Fin dal 1870, anno in cui venne aperto al pubblico, il Metropolitan Museum di New York ha sempre curato la pubblicazione a stampa di guide alle collezioni permanenti, cataloghi di mostre temporanee, bollettini e riviste.
Il direttore del Met, Thomas Campbell, ha annunciato pochi giorni fa l’apertura di una sezione del sito web appositamente dedicata alle pubblicazioni edite per conto del museo: sono già disponibili e scaricabili con download gratuito 370 pubblicazioni pregiate e ricche di illustrazioni, pubblicate a partire dal 1964, che rappresentano un prezioso strumento di studio e di ricerca per gli storici dell’arte (>> vai all’elenco completo delle pubblicazioni disponibili gratis).
I cataloghi più recenti potranno invece essere acquistati on demand in stampa digitale, con rilegatura in brossura e riproduzioni delle foto a colori, grazie a una collaborazione con la Yale University Press.
From its founding in 1870, the Metropolitan Museum has published exhibition catalogues, collection catalogues, and guides to the collections. Today it is one of the leading museum publishers in the world, and its award-winning books consistently set the standard for scholarship, production values, and elegant design. Each year, the Met produces about thirty exhibition and collection catalogues and general-audience books, as well as informative periodicals such as the quarterly Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin and the annual Metropolitan Museum Journal.
MetPublications is a portal to the Met’s comprehensive publishing program. Beginning with nearly 650 titles published from 1964 to the present, this resource will continue to expand and could eventually offer access to nearly all books, Bulletins, and Journals published by the Metropolitan Museum since the Met’s founding in 1870. It will also include online publications.
MetPublications includes a description and table of contents for almost every title, as well as information about the authors, reviews, awards, and links to related Met bibliographies by author, theme, or keyword. Current titles that are in-print may be previewed and fully searched online, with a link to purchase the book. The full contents of almost all other titles may be read online, searched, or downloaded as a PDF, at no cost. Books can be previewed or read and searched through the Google Books program. Many out-of-print books are available for purchase, when rights permit, through print-on-demand capabilities in association with Yale University Press.
Leggi l’articolo su Exibart del 12 ottobre 2012.