New MetPublications: Spring 2014
«The Museum's Editorial Department has kept busy this spring, producing a range of new titles that celebrate the Met's collection and special exhibitions. The following are seven spectacular publications, just off the presses.»
Charles James: Beyond Fashion
by Harold Koda and Jan Glier Reeder
The first comprehensive study of Charles James's life and work, Charles James: Beyond Fashion highlights the virtuosity and inventiveness of the Anglo-American couturier. A detailed, illustrated chronology describes James's magnetic personality, his unorthodox design processes, and his famous clients and supporters. New photography of his work accompanies vintage photographs and rarely seen archival items, bringing to life one of the most fascinating and creative figures in American fashion.
"Demonstrates just how inspiring James was, and how much 'beyond' clothes that influence goes" —Women's Wear Daily
"Sumptuous . . . a glamorous retrospective"
—The Atlantic
Hardcover, 264 pages, 315 illustrations, $50
The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp
by Sheila R. Canby
The Shahnama, the great tenth-century Persian epic that chronicles Iran's mythical history before the founding of Islam, has been immortalized in numerous illustrated copies. This new publication—which succeeds the Metropolitan's celebrated, sold-out deluxe facsimile edition of 2011—includes all 262 illuminated pages of the Shah Tahmasp version, and combines the vibrant, high-quality reproductions of the deluxe edition with enlightening new information and a more accessible format.
Winner of the 2013 World Prize, Book of the Year, Islamic Republic of Iran
Hardcover, 360 pages, 530 illustrations, $75
The Passions of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
by James David Draper and Edouard Papet
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux comes alive in this handsome new publication—a paragon of scholarship that covers the entire span of the artist's career, featuring beautiful color illustrations of his dynamic artworks. Previously unpublished letters between Carpeaux and his family and friends, a wealth of archival material, and the most detailed chronology of the artist's life ever published—in addition to newly discovered drawings and a number of rarely seen or studied works—make this book the definitive resource on Carpeaux and his creations.
"Incorporates a wealth of newly discovered drawings and archival material. . . . Should foster wider fascination with this ingenious legacy"
—Wall Street Journal
Hardcover, 376 pages, 350 illustrations, $65
Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia
by John Guy
The first publication to use sculpture as a lens to explore this period of Southeast Asian history, Lost Kingdoms offers a significant contribution and a fresh approach to the cultures of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Comprehensive texts written by prominent scholars introduce more than 160 objects.
"Extraordinary" —New York Times
"An invaluable resource . . . a watershed study of Southeast Asia's artistic and cultural legacy." —Asian Art
Hardcover, 336 pages, 360 illustrations, $65
Unique by Design: Contemporary Jewelry in the Donna Schneier Collection
by Suzanne Ramljak
Dating from the early 1960s to the present day, the sixty pieces in this lively volume show a fluid engagement with various traditions in jewelry making and twentieth-century art movements such as Conceptual Art, Arte Povera, and Surrealism. Featuring objects made from materials such as eggshell, hair, polyester, lava, and No. 2 pencils (not to mention gold and jewels), Unique by Design presents a magnificent collection of work filled with wit, elegance, social observation, and high artisanship.
Paperback, 136 pages, 101 illustrations, $24.95
Dan Graham: The Roof Garden Commission
Essay by Ian Alteveer, interview by Sheena Wagstaff
This creatively designed publication—the second in a series that presents and contextualizes the Met's annual rooftop commissions—includes an insightful interview between the artist and curator Sheena Wagstaff that focuses not only on Graham's latest commission, but his previous landscape-oriented installations. Dan Graham: The Roof Garden Commission provides a fascinating study of one of today's leading contemporary artists.
"Excellent catalog" —New York Times
Paperback with poster jacket, 64 pages, 49 color illustrations, $9.95
The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Stone Sculpture
by Antoine Hermary and Joan R. Mertens
The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art includes 635 stone sculptures, each of which is meticulously presented in this profusely illustrated electronic catalogue. Available both as a free download and in an on-demand print version, this is the first catalogue representing the entire Cesnola Collection, and features numerous previously unpublished works. This comprehensive study, offered free of charge, represents a milestone in the Metropolitan's historic legacy of scholarly publications.
Print-on-demand: Paperback, 480 pages, 977 illustrations, $175
Mark Polizzotti
Before joining the Met in 2010, Mark worked as an editor and editorial director for several museum and trade publishers, including the MFA Boston, Random House, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, and David R. Godine. In addition to his publishing activities, he is the author of twelve books on topics such as literature, translation, film, music, and Surrealism. He has also published numerous translations of fiction and nonfiction works from the French.
Selected publications
Why Surrealism Matters (Yale University Press, 2024)
The Drunken Boat: Selected Writings of Arthur Rimbaud [ed. and trans.] (NYRB, 2022)
Sympathy for the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto (MIT Press, 2018)
Also published in Spanish and Chinese.
Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited (Bloomsbury “33 1/3”, 2006)
Also published in Spanish, German, Turkish, Swedish, Chinese, and Greek.
Los Olvidados (Bloomsbury/British Film Institute, 2006)
Revolution of the Mind: The Life of André Breton (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1995; revised ed., 2009). Also published in German, French, and Spanish