fb pixcode

DECORATIVE ARTS, JEWELRY, CERAMICS, GLASS, TEXTILES

PUBLISHER
Editions Xavier Barral

BOOK FORMAT
Hardcover, 7.75 x 10.25 in. / 320 pgs / 160 color.

PUBLISHING STATUS
Pub Date
Out of stock indefinitely

DISTRIBUTION
D.A.P. Exclusive
Catalog: FALL 2017 p. 80   

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN 9782365111348 TRADE
List Price: $69.95 CAD $92.50

AVAILABILITY
Not available

TERRITORY
NA LA ASIA AU/NZ AFR ME

THE FALL 2024 ARTBOOK | D.A.P. CATALOG

Artbook | D.A.P. Catalog Cover Link
Preview our FALL 2024 catalog, featuring more than 500 new books on art, photography, design, architecture, film, music and visual culture.

BOOKSELLER TRADE ANNOTATION

An exquisite treasure chest of a book devoted to automata and clock making through the centuries
  • Clocks, watches and other decorative mechanical devices - wondrous objects that are at once scientific and magical. It starts with Ancient sundials and ends with contemporary watches. In addition to photographs, the book includes numerous etchings, manuscripts, and old documents.
  • Exceptional book production: multiple high-end paper stocks, perfect classical typography, lavish color reproductions.
  • Works as a gentleman's gift, but will also appeal to fans of historical curios; it will enchant the same audience as Ricky Jay's Matthias Buchinger: The Greatest German Living (Siglio) or Cabinet of Wonder (Abrams)
  • ABOUT AUTHOR: Nicholas Foulkes, British journalist is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Financial Times, and The Rake. He is an internationally recognized authority on luxury travel, material culture, timepieces and the arts.
  • PROMO: Foulkes published Patek Philippe (Random House UK 9781848094628 $325) in January 2017. Major promotion in the jewelry and watch world.
  • LIMITED STOCK - only 500 copies available.

  

EDITIONS XAVIER BARRAL

Automata

Text by Nicholas Foulkes.

Automata

Richly illustrated with etchings, manuscripts, and old documents, this book retraces the epic tale of the automaton from ancient times up to the present day.

Wondrous objects that are at once scientific and magical, automata testify to the technical research and inventiveness of their designers. In 1675, the astronomer and mathematician Christian Huygens invented the spiral spring that would play a leading role in the development of smaller and more precise watches, with highly complex mechanisms. The creation of more complicated wheelwork and the use of extremely meticulous spiral springs gave free rein to clockmakers’ imaginations, who invented animated objects that fascinated philosophers and scientists alike. Doctors, thespians and thinkers of the modern world all saw these increasingly lifelike automata: wonderful simulacra of life. These articulated figurines were to inspire thought, science, literature, the performing arts and more. Continuing this tradition, the house of Van Cleef & Arpels has harnessed all of its designers’ talents to create an exceptional automaton: a fairy, whose movements celebrate the art of the inventors of past centuries. Immersed in its designer’s studio, the reader sees an automaton come to life. Automata is the most substantial survey of this popular topic currently available.


View of the cylinder and cams working the dulcimer player devised by clockmaker Pierre Kintzing (1784). Musee des Arts et Metiers, Paris.

PRAISE AND REVIEWS

Midwest Book Review

Carl Logan

Profusely illustrated throughout, impressively informed and informative,Automata is the most substantial survey of this popular topic currently available for both scholars and non-specialist general readers on the subject, and is a very highly recommended core addition to both community and academic library collections with respect to automatons.

Automata

STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely.

FROM THE ARTBOOK BLOG

CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 5/12/2017

Automata: the epic tale of the automaton from ancient times to present day

Automata: the epic tale of the automaton from ancient times to present day

You need to hold this book in your hands to understand how exquisite it is, and lovingly made. Various papers of different weights and textures (some opaque some deepest black), superb illustrations, graphic design and printing, an especially tactile stamped cover, and, of course, its fascinating content make this new history of the automaton from Xavier Barral a universal staff favorite. "The automaton made as great a success as the real one, and was, besides, far prettier to look at," Hans Christian Andersen wrote in The Nightingale. "… It was superior to the real Nightingale, not only as regards the plumage and the many beautiful diamonds, but also internally." continue to blog


FORTHCOMING AND NEW: DESIGN AND DECORATIVE ARTS

Soft Power

SOFT POWER

Hatje Cantz

ISBN: 9783775758116
USD $49.95
| CAD $74.95

Pub Date: 11/5/2024
Active | In stock


Textile Textures: Multithreaded Narratives

TEXTILE TEXTURES: MULTITHREADED NARRATIVES

Mousse Publishing

ISBN: 9788867493258
USD $35.00
| CAD $52.5

Pub Date: 12/10/2024
Forthcoming


Diamonds from Golconda

DIAMONDS FROM GOLCONDA

SKIRA PARIS

ISBN: 9782370742179
USD $55.00
| CAD $82.5

Pub Date: 12/31/2024
Forthcoming


Fashioning an Empire

FASHIONING AN EMPIRE

SKIRA

ISBN: 9788857251622
USD $40.00
| CAD $58

Pub Date: 10/22/2024
Active | In stock


Pennisi Collection

PENNISI COLLECTION

SKIRA

ISBN: 9788857251189
USD $40.00
| CAD $58

Pub Date: 10/22/2024
Active | Out of stock


Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

MURANO GLASS AND THE VENICE BIENNALE

SKIRA

ISBN: 9788857252049
USD $80.00
| CAD $120

Pub Date: 10/22/2024
Active | In stock


100 Vases of Italian Design

100 VASES OF ITALIAN DESIGN

SKIRA

ISBN: 9788857252674
USD $40.00
| CAD $58

Pub Date: 10/29/2024
Active | In stock


David Wiseman: The Four Seasons of Flower Fruit Mountain

DAVID WISEMAN: THE FOUR SEASONS OF FLOWER FRUIT MOUNTAIN

August Editions

ISBN: 9781947359123
USD $50.00
| CAD $71 UK £ 45

Pub Date: 1/14/2025
Forthcoming


Threads: Material, Myths & Symbols

THREADS: MATERIAL, MYTHS & SYMBOLS

Walther König, Köln

ISBN: 9783753304953
USD $40.00
| CAD $58

Pub Date: 6/18/2024
Active | In stock


NasonMoretti: The History of a Murano Glassworks Family

NASONMORETTI: THE HISTORY OF A MURANO GLASSWORKS FAMILY

Marsilio Arte

ISBN: 9791254631409
USD $45.00
| CAD $65 UK £ 36

Pub Date: 3/19/2024
Active | Out of stock


Formafantasma: Oltre Terra

FORMAFANTASMA: OLTRE TERRA

Walther König, Köln/The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo

ISBN: 9783753303666
USD $40.00
| CAD $58

Pub Date: 1/9/2024
Active | In stock


Bohemian Glass: The Great Masters

BOHEMIAN GLASS: THE GREAT MASTERS

SKIRA

ISBN: 9788857249858
USD $50.00
| CAD $72

Pub Date: 3/5/2024
Active | In stock