While there are more than 15,000 museums in our country, visitors get to see only about five percent of any institution's collections. Most museums simply don't have room to display everything they've got. However, there are a wide variety of surprising and intriguing reasons that, for example, the Smithsonian Institution doesn't display its collection of condoms, Florida's Lightner Museum locks up all but one of its shrunken heads, and a world-class stash of Japanese erotica (shunga) art was kept in the Honolulu Museum of Art's storage until only recently. Each item or collection included in this volume is described and placed in context with stories and interviews that explore the historical, social, cultural, political, environmental, or other circumstances that led to keeping that object or group of objects out of public view--the ultimate museum buff's voyeuristic experience. Color photographs of the artifacts are included.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Once, nutmeg was worth its weight in gold. For much of human history, the tiny Banda Islands in Indonesia were the only source of this esteemed spice. From the age of the Silk Roads through to the mid-19th century partial shift of production to the Caribbean, covering battles between the Honourable East India Company and the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, this book traces the story of nutmeg, revealing its extensive and often surprising influence over conflict, politics, social mores, and Western society. Beautiful antique silver, gold, enamel, bone, ivory, treen and Tunbridgeware graters and rasps demonstrate how much nutmeg was valued throughout history. This book gathers pictures of some of the finest examples world-wide, alongside mechanical and base metal graters and spice containers. It illustrates, and provides useful information on, the history of pomanders which were associated with nutmeg, as this spice was once thought to ward off pestilence and plague. Combining the social history of nutmeg with explanations of the spice production and transportation process, and illustrating in detail examples in international nutmeg grater collections and museums, this book is the essential reference work for collectors, antique dealers and auctioneers.

The narrative of Roman history has been largely shaped by the surviving literary sources, augmented in places by material culture. The numerous surviving coins can, however, provide new information on the distant past. This accessible but authoritative guide introduces the student of ancient history to the various ways in which they can help us understand the history of the Roman republic, with fresh insights on early Roman-Italian relations, Roman imperialism, urban politics, constitutional history, the rise of powerful generals and much more. The text is accompanied by over 200 illustrations of coins, with detailed captions, as well as maps and diagrams so that it also functions as a sourcebook of the key coins every student of the period should know. Throughout, it demystifies the more technical aspects of the field of numismatics and ends with a how-to guide for further research for non-specialists.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Miss Brooke is a well known as an authority on historical costume. In this single volume she covers a history of dress in England from earliest times. The book contains an ample text, four coloured plates, and nearly three hundred drawings in line. Of great interest to the general reader, it provides a vast amount of information and detail that should be of use to theatrical designers, both professional and amateur.Contents Include: William The Conqueror to Edward III 1066-1327 Edward III to Henry VII 1327-1485 Early Tudors, Henry VII to Elizabeth 1485-1558 Elizabeth to James I 1558-1625 Charles I to James II 1625-84 James II to George III 1685-1760 George III to George IV 1760-1820 George IV, William IV and Victoria 1820-50 Victoria 1850-80 Victoria 1880-1900

You are about to read a much-needed book that will open your eyes to the Africa that has been hidden from us. Thinking out of the box of Western thought pattern, Dr. Jonathan has been able to give to the world this revolutionary masterpiece in the intellectual history of Africa. By systematizing African science he has emphasized that more than one cock crows. We may therefore call him the Demiurge of new African renaissance. Mary Nelson Sankofa Directions Houston Texas, USA ' Se wo were fi na wosan kofa a, yenkyi.' Learning from the past in building the future ----------------------------------------------------------------- With this masterpiece, Dr. Jonathan has answered all the critics of Africa's intellectual and inventive ability. He has opened a door to Africa's authentic renaissance. The work is a beacon in Africa's history and the author has emerged as one of the continent's brightest minds. Chris Iwarah The Sun Newspaper ---------------------------------------------------------------- With this towering intellectual accomplishment, Dr. Jonathan Chimakonam has not only proven that Africans are capable of revolutionary thoughts but has emerged as one of the leading original thinkers on the continent. In fact, in this piece of adorable literature, Jonathan could be said to have done for Africa what thinkers like Francis Bacon did for the West Prof. G. O. Ozumba Head, Department of Philosophy University of Calabar, Nigeria ----------------------------------------------------------------- What Jonathan has done is not different from what the builders of Western science did. In fact, he has taken his seat as the Francis Bacon of African science project and it would not be out of place if one describes him in the future as the father of African science. Okechukwukelu Okonkwo Deputy Director Programmes Anambra Broadcasting Service ----------------------------------------------------------------- This book is a great exploration into a rich repository of wisdom and knowledge which needs to be recaptured. It is African renaissance that will reposition Africa in the world of technology and development. This is both challenging and refreshing. With emerging scholars like Jonathan, there is hope for Africa Hakuna Matata Venerable Professor Udobata Onunwa Director, International Center for the Study of African Languages and Culture, Birmingham, UK

A generous selection of diverse thought on the search for and collection of manuscripts and autograph letters, and their role in the history of ideas, has been culled from the first twenty years of Manuscripts, the Manuscript Society's quarterly publication. Priscilla S. Taylor has arranged, condensed, and, where possible, updated fifty-six memorable articles on the rich variety of the manuscript experience. The articles are grouped into five sections: Pointers for the Collector; Areas in Which to Collect; Historical Documents; Penmanship and Writing Systems; and Manuscripts as a Key to Biography and History. The subject range is broad. Readers will learn what to buy, how to buy, how to avoid forgeries, and how to handle a collection.

From Buffalo Bill to Wild Bill and from Chief Joseph to Geronimo, the most famous guns in the West and the history behind them More than a few of the actual guns once in the hands of the heroes and villains of America's Old West still exist, housed in a dozen museums across the country--from the Model 1866 .44-40 that Chief Joseph famously surrendered to General Miles to Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Model 1851 revolvers; from Buffalo Bill's .50 caliber breechloading needlegun nicknamed "Lucrezia Borgia" to John Wesley Hardin's 1860 model .44 SA revolvers. "Famous Firearms of the Old West" follows the life stories of a dozen actual pistols, rifles, and shotguns instrumental in shaping America's history--using them as entrees into the lives of the shooters themselves. This is a vivid portrait of famous Western characters, paired with the guns they used to make themselves famous or, as the case may be, infamous. It is a must for anyone interested in the history and lore of the Wild West, gun hobbyists, and tourists seeking a museum experience with a difference.

The definitive collection of Ohio's odd, wacky, and most offbeat people, places, and things, for Ohio residents and anyone else who enjoys local humor and trivia with a twist.