Living Museums - Hardcover

The first part of this book showcases 26 historic homes open to the public, with each chapter offering a step-by-step walking tour of one such home, including observations on minute details. The book is rounded out by a directory or gazetteer of more than 100 homes throughout the world. The text is well written and the photographs are excellent, but the book lacks focus: It is not clear why some houses are included while many others one would expect to find here are not. For example, Colonial Williamsburg is listed in the gazetteer, but not Mystic Seaport, and Mount Vernon but not Monticello. Also, there is no information on visiting hours or prices of admission, and telephone numbers are not given. A few houses (in Asia, Australia, and Latin America) not covered in other museum guides are listed here, but most libraries would be better served by using The Cambridge Guide to the Museums of Europe ( LJ 4/1/91) and The Official Museum Directory (Bowker, 1992).
- Margarete Gross, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.