#528 DES JOUETS ET DES HOMMES (VARIOUS AUTHORS)

The book was edited by the RMN-Grand Palais of France (Réunion des Musées Nationaux) in 2011 to be used as an guide in the exhibition held in Paris (Grand Palais, Galeries Nationales) between the 14th September 2011 and the 23rd January 2012 and also in Helsinki (Helsinki Art Museum) between the 21st February and the 20th Mai 2012.

This is the most amazing book about toys I have read so far.

 

It does not deal with an specific type of toy, brand or collection, but with the subject toy in general: from a general history of toys, to social analysis dealing with dolls, professions, time... and more specific topics like robots, animals, cars, religious toys, automata... Every article is really first level and exquisitely illustrated with the toys and items from the exposition. Since the book is published by the Museum Network of Paris, every piece is dated and classified.

 

The toys come from several French museums, foreign museums (like the Victoria & Albert from the United Kingdom), private collections and loans from manufacturers and toy companies. The

organizers really got what they needed for each particular chapter.

 

The book has 328 pages, so I guess the exhibition had to be something really great to visit. As 99.9% of the readers of this entry had not visited this exhibition, you should know that this guide exists, and you can search for it if you are interested in reading something really great. It is written in French.
 

 

The book is out of print, but it might be possible to find it on the internet or second hand. The retail price was 50 Euros, I bought mine in Köln/Cologne for around 55 Euros, in a nice bookstore in the city center (Buchhandlung Walter König, Ehrenstr. 4, 50672 Köln). This was the only unit for sale there.