I Turned It into a Palace : Sydney Cockerell and the Fitzwilliam Museum

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, first edition, 2008. Laminated pictorial boards, 4to, 30 cm,. 217 pp, numerous ills (some colour). Produced to accompany an exhibition that celebrated the centenary of Sydney Cockerell's appointment as Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum (1908-1937). But as the author notes ".. it is not an exhibition catalogue in the strict sense of the word..Rather, it presents the history of the Fitzwilliam Museum during one of its most dynamic and enriching periods, Cockerell's Directorship. His enthusiasm was infectious, his knowledge of the arts wide ranging and profound, his acquisitiveness, energy and determination incomparable. The building was doubled in size. The collections were trebled… this book is intended to take visitors round the entire Museum. It highlights Cockerell's acquisitions among the most iconic exhibits in the permanent galleries and his innovative approach to display that was followed as a model by museums and galleries in Britain and abroad. Sydney Cockerell transformed a dark, overcrowded and provincial university museum into a 'Palace of the Arts' open to 'all the world'. .. My curatorial colleagues shared their immense knowledge of the collections: Lucilla Burn and Helen Strudwick advised on Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, Mark Blackburn on coins and medals, Nicholas Robinson on archives, James Lin on ceramics from the Far East, Julia Poole on European pottery, metalwork, sculpture, furniture and textiles, Craig Hartley and Elenor Ling on prints ranging from Old Masters to Japanese Surimono, Jane Munro on British and French paintings and drawings, and David Scrase on the Italian and Flemish Schools as well as on many other aspects of the collections." The author goes on to thank Cristopher de Hamel for comments on her discussion of Sydney Cockerell as a manuscript scholar and collector. Fore-edge corners of front board lightly bruised, otherwise Near Fine.