"It's likely that a book like this is the only way you might see many of these creatures for yourself." - Amateur Photographer This book of photographs puts the spotlight on a group of animals that is little-noticed, and undeservedly so: endemic species that exist only on their respective islands. Isolated from continents by the ocean, certain species have been able to evolve further and differently than their counterparts on the mainland, where they are subjected to far more threats such as predators and diseases. Over time, giants like the Indonesian Komodo dragon have evolved, which grows up to three metres long and weighs 70 kilos. The comet moth lives on Madagascar, and the odd King of Saxony bird-of-paradise flies around on New Guinea. The flightless cormorant on Galapagos, on the other hand, retracted its flight instruments over time because it had no need for them. Readers can expect a variety of animal beauty and extravagance. The following locations are included in the book: Island of Sainte Marie (Madagascar) Madagascar Philippines Lesser Sunda Islands (Indonesia) Aru Islands Regency (Indonesia) New Guinea Australia Tasmania (Australia) New Zealand Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands (California, US) Cozumel (Mexico) Cuba Isla Escudo de Veraguas (Panama) Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) Falkland Islands Svalbard Archipelago Text in English and German.

This unique book aims to provide the first extended account of the intellectual history of aesthetic discourse among British and American evangelicals from the awakening of a modern aesthetic consciousness in the eighteenth century to the fundamentalist-modernist controversy of the early twentieth century. Drawing on an extensive but largely forgotten body of periodical source materials, it seeks to map the evangelical aesthetic tradition's intellectual terrain, to highlight its connections to other philosophical discourses, and to assess some of its theological implications. In doing so, it challenges the still prevalent stereotype of evangelicalism as aesthetically 'impoverished' and devoid of serious reflection on the arts, offering instead a narrative sensitive to the historical complexities of evangelical approaches to aesthetic theory and criticism.

This unique book presents works that until now have only rarely been seen, even in private collections. Paintings, drawings and sculptures by well known outsider artists and new discoveries, all of which express deeply personal interpretations of sexual desire and activity. With texts by the world's leading academic experts in this field, Raw Erotica presents an essential element in the rich and varied world of outsider and self-taught art. With texts and contributions from: * Colin Rhodes, Univ of Sydney, author of Outsider Art: Spontanious Alternatives * Roger Cardinal, author of the original book Outsider Art * Jenifer Borum, New York based authority on self-taught art * Michale Bonesteel, Chicago based writer and author of Henry Darger * Thomas Roske, Curator, The Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg * Laurent Danchin, Paris author and French authority on Art Brut * Francois Monin, editor of Artension magazine, France.

This book tells the fascinating story of the rhinoceros Miss Clara, the most famous animal of the eighteenth century. It accompanies the fi rst ever major loan exhibition devoted to Clara and celebrity pachyderms in the UK and will off er a signifi cant contribution to scholarship on the subject. The latest in the Barber's acclaimed objectin-focus series, Miss Clara focuses on a small bronze sculpture of a rhinoceros, and also considers other celebrity beasts, the emergence of menageries and zoos, and the significance of the capture and captivity of these big beasts within wider academic discussions of colonialism and empire. 'Miss Clara' arrived in Europe from the Dutch East Indies in 1741, brought by a retired Dutch East India Company captain, Douwe Mout van der Meer, who then toured her round Europe (including England) to huge acclaim and excitement. Jungfer Clara (so christened while visiting Wu rzburg in 1748) was the fi rst rhino to be seen on mainland Europe since 1579 and the object of great wonder and aff ection. Her fame generated a massive industry in souvenirs and imagery from life-scale paintings by major masters to cheap popular prints; there were even Clara-inspired clocks and hairstyles. This book will look at the phenomenon of Clara but, unlike previous studies of the subject, will focus primarily on sculptural/3D representations of her, within the context of other celebrity pachyderms represented by artists between the 16th and 19th centuries. Miss Clara is one of the most remarkable and best-loved sculptures in the Barber and was praised by the great German art historian and museum director Wilhelm von Bode as 'the fi nest animal bronze of Renaissance' - a telling tribute to its quality, even if he misunderstood its date. The Barber's cast is one of only two known, the other being at the V&A. There are also closely related marble versions. Other celebrity beasts featured will include the elephants Hansken, Chunee and Jumbo; Du rer's and various London rhinos; and the hippo Obaysch, star of London Zoo in the 1850s, and the fi rst to be seen in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. The publication will consist of entries for the thirty exhibits - included extended texts by Dr Helen Cowie (York University) on images of Chunee and Obaysch - preceded by three essays. Robert Wenley, Deputy Director of the Barber Institute, and the curator of the exhibition, will relate the story of Miss Clara (and of other celebrity rhinos), and explore the sculptural representations of her, presenting new research into their attribution and dating. The eminent sculptural historian, Dr Charles Avery, formerly of the V&AMuseum and Christie's, will write a complementary essay about celebrity elephants in Europe between 1500 and 1700. Dr Sam Shaw (Open University), will discuss private menageries and public zoos between about 1760 and 1860 in the UK, and consider celebrity pachyderms as emblems of empire and colonialism.

Take a fresh look at the world through the lens of a self-confessed nature-obsessed artist. Asuka Hishiki possesses not only a sense of profound awe and wonder at the intricacies of the natural world, but also the talent to communicate it through her paintings. Recalling the Wunderkammer (literally, 'wonder rooms') of 16th and 17th century European collectors, Asuka Hishiki's Botaniphoria: A Cabinet of Botanical Curiosities encompasses subjects as diverse as rotting vegetables, endangered species, mundane weeds and backyard insects - all treasures to her and transformed into objects of intense and fragile beauty through her skill with watercolour. Her work is held in prestigious collections such as The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, California, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pennsylvania. One of the first people to appreciate her work said about it, 'your work is not to hang upon a wall in a bright living room, but to put in a drawer in the study. Then, alone in the middle of the night, to take out and ponder upon.' In the best traditions of Wunderkammer, this book is an artfully arranged collection intended to be pondered upon. From the interactions of the objects within the paintings, to the quirky choice of subjects and the realism with which they are portrayed, they will bear revisiting again and again. As Asuka admits, painting is her language. She is an extremely adept communicator in it.

This book places the discourse surrounding stigmata within the visual culture of the late medieval and early modern periods, with a particular focus on Italy and on female stigmatics. Echoing, and to a certain extent recreating, the wounds and pain inflicted on Christ during his passion, stigmata stimulated controversy. Related to this were issues that were deeply rooted in contemporary visual culture such as how stigmata were described and performed and whether, or how, it was legitimate to represent stigmata in visual art. Because of the contested nature of stigmata and because stigmata did not always manifest in the same form - sometimes invisible, sometimes visible only periodically, sometimes miraculous, and sometimes self-inflicted - they provoked complex questions and reflections relating to the nature and purpose of visual representation. Dr Cordelia Warr is Senior Lecturer in Art History, University of Manchester, UK.