The Smithsonian Institute seems to have a museum for almost everything, but not one dedicated to cats. Nevertheless, they have much by way of cat-related artifacts and artworks and many of them are reproduced in this delightful and diverse little book. Recommended for all cat lovers and art lovers and especially art-loving cat-lovers, like me!
I'm not a huge fan of panda bears. They just sit there. And considering how hard it is for them to mate, it doesn't even see like they want to save themselves. So why did I buy this? Well, I was at the National Zoo and it was a two for one thing. S0 this was the one.
It's actually very good. There is a history of the panda at the National Zoo, a discussion of the breeding programs (including the work in China), as well as quite a few photos. They even tell you how to tell the difference between the pandas.
This is a lovely souvenir book from the National Zoo in DC. The book presents a brief history of the zoo and then discusses each section as well as the animals in that section. It is packed with photos, if not text. There are, however, some interesting fact tidbits littered in the book.
If you have read A history of the world in 100 objects, this is like that, though confined to American history. The book includes maps, as well as a essays about the process and what was left out. Kurin includes items from all the museums of the Smithsonian, including the Zoo and the opening this year (2016) African-American museum.
"Like many major museums all over the world—including the National Gallery, the Rijksmuseum, The British Library, and over 200 others—the [Smithsonian's] Freer/Sackler [Galleries] has made its collection, all of it, available to view online. You can also download much of it. [...]
As Freer/Sackler director Julian Raby describes the initiative, “We strive to promote the love and study of Asian art, and the best way we can do so is to free our unmatched resources for inspiration, appreciation, academic study, and artistic creation.” There are, writes the galleries’ website, Bento, “thousands of works now ready for you to download, modify, and share for noncommercial purposes.” More than 40,000, to be fairly precise.
You can browse the collection to your heart’s content by “object type,” topic, name, place, date, or “on view.” Or you can conduct targeted searches for specific items. In addition to centuries of art from all over the far and near East, the collection includes a good deal of 19th century American art."
Direct link for the Freer & Sackler collection - http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/default.cfm (hint: always "clear search", before browsing e.g. by name)
Log in with Facebook 
