Back in the day, all the big museums typically put out catalogs of what’s in their collection, and for special exhibitions and whatnot. Some went further, and published books with more than just lists of what item came from where. Enter: the South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks series, which focused on (of course) the various collections which now comprise the Victoria & Albert Museum “family” in London.
This specific list is for the “handbooks” series, which were published in the 1880s by Chapman and Hall. There’s two lists: one for shortened, abridged version printed on cheaper paper (and which have several pages of intriguing ads inside), and one for the original, extensively-researched catalogs that the short versions come from. I’m not certain that this is all of what’s available but it’s what I was able to find on the Internet Archive, specifically with the “handbooks” name on the covers.
Many of these scans were provided by the National Art Library, V&A Museum.
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South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks “Abridged” Series
Published by Chapman and Hall; abridged reprints of the larger catalogs.
- No. 1: Textile Fabrics by Daniel Rock
- No. 2: Ivories Ancient and Mediæval by William Maskell
- No. 3: Furniture Ancient and Modern by John Hungerford Pollen
- No. 4: Maiolica by C. Drury E. Fortnum
- No. 5: Musical Instruments by Carl Engel — also 1908 edition
- No. 6: A Manual of Design by Gilbert R. Redgrave
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South Kensington Museum Art Handbooks “Unabridged” Series
List of titles grabbed from the back of English Earthenware.
- English Earthenware by A.H. Church
- French Pottery by Paul Gasnault and Edouard Garnier
- Russian Art and Art Objects in Russia by Alfred Maskell
- Russian Art and Art Objects in Russia Part II
- Industrial Arts of Denmark by J.J.A. Worsaae
- Industrial Arts of Denmark Part II: The Iron Age
- Industrial Arts of Scandinavia in the Pagan Time by Hans Hildebrand
- Precious Stones by Prof. Church
- Industrial Arts of India by Sir George C.M. Birdwood
- Industrial Arts of India Part II
- Handbook to the Dyce and Forster Collections
- Industrial Arts in Spain by Juan F. Riano
- Glass by Alexander Nesbitt
- Gold and Silver Smiths’ Work by John Hunger-Ford Pollen
- Tapestry by Alfred Champeaux
- Bronzes by C. Drury E. Fortnum
- Plain Words About Water by A.H. Church
- Animal Products by T.L. Simmonds
- Food by A.H. Church
- Economic Entomology: List of the Contents of the Collection
- Economic Entomology: Aptera by Andrew Murray
- Japanese Pottery by A.W. Franks
- Industrial Arts: Historical Sketches
- Textile Fabrics by Rev. Daniel Rock
- Jones Collection in the South Kensington Museum
- College and Corporation Plate by Wilfred Cripps
- Ivories: Ancient and Mediaeval by William Maskell
- Ancient and Modern Furniture and Woodwork by John Hungerford Pollen — also 1908 revised edition, vol. 1
- Maiolica by C. Drury E. Fortnum
- The Chemistry of Foods Part I: Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Sugar, etc. by James Bell (aka The Analysis and Adulteration of Foods)
- The Chemistry of Foods Part II: Milk, Butter, Cheese, Cereal Foods, Prepared Starches, etc.
- Musical Instruments by Carl Engel
- Manual of Design by Gilbert R. Redgrave
- Persian Art by Major R. Murdock Smith
- Ironwork, Part II by J. Starkie Gardner
- The Art of the Saracens in Egypt by Stanley Lane-Poole
