The Ideal Museum: Practical Art in Metals and Hard Materials (MAK Studies)

The manuscript, written in London in English in 1852 and never published, was given to the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts) by Gottfried Semper himself in 1867. It deals with the systematics of a museum and sheds light on the institutions, objects and artists regarded by Semper as exemplary. During 2003/04 the manuscript was transcribed in the MAK Library and Collection of Works on Paper and revised and annotated at the MAK. With an introduction by H. F. Mallgrave, the worldwide recognised specialist on Semper's "Der Stil", and with a statement by Andrew Benjamin. The book received the Austrian National Award for the most beautiful art book of the year 2007.