This handsome tribute to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. traces the history of the museum from conception to construction on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. Opened with great fanfare, the National Gallery was "the richest single gift from any individual to any nation ever." That individual was financier Andrew Mellon. Kopper's succinct biography covers Mellon's personal and political life as well as his passion for collecting the paintings of old masters. Mellon's bequest stipulated the museum's name, location, and details of governance, ensuring continued high standards and a vital future. Kopper includes profiles of the architect and various museum directors, including Mellon's son Paul, as well as illustrations that document some of the collection's highlights. ISBN 0-8109-3658-5: $60.00 (For use only in the library)

So far as I know, there has never yet been compiled, for the illustration of any collection of paintings whatever, a series of notes at once so copious, carefully chosen, and usefully arranged, as this which has been prepared, by the industry and good sense of Mr. Edward T. Cook, to be our companion through the magnificent rooms of our own National Gallery; without question now the most important collection of paintings in Europe for the purposes of the general student. Of course the Florentine School must always be studied in Florence, the Dutch in Holland, and the Roman in Rome; but to obtain a clear knowledge of their relations to each other, and compare with the best advantage the characters in which they severally excel, the thoughtful scholars of any foreign country ought now to become pilgrims to the Dome—(such as it is)—of Trafalgar Square.

"A Kind of Rapture" brings together a selection of photos from Bergman's two-year travels by car through the Rust Belt (Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Gary) and the East Coast, taking color pictures of everyday people who moved him profoundly. 51 color photos.