and a feast of the eye! 576 pages. Colour illus.

The definitive, outsize colour exploration of the original trilogy. Star Wars exploded onto our cinema screens in 1977, and the world has not been the same since. Audiences enthusiastically embraced the positive energy of the Star Wars universe as they followed moisture farmer Luke Skywalker on his journey through a galaxy far, far away, meeting extraordinary characters like mysterious hermit Obi-Wan Kenobi, space pirates Han Solo and Chewbacca, loyal droids C-3PO and R2-D2, bold Princess Leia and the horrific Darth Vader, servant of the dark, malevolent Emperor. Writer, director, and producer George Lucas created the modern monomyth of our time, one that resonates with the child in us all. He formed Industrial Light & Magic to develop cutting-edge special effects technology which he combined with innovative editing techniques and a heightened sense of sound to give audiences a unique sensory cinematic experience. In this massive, heavyweight spectacular volume, made with the full cooperation of Lucasfilm, Lucas narrates his own story, taking us through the making of the original trilogy - Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi - and bringing fresh insights into the creation of a unique universe and his inspirations. Complete with script pages, production documents, concept art, storyboards, on-set photography, stills, and posters, the XXL-sized tome is an authoritative exploration of the original saga as told by its creator. Galactic colour, 41.1 x 30cm, 604 pages. Brand new from Taschen.
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The Kisokaido route through Japan was ordained in the early 1600s by the country's then-ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu, who decreed that staging posts be installed along the length of the arduous passage between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto. Inns, shops, and restaurants were established to provide sustenance and lodging to weary travellers. In 1835, renowned woodblock print artist Keisai Eisen was commissioned to create a series of works to chart the Kisokaido journey. After producing 24 prints, Eisen was replaced by Utagawa Hiroshige, who completed the series of 70 prints in 1838. Both Eisen and Hiroshige were master print practitioners. In The Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaido, we find the artists' distinct styles as much as their shared expertise. From the busy starting post of Nihonbashi to the castle town of Iwamurata, Eisen opts for a more muted palette but excels in figuration, particularly of glamorous women, and relishes snapshots of activity along the route, from shoeing a horse to winnowing rice. Hiroshige demonstrates his mastery of landscape with grandiose and evocative scenes, whether it's the peaceful banks of the Ota River, the forbidding Wada Pass, or a moonlit ascent between Yawata and Mochizuki. Taken as a whole, The Sixty-Nine Stations collection represents not only a masterpiece of woodblock practice, including bold compositions and an experimental use of colour, but also a charming tapestry of 19th-century Japan, long before the spectre of industrialisation. This new Taschen super-sized XXL edition revives the series with due scale and splendour. Sourced from the only-known set of a near-complete run of the first edition of the series, this legendary publication is reproduced in optimum quality, bound in the Japanese tradition and with uncut paper. It is at once a visual delight and a major artefact from the bygone era of Imperial Japan. Japanese binding in clothbound box, 44 x 30cm, 234 pages, text in English, French and German.

Exquisitely bound in a satin cloth decorated with an Archimboldo design of the head with the face made of flowers and plants and this outsize volume has a pink satin pagemarker and double gate centre pages, stunning black glossy background highlighting its treasures and many of these collectables are made of Nautilus shells with gilt-bronze settings decorated with dolphins, a lion's mouth, and some encrusted with rubies and turquoises. There are ornamental goblets, cups, exquisite glassware, shells of all shapes and colours, many in glass fronted cabinets, and the more gruesome skeletons, lizards and snakes and frogs, and more tasteful collections cameos, marble, silverware, and in today's eyes less tasteful rare birds, carved and inlaid ivory, armadillos, alligators, carved ebony servants. Seven countries Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and England have been chosen with museums natural history, chateau, private collections, the Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha, Uppsala University in Sweden and curiosities of fantastic drawings, portraiture, semiprecious stones, collections of macabre paintings of humans with animal faces dressed in Tudor costumes, a man with a bloodied eye and the other eye socket pierced with a spear, there are decorative ships and dragons and all manner of shapes and colours and ideas for interior design, reflecting the history of collecting with beautiful objects, weapons and natural curiosities. The unique new Taschen publication, dripping with colour. The Wunderkammer, or "cabinet of curiosities," saw collectors gathering objects from many strands of artistic, scientific and intellectual endeavour, in an ambitious attempt to encompass all of humankind's knowledge in a single room. From the Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici and Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to Archduke Ferdinand II of Habsburg, these aristocratic virtuosos acquired, selected and displayed the objects in real-life catalogues that represented the entire world - spanning architecture, interior design, painting, sculpture, gemology, geology, botany, biology and taxonomy, astrology, alchemy, anthropology, ethnography and history. Marvel at the unicorn horns (narwhal tusks), gems, rare coral growths, Murano glasswork, paintings and peculiar mechanical automata. Browse through illustrations of exotic and mythical creatures and discover the famed "Coburg ivories," an astounding collection of crafted artifacts. These collections are nothing short of a journey through time, from the Renaissance and Age of Discovery, the Mannerist and Baroque periods, up to the present day. Massimo Listri travelled to seven European countries over several decades and the result is a set of gorgeous photographs on each of 19 astonishing chambers, highlighting the most remarkable items in each collection. Text in English, French and German. Colour. 29 x 39½cm, 5.04 kg, 356 pages.

Exotic plants, corals and crocodiles, birds and butterflies. Albertus Seba's extraordinary catalogue of natural specimens is not only one of the 18th century's greatest natural history achievements but also one of the most prized natural history books of all time. It is a beautiful tribute to the abundance and diversity of Earth's creatures, great and small, as well as a fascinating record of some now-extinct animals. Though scientists of his era often collected natural specimens for research purposes, Amsterdam-based pharmacist Albertus Seba (1665-1736) was unrivalled in his passion. Seba's scenic illustrations, often mixing plants and animals in a single plate, were unusual even for the time. His amazing collection of animals, plants and insects from all around the world gained international fame during his lifetime. In 1731, after decades of collecting, Seba commissioned careful and often scenic illustrations of every specimen. With these meticulous drawings, he arranged for the publication of a four-volume catalogue, covering the entire collection from strange and exotic plants to snakes, frogs, crocodiles, shellfish, corals, birds, and butterflies, as well as now extinct creatures. This reproduction is taken from a rare, hand-coloured original. 15.6 x 21.7cm, 512 pages.

One of the most influential photographers of all time, Newton first achieved international fame in the 1970s while working principally for French Vogue and became celebrated for his controversial scenarios, bold lighting and striking compositions in street or interior settings rather than studios. Many of the images are of beautiful leggy models, in stockings and suspenders, high heels, transparent lingerie wearing an open leather jacket, sunglasses and in front of the Eifel Tower and many famous faces among them from the world of Hollywood reproduced to state-of-the-art origination and printing standards. Helmut Newton (1920-2004) always showed a healthy disdain for the easy or predictable, so it's no surprise that the SUMO was an irresistible project. The book was the size of a private exhibition! New XL edition celebrating 20 years of SUMO, the result of a project conceived by photographer Helmut Newton some years ago. Revised by his wife June, the volume gathers 464 images and a new booklet that takes us through the making of this publishing venture - a spectacular tribute to the larger-than-life Helmut Newton. Slipcased, 26.7 x 37.4 cm, 464 pages. Text in English, French and German. New from Taschen.

Ren Hang, who took his life February 23, 2017, was an unlikely rebel. Slight of build, shy by nature, prone to fits of depression, the 29-year-old Beijing photographer was nonetheless at the forefront of Chinese artists' battle for creative freedom. Like his champion Ai Weiwei, Ren was controversial in his homeland and wildly popular in the rest of the world. His models, friends, and in his last years, fans, are naked, often outdoors, high in the trees or on the terrifyingly vertiginous rooftops of Beijing, stacked like building blocks, heads wrapped in octopi, body cavities sprouting phone cords and flowers, whatever entered his mind at the moment. He denied his intentions were sexual, and there is a clean detachment about even his most extreme images: the urine, the insertions, the many, many erections. In a 2013 interview said "It's not just dicks I?m interested in, I like to portray every organ in a fresh, vivid and emotional way." True though that may be, the penises Ren photographed were not just fresh and vivid, but unusually large. Hang also stated, "Gender isn't important when I'm taking pictures, it only matters to me when I'm having sex," making him a pioneer of gender inclusiveness. Young fans still eagerly flock to his website and Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr accounts. His photographs, all produced on film, have been the subject of over 20 solo and 70 group shows in his brief six-year career. He self-published 16 monographs, in tiny print runs. Taschen's new book covers his entire career, with well-loved favorites and many never-before-seen photos of men, women, Beijing, and those many, many erections. Text in English, French and German. 8.9" x 11.8", 312 pages. New from Taschen.

Pop artist, painter of modern life, landscape painter, master of colour, explorer of image and perception, for six decades, David Hockney has been known as an artist who always finds new ways of exploring the world and its representational possibilities. He has consistently created unforgettable images: works with graphic lines and integrated text in the Swinging Sixties in London; the famous swimming pool series as a representation of the 1970s California lifestyle; closely observed portraits and brightly coloured, oversized landscapes after his eventual return to his native Yorkshire. In addition to drawings in which he transfers what he sees directly onto paper, there are multiperspective Polaroid collages that open up the space into a myriad of detailed views, and iPad drawings in which he captures light using a most modern medium -testaments to Hockney's enduring delight in experimentation. This special edition has been newly assembled from the two volumes of the David Hockney: A Bigger Book monograph to celebrate art publisher Taschen's 40th anniversary. Hockney's life and work is presented year by year as a dialogue between his works and voices from the time period, alongside reviews and reflections by the artist in a chronological text, supplemented by portrait photographs and exhibition views. Together they open up new perspectives, page after page, revealing how Hockney undertakes his artistic research, how his painting develops, and where he finds inspiration for his multifaceted work. 15.6 x 21.7cm, 1.47 kg, 512 pages. Glorious colour reproductions. New from Taschen.

For the seasoned car collector or the awestruck newcomer, this volume is the consummate sports car anthology, bringing together 50 of the most exquisite, desirable, and adrenaline-charging sports cars of all time. It recounts the enthralling endeavours in automotive design and engineering in pursuit of optimum dynamic performance for both road and track. This expertly curated roundup of glorious, high-speed two-seaters includes both all-out sports racers as well as their street-legal brethren. Indeed, some of the most desirable cars are from the glorious golden era of sports car racing, which existed up until the late 1960s. In that time, gentleman privateers would drive their cars to a competition event, such as the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, race them hard - perhaps winning their class or even the race - before coolly driving them home again. Showcasing 50 of the most sought-after sports cars ever created, from the 1912 Stutz Model A Bear Cat and the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B MM Spider to the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR "Uhlenhaut Coupé" - the world's most expensive car - and the 1962/64 Ferrari 250 GTO Series II, this spectacular volume is an automobilia treasure trove. Each fabled model is presented with lavish colour photographic spreads, stunning imagery taken by the world's leading car photographers alongside rare archival gems, from original factory photos to famous motorsports event posters and expert descriptive texts and specs. 15.6 x 21.7cm, 512 pages. New from Taschen.

Amid our ever-growing consumption of data visualization, nothing makes for tastier morsels than the fine art of food and dining. Ushering the cookbook into the future, this volume gathers together the best infographics of all things eating, drinking, and cuisine, from measurement conversion charts and recipes for cookies and cocktails to stress-free party planning. A must-have for every 21st century foodie, this is gastro-guidance at its most visually appealing as much as expert. Want to master sashimi? Know the secret to perfectly grilled steak? Wow guests with your own dry martini? Food & Drink Infographics has all the answers and more, using the best culinary graphics to answer kitchen conundrums in lively, simple, and memorable form. You'll find appealing colour infographics on all the food groups, from grains and pulses to fruit and vegetables, to fish, meat, and poultry. Recipe ideas include soups, sandwiches, snacks, sweet treats, and just-right dressings. Other sections cover flavour pairings, baking, cooking tools and techniques, and alcohol, coffee, and tea. The book opens with a foreword by cooking author Michael Ruhlman, followed by a historic survey of food imagery examining how and where pictures have been used to enjoy, prepare, and serve food and drink, from Egyptian tomb paintings showing flatbread being made to 19th century classics such as Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. Slick, smart, and packed full of perfect nuggets of advice, Food & Drink Infographics rounds up a delightful visual exploration of food and dining as much as an indispensable collection of everyday tips, techniques, and temptations. Two fold-outs, 24.6 x 37.2cm, 3.75 kg, 464 pages. Text in English, French and German. New from Taschen.

In early 1964, photographer Harry Benson received a call from the photo editor of London's Daily Express, who asked him to cover the Beatles' trip to Paris. It was the beginning of a career-defining relationship, which would both make Benson's name and produce some of the most intimate photographs ever taken of the Beatles. In Paris, Benson captured the Fab Four in the midst of a pillow fight at the George V Hotel, a spontaneous moment which came to epitomize the spirit of the band - Benson himself has called it the best shot of his career. Later that year, he followed the group on the road for their debut U.S. tour, documenting their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, their surprising encounter with Cassius Clay, and the hysteria of New York Beatlemania. Benson also photographed George Harrison's honeymoon in Barbados, documented the Beatles on the set of their debut movie A Hard Day's Night, and was present on the now infamous 1966 tour when John Lennon said that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." Previously out-of-print, this re-issued edition brings back hundreds of the best of Benson's luminous black-and-white Beatles portfolio. Complemented by quotes and newspaper clippings from the period, an introduction by the photographer himself adds exciting personal testimony to these iconic images of the greatest band in musical history. Text in English, French and German. 23.6 x 33.3cm, 272 pages. New from Taschen.

Captures the great era of men's magazines. It includes fetish master Irving Klaw, Elmar Batters own leg fetish, the speciality magazines of England, and concludes with Sweden and Denmark's emergence as the new powers in European sex publishing. Everyone was publishing lovely bare breasted ladies with silky stockings in every position imaginable. Titles such as Highball, Sizzle, Lace Undies, Nymph, French Lace, Black Silk Stockings, Solo, Touch, High Heels and many more hit the newsstands. Back in New York, Irving Klaw introduced fetish digests in the same specialty bookstores, leading to a '60s fetish boom, with Lenny Burtman's High Heels, Satana, Striparama, and Leg Show. The photos had a rawness showing the older models with that look of experience, openness and control. Many could be the woman next door caught just as the reader dreamt. See pre-Playboy burlesque titles, featuring big hair, heavy make-up, cigarettes, and cocktails, but in west coast mid-century settings with better photography, paper, and printing. Contains over 400 colour pages of magazine covers and interiors with well-researched text profiling important publishers and artists, individual magazines, and specialty magazine categories. 458 pages, 11" x 8" x 2", this thick volume has a tactile blue snakeskin jacket, hundreds of glam models in erotic colour photos. Text in English, German and French.

In Volume 5 we explore newsstand magazines gathered from around the world. See the effects of the Sexual Revolution in Germany, England, France, North and South America, Japan, Hong Kong, and Italy. Pubic hair appeared on the American newsstand in 1970 compliments of Penthouse magazine. England, always lagging, finally got the knickers off, but kept its censorship laws. Japan, long suppressed, found release in bondage magazines like New Roman Porno and SM Select. Within a year it was everywhere, and in 1975 Midwest redneck Larry Flynt parted the hair and made the pink beyond the centrepiece of Hustler. Read profiles of Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Screw's Al Goldstein, and of lesser known, but no less fascinating characters like Peter Wolff, hippie genius of the True Sex genre, and gun-toting Myron Fass, last of the pulp-pushers. See the evolutionary end-stage of sex humour magazines, the overflowing abundance of big breast titles, the emergence of swinging as lifestyle and publishing niche, the curious phenomenon of reader-written erotica, more funny, amazing and confounding ads from the magazines' back pages and cap it all with the 70s' top five covergirls (and one coverboy). 460 full colour pages of over 600 colour covers and magazine interiors and 18 chapters of information-rich text in English, French and German.

On November 18, 1928, the world's most famous mouse made his very first public debut. Today, we celebrate 90 plus years of Mickey Mouse in one of the most expansive illustrated publications on the Disney universe. Starting with the first sketches of a character who was almost named Mortimer, we trace the career of Walt Disney's and Ub Iwerks's most famous creation, one met with an explosion of worldwide popularity preceded only by the earlier successes of Charlie Chaplin. This edition is derived from the XXL book that was produced with unlimited access to Disney's vast historical collections as well as public and private collections. The authors bring Mickey's success story to life: concept art, story sketches, background paintings, and animation drawings as well as historical photographs trace the origins and evolution of such timeless favourites as Steamboat Willie, The Band Concert, and Brave Little Tailor. They also follow Mickey as he builds on this legendary library of short cartoons by appearing in two historic feature-length films, Fantasia and Fun and Fancy Free. Unfinished projects, many of them presented for the first time through original storyboard drawings, unveil a Mickey that might have been. Extensive archival research sheds new light on little-known chapters of Mickey's career, such as his pioneering radio shows, the origins of the Mickey Mouse Club, and his use as a patriotic icon during World War II. Along the way, we encounter the work of Ub Iwerks, Win Smith, Ferdinand Horvath, Fred Moore, Floyd Gottfredson, Carl Barks, Manuel Gonzales, Paul Murry, Romano Scarpa, Giorgio Cavazzano, Byron Erickson, César Ferioli, and Noel Van Horn. Today, 90 years after his creation, Mickey remains as lovable and popular as ever. Let's pay the ultimate tribute to the little fellow, his legend, and his legacy. 496 colour-packed pages. 25 x 34cm, heavy at over 3kg. New from Taschen.

"Bond, James Bond." Since Sean Connery uttered those immortal words in 1962, the most dashing secret agent in the history of cinema has been charming and thrilling audiences worldwide. This impeccably British character created by author Ian Fleming has starred in 25 EON-produced films, played by six different actors over five decades. EON Productions opened their archives of photos, designs, storyboards and production materials to editor Paul Duncan who spent two years researching over one million images and 100 filing cabinets of documentation. The result is the most complete account of the making of the series, covering every James Bond film ever made, beginning with Dr. No (1962) and ending with No Time To Die (2021), including the spoof Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983). The wealth of previously unpublished photography, set designs, storyboards and production memos is supplemented by an oral history recounted by over 150 cast and crew. From producers to stuntmen, directors to production designers, these personal narratives relate the true inside story from the Bond sets, offering outstanding insight into the personalities and processes behind the most successful and longest-running film franchise in cinema history. This brand newly published updated edition includes exclusive colour photography and new interviews with Daniel Craig, director Cary Fukunaga, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and many others, revealing the full story behind the making of the emotionally charged No Time To Die. Made with unrestricted access to the Bond archives, this book recounts the history of James Bond in words and pictures. Among the 1,100 images are many previously unseen stills, on-set photos, memos, documents, storyboards, posters, and designs, plus unused concepts, and alternative designs. Heavyweight, landscape, quality 33.7 x 24.6 cm (13.3 x 9.7 in.), 648 pages. Multi language edition new from Taschen.

From the mighty halls of ancient Alexandria to the coffered ceilings of the Morgan Library in New York, human beings have had a long, enraptured relationship with these collections of knowledge, learning, and imagination offering a sense of infinite possibility. In this new photographic journey, Massimo Listri travels to some of the oldest and finest libraries to reveal their architectural, historical, and imaginative wonder. Through great wooden doors, up spiraling staircases, and along exquisite, shelf-lined corridors, he leads us through outstanding private, public, educational, and monastic libraries, dating as far back as 766. Between them, these medieval, classical, baroque, rococo, and 19th-century institutions hold some of the most precious records of human thought and deed, inscribed and printed in manuscripts, volumes, papyrus scrolls, and incunabula. In each, Listri's poised images capture the library's unique atmosphere, as much as their most prized holdings and design details. Featured libraries include the papal collections of the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Trinity College Library, home to the Book of Kells and Book of Durrow. With meticulous descriptions accompanying each featured library, we learn not only of the libraries' astonishing holdings - from which highlights are illustrated - but also of their often lively, turbulent, or controversial pasts like the Franciscan monastery in Lima, Peru, with its horde of archival Inquisition documents. At once a bibliophile beauty pageant, an ode to knowledge, and an evocation of the particular magic of print, the book is above all a cultural-historical pilgrimage to the heart of our halls of learning. Heavyweight, brand-new Taschen publication. 16.7 x 22.5cm. 512 pages, gorgeous colour illustrations.

Sexy, sensual and otherworldly, Fantasy art is that colourful blend of myth, muscle and sexy maidens. It took off in 1923 with the launch of Weird Tales magazine, was reinvigorated in the 1960s with The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian paperbacks with Frank Frazetta covers, and the late ?60s emergence of fantasy psychedelia, went big in the ?70s with the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, the brilliant French magazine Métal Hurlant, and the first Star Wars film. Frank Frazetta?s oil paintings, when they infrequently come to market, have sold for more than $ 5 million in recent years. Fans line up at Comic-Cons to meet Boris Vallejo, Rodney Matthews, Greg Hildebrandt, Michael Whelan, and Philippe Druillet, and memorialize dead icons HR Giger, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, and Frazetta. Vallejo describes his fantasy life; Julie Bell The Visionary; space architect Druillet; the biomechanic Giger; the Brothers Hildebrandt, masters of light; Mcebius the psychedelic surrealist; Rowena Morrill the pioneer; Sanjulian the classicist; and Michael Whelan the realist. This heavyweight colour book features original paintings, contextualized by preparatory sketches, sculptures, calendars, magazines, and paperback books, insightful bios give an accurate and eye-opening look into the life and motivation and inspiration of each artist in this fanciful and dynamic genre. 15.6 x 21.7 cm, 512 pages. You can smell the colour!

Founded in 1848 as a secret society, the Pre-Raphaelites rejected classical ideals and the dominant artistic genre painting of their era for what they saw as a more spiritual, sincere, and naturalistic approach. Inaugurated by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, they evolved into a seven-member "brotherhood" that included poets and critics as well as painters. Moving away from the classical compositions exemplified by Raphael (hence the group's name), the Pre-Raphaelites rather turned to medieval culture and the jewel-like colours of Quattrocento art for inspiration. Their principal themes were initially religious, but also included subjects from literature and poetry, as exemplified by Sir John Everett Millais' famous Ophelia, drawn from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Inspired by the theories of John Ruskin, they were also committed to the close study of nature. This book presents key works from the Pre-Raphaelite group to introduce their reactionary principles, their dazzling colours, their interest in love, death, and nature, and their extensive influence on latter-day Symbolism and beyond. Approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions, a detailed, illustrated introduction plus a timeline of the most important political, cultural, and social events that took place during that period, a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each presented on a two-page spread with a full-page image and accompanying interpretation, as well as a portrait and brief biography of the artist. 8.3" x 10.2", 96 pages.

With rich colour on every illustration, this reprint is made from one of the finest complete original sets of woodblock prints belonging to the Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokyo. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) was one of the last great artists in the ukiyo-e tradition. His greatest talent was in creating landscapes of his native Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and his final masterpiece was a series known as "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" (1856-1858). This resplendent complete collection pairs each of the 120 illustrations with a description, allowing readers to plunge themselves into Hiroshige's beautifully vibrant landscapes. Literally meaning "pictures of the floating world", ukiyo-e refers to the famous Japanese woodblock print genre that originated in the 17th century and is practically synonymous with the Western world's visual characterisation of Japan. Because they could be mass produced, ukiyo-e works were often used as designs for fans, New Year's greeting cards, single prints and book illustrations, and traditionally they depicted city life, entertainment, beautiful women, kabuki actors, wrestlers, and spectacular landscapes. Chinese binding in bookcase 25 x 34 cm, 302 pages. Text in English, French, German.

"...a monumental survey... The Computer is a richly illustrated history of society's ever-evolving relationship with the silicon chip."-- "Wallpaper". "Almost pop art history of the technology". The story of the evolution of machines in computer history is full of the disruptive innovations that have led to today's world. From the early beginnings of computing to the bulky mainframe to the personal computer era, we now live in an almost entirely digital age. This visual tome explores steps from the first ideas of a calculating machine in the 19th century and early experiments with autonomous driving in the 1920s to oversized office computers in the 1950s to laptops and wearables of today. Tracing the stories of tech visionaries, pioneers, and entrepreneurs, the book combines compelling visuals, historical documents, and in-depth explanations to reveal significant events in computer history. Encompassing the invention of machines, coding, and software development, as well as technology's influence on today's political landscape, this incredible survey presents creations from Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, Alan Turing, Grace Hopper, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs. Showcasing forgotten gadgets and prototypes connecting iconic products such as the Apple Macintosh and the Sony Play Station as well as remembering milestones in software development, videogaming, and the web. Infographics explain wireless communication and other fundamental technical concepts, while the history of corporations such as IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Atari, Amazon, and Google is retraced through rare photographs and advertising campaigns. A fascinating read, this book acknowledges the computer's stupendous power and social impact. For techies and everyone interested in culture, economics, politics, and science. 24.6 x 37.2 cm, a weighty 3.89 kg, 472 pages. Text in English, Italian and Spanish.

Meet the artist whose majestic breaking wave sent ripples across the world. Hokusai (1760-1849) is not only one of the giants of Japanese art and a legend of the Edo period, but also a founding father of Western modernism, whose prolific gamut of prints, illustrations, paintings and beyond forms one of the most comprehensive oeuvres of ukiyo-e art and a benchmark of japonisme. His influence spread through Impressionism, Art Nouveau and beyond, enrapturing the likes of Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt and Vincent van Gogh. Hokusai was always a man on the move. He changed domicile more than 90 times during his lifetime and changed his own name through over 30 pseudonyms. In his art, he adopted the same restlessness, covering the complete spectrum of Japanese ukiyo-e, "pictures of the floating world", from single-sheet prints of landscapes and actors to erotic books. In addition, he created album prints, illustrations for verse anthologies and historical novels, and surimono, which were privately issued prints for special occasions. Hokusai's print series 'Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji', published between c.1830 and 1834 is the artist's most renowned work and, with its soaring peak through different seasons and from different vantage points, marked the towering summit of the Japanese landscape print. The series 'Under the Wave off Kanagawa', also known simply as The Great Wave, is one of the most recognized images of Japanese art in the world. This introduction spans the length and breadth of Hokusai's career with key pieces from his far-reaching portfolio. New from Taschen, 21 x 26 cm, 96 pages.

"For Belgian photographer David De Vleeschauwer, the best travel destinations are often the hardest to get to." - cnn.com. "Dive into slow travel, a captivating mix of portraits, landscapes, and even vintage icebreaker interiors." Escape to our world's most remote destinations with photographer David De Vleeschauwer and travel journalist Debbie Pappyn. Immerse yourself in 12 journeys that unfold through fascinating firsthand texts and enthralling photographs. Teetering rocks, indigenous people with skull masks, Arctic and the North Pole, the Andes and Port Lockroy in Antarctica, to gaucho chic in the Patagonian wilderness, Remote Experiences is the visual account of the extraordinary journeys of photographer David De Vleeschauwer through the world's most uncharted territories. Focused on 12 unexpected destinations, it wanders to paradise-like, off-the-radar forgotten kingdoms with ancient Buddhist outposts in the foothills of the Himalayas and traces the footsteps of pilgrims and shepherds in Italy. From the plains of Botswana to the outer realms of Antarctica aboard a superyacht icebreaker, this unique guide outlines its own geography of the world. Along the way, we meet individuals, landscapes and even vessels that become the serendipitous heroes of these wondrous adventures. De Vleeschauwer's shared experiences depict a world where the foreign becomes familiar, the isolated accessible. In our digital, overly consumptive age people want a true sense of place, which might be rugged, refined, or rural. Complete with travel accounts and detailed descriptions of trips that range in price from an affordable 250 euros to an ambitious one million euros, we go on an unforgettable voyage to those overlooked or sometimes forgotten spaces "where time stands still", encouraging us to do just that - maybe just from our armchairs. New from Taschen, 25 x 30 cm, 424 pages.

Explore here the work of more than 700 scientists and over 300 discoveries in anatomy, physics, chemistry, astronomy, mechanics, and many other scientific fields, through the visual works that bring them to life. Combined with detailed texts explaining their scientific significance, the illustrations in this book introduce the work of such pioneering scientists as Andreas Vesalius, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, and Rosalind Franklin. Science and illustration have always walked hand in hand, and not only the scientific community but the general public as well have used images since early history to understand natural phenomena from Leonardo and Galileo to Einstein. This XL-sized Taschen book collects more than 300 graphic works that range from original sketches to technical drawings, and from meticulous hand illustrations to computer-generated images. The Western scientific revolution that started in the 14th century catapulted humankind into a completely new way of understanding how nature and the world around us behaved. Whether it was diseases caused by viruses or the vast galaxies of the cosmos, a new army of professionals turned their minds to unlocking and reshaping the universe of our experience. The visualizations themselves present game-changing ideas and discoveries from the 15th century to the present day, notably including Galileo's watercolours of the moon, Bourgery's unparalleled Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery, Florence Nightingale's statistical diagrams to indicate war casualties, and Einstein's quickly scribbled ideas for his general theory of relativity. Text in English, Italian, Spanish. Spectacular images, scientific rigour. A huge size, 25 x 37cm, 3.72 kg, 436 pages.

Over the course of his short life, Austrian artist Egon Schiele (1890-1918) blazed a turbulent Expressionist trail. A child prodigy, young rebel and chronic provocateur, he caused uproar among the establishment with his contorted lines, distorted bodies, and explicit eroticism and continues to startle to this day with his unflinching images of himself and his nude subjects. Schiele's work spoke of a brutal honesty, one that would upset and irreversibly change Viennese society. In this expansive extra large size format book, we survey the complete catalogue of Schiele paintings from his most innovative and prolific decade between 1909 and 1918. The near 600 featured works reveal how the artist revelled in stylistic freedom and shock, abandoning classical figuration for a distorted and exaggerated physicality that rendered emotional and sexual truth. His subjects are elongated, angular, and twisted. With protruding ribs, contorted limbs, and sickly skin, the body becomes a locus of anguish. The only reprieve is the promise of sex. Like no other early 20th century artist, Schiele laid genitalia bare, bringing some of the most candid renderings of the vagina in Western art history, as well as scenes of masturbation and lesbian sex. These startling works, including over 200 paintings and 150 drawings and watercolours, many of them newly photographed, are presented alongside biographical details, expert insights, as well as Schiele's own writings and poems. They offer intimate access to the ideas behind his work and his extraordinary legacy through countless 20th century masters, from Francis Bacon and Otto Muehl to Julian Schnabel, David Bowie and Tracey Emin. Ribbon bookmark, 29 x 39.5cm, 6.31 kg, 608 pages. Boxed with carry handle. UK DELIVERY ONLY. New from Taschen.

Taschen revive the most ambitious publication project of beloved Danish artist Kay Nielsen. In the late 1910s, in a Europe ravaged by World War I, illustrator Kay Nielsen put the finishing touches on his illustrations of A Thousand and One Nights following on from East of the Sun, West of the Moon. The results are considered masterpieces of early 20th-century illustration: bursting with sumptuous colours of deep blues, reds, and gold leaf, and evoking all the magic of this legendary collection of Indo-Persian and Arabic folktales, compiled between the 8th and 13th centuries. However, publishers retreated from Nielsen's project in the financially strapped postwar climate, and the publication never happened. A rising star, Nielsen moved on to other work. This world heritage classic's spectacular pen, ink, and watercolour images remained under lock and key for 40 years. Published just once in the 1970s, the illustrations were rescued from oblivion after Nielsen's death in 1957 and are now held by the UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Art Institute of Chicago, and in two private collections. This publication is a unique compilation of fine art prints and stunning illustrations reproduced directly from Nielsen's original watercolours - the only complete set of his extraordinary drawings to have survived. The book features descriptions of all of the images and three generously illustrated essays on the making of this series, the origin of Nielsen's unique imagery, and a history of the tales. In addition, it shows many unpublished or rarely seen artworks by Nielsen and intricate black-and-white drawings Nielsen created for the original publication. Stunning, 31.2 x 1.9 x 31.6cm, 144 pages. Text in English, French and German.

Among the women artists who have transcended art history, none had a meteoric rise quite like Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). Her unmistakable face and mono brow, depicted in over 50 extraordinary self-portraits, has been admired by generations. Along with hundreds of photographs taken by notable artists such as Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, Nickolas Muray, and Martin Munkácsi, they made Frida Kahlo an iconic image of 20th century art. After an accident in her early youth, Frida became a painter of her own free will. Her marriage to Diego Rivera in 1929 placed her at the forefront of an artistic scene not only in the cultural Renaissance of Mexico, but also in the United States. Her work garnered praise from the poet André Breton, who added the Mexican painter to the ranks of international surrealism and exhibited her work in Paris in 1939 to the admiration of Picasso, Kandinsky, and Duchamp. With access the intimacy of Frida's affections and passions through a selection of drawings, pages from her personal diary, and an extensive illustrated biography featuring photos of Frida, Diego, and the Casa Azul, Frida's home and the centre of her universe, this book allows readers to admire Frida Kahlo's paintings like never before, including unprecedented detail shots and famous photographs. It presents pieces in private collections and reproduces works that were previously lost or have not been exhibited for more than 80 years. 15.6 x 21.7cm. 480 pages, new from Taschen.

While us oldies bemoan the shift from vinyl to CD and the fact that it deprived us of one of the greatest pleasures of music ownership - that great 12 inch artwork that was the album sleeve, replaced by a tiddly five inch booklet that you need a magnifying glass to read - spare a thought for this generation with their i-Pods and downloaded mp3s - they get nothing at all to go with the music! Here is both an unashamed wallow in nostalgia for us, and a taste of what they are missing for them, 1000 album sleeves, split into three sections; the '60s, '70s and '80s & '90s, 90s from music archivist, disc jockey, journalist, and former record-publicity executive Michael Ochs's enormous private collection. Both a trip down memory lane and a study in the evolution of cover art, this is a sweeping look at an underappreciated art form. Many are works of art, for example Andy Warhol's covers including the banana he designed for The Velvet Underground. Printed in eye-popping colour throughout, each has a caption of artist, title, year of release, record label, sleeve designer and extra notes. Beautifully presented by Taschen, 14 x 19.5cm, 576 pages.

It was the decade of daring Expressionist canvases, of brilliant book design, of the Bauhaus total work of art, of pioneering psychology, of drag balls, cabaret, Metropolis, and Marlene Dietrich's rising star in theatre and silent film. Between the paroxysms of two world wars, Berlin in the 1920s was a carpe diem cultural heyday, replete with groundbreaking art, invention, and thought. This book immerses readers in the freewheeling spirit of Berlin's Weimar age. Through exemplary works in painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic design, photography, and film, we uncover the innovations, ideas, and precious dreams that characterized this unique cultural window. We take in the jazz bars and dance halls; the crowded kinos and flapper fashion; the advances in technology and transport; the radio towers and rumbling trams and trains; the soaring buildings; the cinematic masterworks; and the newly independent women who smoked cigarettes, wore their hair short, and earned their own money. Featured works in this vivid cultural portrait include Hannah Höch's The Journalists; Lotte Jacobi's Hands on Typewriter; Otto Dix's Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden; Peter Behrens's project of the Alexanderplatz; and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel, starring Dietrich as cabaret performer Lola Lola. We see also the economic and political realities which fuelled the era's escapist, idealistic, or reactionary masterworks. Behind the bright lights and glitter dresses, we see the inflation, factory labour, and fragile political consensus that lurked beneath this golden era and would eventually spell its savage end with the rise of National Socialism. New from Taschen, 22 x 26 cm, 96 pages.

How much do we really know about Ancient Egypt? What about the farmers, the soldiers, the labourers and the families that made up the vast majority of this much mythologized civilisation? Chapters include A Gift of the Nile, The Art of Writing, Artisan Ship, Egyptian Art, Free Women In Pharaoh's Land?, The Pleasures of the Heart, Survival Techniques - Mummies, A Guide Through the Underworld, Gods, Goddesses and Magic, Temples, Tomb Robbers and Curses and Egypt and the Western World. With explanations of hieroglyphs alongside hundreds and hundreds of stunning colour photographs, diagrams and plans, we peep at underground passages, up close to marvellous relics, at amazing artworks and lithographs, reliefs and carvings, even fashions and hairstyles, a dancer doing a back bend to more contemporary photographs of Howard Carter and colleagues handling a statue of Tutankhamun, garments and other items of discovery. Will full list of Egyptian collections and museums, 296 very large pages. 9.4" x 12.4", 296 pages.
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