The Arts: Treatments & subjects Books

During the Renaissance, artists and illustrators developed the representation of truthful three-dimensional forms into a highly skilled art. As reliable illustrations of three-dimensional subjects became more prevalent, they also influenced the way in...

Every map tells a story. Some provide a narrative for travellers, explorers and surveyors or offer a visual account of changes to people's lives, places and spaces, while others tell imaginary tales, transporting us to fictional worlds created by writers...

Homecoming, haunting, nostalgia, desire: these are some of the themes evoked by the beguiling motif of the lighted window in literature and art. In this innovative combination of place-writing, memoir and cultural study, Peter Davidson takes us on...

Representing four centuries of collecting and a thousand years of Jewish history, this book brings together Hebrew manuscripts and rare books from the Bodleian Library and Oxford colleges. Highlights of the extraordinary collections include a fragment of...

Martin Lister, royal physician and fellow of the Royal Society, was an extraordinarily prolific natural historian with an expertise in shells and molluscs.Disappointed with the work of established artists, Lister decided to teach his daughters, Susanna...

The range of J. R. R. Tolkien's talents is remarkable. Not only was he an accomplished linguist and philologist, as well as a scholar of Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature and Norse folklore, but also a skillful illustrator and storyteller. Drawing on...

How were the first fonts made? Who invented italics? When did we work out how to print in colour?Many of the standard features of printed books were designed by pioneering typographers and printers in the latter half of the fifteenth century. Although...

When Falstaff calls upon the sky to rain potatoes in The Merry Wives of Windsor, he is highlighting the late sixteenth-century belief that the exotic vegetable, recently introduced to England from the Americas, was an aphrodisiac. In Romeo and Juliet,...

The Bodleian Library is home to treasures from every corner of the globe that mark major milestones in cultural history. This book contains twenty-six pull-out postcards-one for each letter of the alphabet-each featuring a rare or beautiful manuscript...

This stunning series of pocketbooks from Kew offers a snapshot into the diverse and beautiful world of plants and fungi. Each book lavishly showcases choice examples from different groups or collections.Hot, spicy, aromatic, zingy, oral, earthy and...

This stunning series of pocketbooks from Kew offers a snapshot into the diverse and beautiful world of plants and fungi. Each book lavishly showcases choice examples from different groups or collections.Part of our everyday lives, full of flavour and...

This stunning series of pocketbooks from Kew offers a snapshot into the diverse and beautiful world of plants. Kew Pocketbooks: Wildflowers lavishly showcases a meadow's worth of familiar plants in 40 botanical paintings. Kew Pocketbooks: Wildflowers is...

This is the first book to reveal artworks made using the world's brightest colour Pure Structural Colour, recently derived from the metallic-like colours of Pollia berries, hummingbirds and butterflies.Pure Structural Colour is a mimic of the type of...

Plants are an integral part of festivities around the world, used in religious, cultural and national celebrations. This Kew Pocketbook is packed full of 40 of these festive plants, from winter favourites such as holly, pines and mistletoe, to colourful...

This stunning series of pocketbooks from Kew offers a snapshot into the diverse and beautiful world of plants. Each book lavishly showcases choice examples from individual plant groups or collections, and in this pocketbook a selection of plants are...

This stunning series of pocketbooks from Kew offers a snapshot into the diverse and beautiful world of plants. Each book lavishly showcases choice examples from individual plant groups or collections, and this new title showcases Japanese plants, from...

Jan Hendrix is a Dutch-born, Mexico-based contemporary artist. His work is all about observation and analysis; nature and its diff erent ways of representing and telling extended stories, often in a non- linear narrative. Based on an exhibition...

The Library, Art and Archives at Kew is one of the most extensive botanical libraries in the world, with the oldest item dating back to the 1370s. In this new pocketbook series from Kew, each book presents 40 botanical paintings from the collection,...

The Library, Art and Archives at Kew is one of the most extensive botanical libraries in the world, with the oldest item dating back to the 1370s. In this new pocketbook series from Kew, each book presents 40 botanical paintings from the collection,...

An intrepid Victorian traveler and prolific painter, Marianne North produced more than eight-hundred paintings over her lifetime. She eschewed the soft pastels of typical botanical artists and instead painted entire landscapes using bold, hearty oil...

Artists' Kew reveals Kew in all its charming detail as well as in its full natural beauty by the Thames. The book contains 120 paintings, by 50 artists. The contemporary art shown in this book builds upon Kew's eclectic tradition: to inspire, to excite,...

Entertaining, shocking, uproarious, hilarious . . . like eavesdropping on a wake, as the mourners get gradually more drunk and tell ever more outrageous stories' Sunday Times This is the definitive history of London's most notorious drinking den, the...

Verdant with illustrations, a meditation upon the rootedness of trees in Wordsworth's writing and beyond.This is the first book to address William Wordsworth's profound identification of the spirit of nature in trees. It looks at what trees...

Kunstkammer, art and curiosity cabinets housed in a dedicated room or suite of chambers, were often filled with thousands of diverse and sometimes shocking objects reflecting the bounty of nature and human creativity.These could range from a cherry pit...

Offering particular insight into Filippino Lippi's artistic problem-solving, an innovative look at the Renaissance master. The first monograph in a generation, and the first study in English in over eighty years, this book presents a new understanding of...

Painter, poet and actor Salvator Rosa was one of the most engaging and charismatic personalities of seventeenth-century Italy. Although a gifted landscape painter, he longed to be seen as the pre-eminent philosopher-painter of his age. This new account...

In Counter-Texts, Kim Dhillon provides a much-needed critical reassessment of written language in contemporary art. Considering the politics, aesthetics and ethics of language, Dhillon explores artworks that use inscribed language, with a particular...

Peter Paul Rubens was the most inventive and prolific northern European artist of his age. This book discusses his life and work in relation to three interrelated themes: spirit, ingenuity and genius. It argues that Rubens and his reception were pivotal...

The Venetian painter known as Giorgione or 'big George' died at a young age in the dreadful plague of 1510, possibly having painted fewer than twenty-five works. But many of these are among the most mysterious and alluring in the history of art...

Essential Desires: Contemporary Art in Thailand is the first major, fully illustrated survey of Thai art in thirty years. Brian Curtin shows how Thai artists negotiated their emergence on the global art stage while dealing with pan-Asian regionalism and...

Exploring the explosion of the Who onto the international music scene, this heavily illustrated book looks at this furious band as an embodiment of pop art. 'Ours is music with built-in hatred.' - Pete Townshend, cofounder of the...

Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro (17531806) was one of the most influential artists working in the genre of ukiyo-e, 'pictures of the floating world,' in late eighteenth-century Japan, and was widely appreciated for his prints of beautiful women...

In the first book devoted to representations of Jesus Christ in contemporary photography, Nathalie Dietschy presents a rich range of images from the 1980s to the present day. Works by acclaimed artists such as Andres Serrano, Catherine Opie,...

An illuminating reappraisal of Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte.The Belgian surrealist artist Ren Magritte redefined the way we think about art. Famous for his men in bowler hats, Magritte's witty and provocative work inspired generations of later...

The Renaissance artist Raphael is known for his extraordinary frescoes, his sublime Madonnas, devotional altarpieces, architectural designs, and his inventive prints and tapestries. It was his use of ancient Roman models - classical sculptures, reliefs...

A beautifully illustrated monograph on the innovative and at times controversial sculptor Donatello.The Italian sculptor known as Donatello helped to forge a new kind of art - one that defines the Renaissance. His work was progressive, innovative,...

Crafting these animated shorts required the Blizzard cinematics team to explore new ways ofanimated film making with a bold new art style, more frequent releases, and intimate collaborationwith the game team.The Cinematic Art of Overwatch chronicles this...

Artist Eric Guillon helped design many of the most beloved and iconic characters from these films, such as Gru and the Minions from Despicable Me, the adorable animals from The Secret Life of Pets, and more.Explore behind the scenes of Eric Guillon's...

For fans of sci-fi, cinematic art books and the Alien film franchise.40 artists, filmmakers, illustrators and fans produce original art for a tribute to the sci-fi horror masterpiece Alien to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the film.Pieces range from...

A brand new coloring book featuring art from the comic based on the epic video game Horizon Zero Dawn.This spectacular coloring book features art from the record-breaking comic series, itself based on the critically acclaimed video game Horizon Zero Dawn...

Embargoed to the 14th September 2018Experience Lara Croft's defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider.As she races to save the world from a Maya apocalypse, Lara will ultimately be forged into the Tomb Raider she is destined to be.The Shadow of The...

Following on from Dinosaur Art, this new volume showcases 10 amazing artists whosework represents the cutting edge of paleoart. Many are rising stars in the field; others have embraced digital technology and continue to assert longstandingreputations as...

Following on from Juan Ortiz's fabulous Original Series movie-poster collection, this latest treat for art-loving Trek fans features 178 posters that capture the essence of The Next Generation.Inspired by indie-film and black-light posters, comics and...

Embargoed to 23rd August, Simultaneous Release The Art of Deus Ex Universe is the ultimate gallery of art From Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, featuring over 300 images, including sketches and concept art. This...

I'd Love to Draw is a collection of work by the innovative American artist Andrew Loomis, previously unseen by anyone outside the Loomis family and available in print for the first time ever. Having been held in the Loomis family archive for decades...

Having graduated from the prestigious Art Centre College of Design, Greg Spalenka has been producing commercial and fine art for over 30 years. With a client list including film studios, magazines, newspapers and book publishers, his distinctive style is...

A new collection of art from one of the UK's most acclaimed sci-fi artists featuring everything, from his initial sketches to his final works and published book covers. Includes covers from the SF greats Greg Bear, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Anne...

An exclusive art book published to coincide with the much-anticipated releaseof Assassin's Creed: Unity!With 60 million units worldwide, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise is now establishedas one of the best-selling game series ever.With intricately...