Museum Museum both in fiction and real life
Explore the fascinating world of museums in both fiction and real life with our curated list of books. Discover stories set in iconic museums and dive into real-life museum histories, perfect for art, history, and literature lovers.
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The Castle
by Cynthia R. Field
Using historical accounts, desk and personal diaries, and contemporary guidebooks,The Castleweaves the Smithsonian Building’s nearly 150-year architectural history with the lore and stories of the people who have worked and lived in this striking medieval revival structure. The book also discusses the design of the 19th-century building.
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Echoes from the Smithsonian
by John McCollister
Americans love to visit museums. These houses of memorabilia enhance the lessons learned in school while allowing the opportunity to stand in their shadows. The displays bring alive the romance of a bygone era, and a good museum inspires each visitor to look with more enthusiasm toward the promises of the future. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C., is the one museum best equipped to provide all of these elements. Within the halls of the Smithsonian, visitors can see, under one roof, items like the Flyer, the actual first airplane that lifted off the sands at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and Friendship 7, the capsule that, less than one century later, carried astronaut John Glenn on his orbit around the earth. Meanwhile, young children point and scream with delight when spotting a sweater worn by Mister Rogers. Standing just a few feet away, their grandparents gaze with fond remembrance at the Charlie McCarthy doll and Archie Bunker's chair. The Smithsonian highlights a variety of remarkable accomplishments. Visitors report that they have been moved by a variety of emotions when viewing the exhibits. Some of the artifacts rekindle pleasant memories of childhood, while others bring a tear of sadness. Each of them, however, is a piece of thread that has become woven into the fabric of this great nation. In a sense, the Smithsonian Institution is a reflection of the real United States of America, boldly showing America for what it really is--far from being perfect, yet determined to remain a nation that perpetuates the state of becoming. The stories in Echoes from the Smithsonian: America's History Brought to Life reveal both the triumphs and foibles of this great land.They will help readers appreciate all the more the devotion and accomplishments of those dedicated men and women who gave their time, their talent, and sometimes their lives in order to create and preserve this experiment Americans call a democracy.
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The Stranger and the Statesman
by Nina Burleigh
"After Smithson's death, nineteenth-century American politicans were given the task of securing his half-million dollars - the equivalent today of fifty million - and then trying to determine how to increase and diffuse knowledge from the muddy, brawling new city of Washington. Burleigh discloses how Smithson's bequest was nearly lost due to fierce battles among many clashing Americans - Southern slavers, state's rights advocates, nation-builders, corrupt frontiersmen, and Anglophobes who argued over whether a gift from an Englishman should even be accepted. She also reveals the efforts of the unsung heroes, mainly former president John Quincy Adams, whose tireless efforts finally saw Smithson's curious notion realized in 1846, with a castle housing the United States' first and greatest cultural and scientific establishment."--BOOK JACKET.
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Murder in the Smithsonian
by Margaret Truman
More delightful D.C. deviousness for the readers of Murder at the Kennedy Center, by an author getting more popular all the time!
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The Ark in the Park
by Mark Rosenthal
The history of one of the oldest zoos in the US, filled with pictures and wonderful stories about the people and animals who made Lincoln Park Zoo. The evolution of zoos in America is also covered.
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Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Zoological Society
by Douglas Deuchler
Uses more than 230 historic images to provide a pictorial history of Chicago's Brookfield Zoo, located fourteen miles west of the city's center and managed by the Chicago Zoological Society.
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The Last Dodo
by Jacqueline Rayner
After a trip to the zoo, the Doctor and Martha go in search of a real live dodo, and are transported by the Tardis to the mysterious Museum of the Last Ones. There, in the Earth section, they discover every extinct creature up to the present day.
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The Eyes of the Beholders
by A. C. Crispin
After several Federation and Klingon ships disappear while traveling a newly opened trade route, the U.S.S. Enterprise is sent to investigate. Their quest leads Captain Picard and his crew to an eerie space graveyard full of ships of every size and description--all of them, dead in space. At the center of the graveyard lies a huge, incredibly powerful Artifact, constructed by an ancient alien race. And as the crew struggles to solve the mystery of the Artifact, they unwittingly trigger its awesome power, a power that threatens insanity and death to all aboard the Starship Enterprise!
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Brooklyn Knight
by C. J. Henderson
Professor Piers Knight is an esteemed curator at the Brooklyn Museum and is regarded by many on the staff as a revered institution of his own if not an outright curiosity. Knight’s portfolio includes lost civilizations; arcane cultures, languages, and belief; and more than a little bit of the history of magic and mysticism.What his contemporaries don't know is that in addition to being a scholar of all things ancient he is schooled in the uses of magical artifacts, the teachings of forgotten deities, and the threats of unseen dangers. If a mysterious object surfaces, Professor Knight makes it his job to figure it out--and make sure it stays out of dangerous hands. A contemporary on an expedition in the Middle East calls Knight's attention to a mysterious object in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum … just before it becomes the target of a sorcerous attack that leads to a siege on a local precinct house by a fire elemental. What looks like an ordinary inscribed stone may unlock an otherworldly Armageddon that certain dark powers are all too eager to bring about--and only Piers Knight stands in their way.
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The Dime Museum Murders
by Daniel Stashower
In turn-of-the-century New York, young Harry Houdini is called upon to investigate the murder of a toy store baron. Houdini and Dash, escape brothers extraordinaire, are faced with a challenging mystery involving the locked library where the victim's body was found.
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Mysteries Of The Snake Goddess
by Kenneth Lapatin
Not only is one of the most famous pieces of ancient Greek art-the celebrated gold and ivory statuette of the Snake Goddess-almost certainly modern, but Minoan civilization as it has been popularly imagined is largely an invention of the early twentieth century. This is Kenneth Lapatin's startling conclusion in Mysteries of the Snake Goddess-a brilliant investigation into the true origins of the celebrated Bronze Age artifact, and into the fascinating world of archaeologists, adventurers, and artisans that converged in Crete at the turn of the twentieth century. Including characters from Sir Arthur Evans, legendary excavator of the Palace of Minos at Knossos, who was driven to discover a sophisticated early European civilization to rival that of the Orient, to his principal restorer Swiss painter Emil Gillieron, who out of handfuls of fragments fashioned a picture of Minoan life that conformed to contemporary taste, this is a riveting tale of archeological discovery.
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Murder in the Museum
by Simon Brett
When a human skeleton is unearthed, Carole Seddon and her bohemian neighbor Jude must risk tarnishing the reputation of a beloved author to learn whether his sword is mightier than his pen.
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Museums Are Murder
by Carol Shenold
"When Tali agrees to help her friends with the Love County Museum opening, she is expecting a pleasant time with familiar faces--just maybe not as familiar as her former lover, Aiden Courtland. To add to her worries, there has also been a murder. Things start to really heat up when Aiden reveals that a demon wants to cart Tali away to another world--permanently. Now she must face her own powers as well as a were wolf and a demon in order to keep her family safe."--Cover.
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Borrower of the Night
by Elizabeth Peters
Four classic titles by "New York Times"-bestselling author Peters are now reissued in tall Premium Editions, to tie in with the release of her newest hardcover, "The Laughter of Dead Kings." Reissue.
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Grace Under Pressure
by Julie Hyzy
When Bennett Marshfield's trusted curator Abe is murdered in a case of mistaken identity, Grace Wheaton comes to work for the reclusive millionaire while trying to catch a greedy killer with the help of groundskeeper Jack Embers.
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Crimes of the Scene
by Nina King
An annotated guide to atomospheric mysteries organized by country allows the traveling reader total immersion in the culture, people, and attractions of a place.
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Minoans
by Rodney Castleden
Describes the Bronze Age civilization and culture of the ancient Minoans
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The Twisted Claw
by Franklin W. Dixon
The Hardy boys embark on another puzzling mystery when they try to discover who is stealing rare collections of ancient pirate treasure and smuggling them out of the United States.
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The Firehouse Mystery
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The town council wants to tear down Greenfield's historic firehouse, but the Boxcar Children work to save it.
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The Dinosaur Mystery
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Aldens are excited to with the Dino World exhibit at the Natural History Museum! But when they see a giant shadow moving in the museum and the T. rex bones go missing, they're spooked! Can the Boxcar Children solve the mystery and find the bones before the exhibit opens?
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The White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court
by Thomas J. Carrier
In Washington, D.C., a city steeped in history--from museums and monuments to statues and stations--there are perhaps no structures as prominent as the working symbols of the United States' three-branch government: the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court. Embodying our nation's complex and, at times, tumultuous history, these buildings also house invaluable pieces of our American past. A visit to these national treasures provides a lesson in both the people and events that have shaped this country. Representing the heart, soul, and strength of American independence, the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court tell a fascinating true story--one that includes presidents, vice presidents, senators, justices, and political visionaries. Touring the buildings, visitors see such familiar faces as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Susan B. Anthony, as well as learn about lesser-known figures such as Chippewa warrior Beeshekee, Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, and Vice Presidents Daniel Tompkins and William R. King. The paintings and portraits that adorn the walls, the statues in every corner, and the rooms themselves provide commentary on the political life of a developing nation.
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Murder at Monticello
by Rita Mae Brown
Mrs. Murphy digs into Virginia history—and gets her paws on a killer. The most popular citizen of Virginia has been dead for nearly 170 years. That hasn't stopped the good people of tiny Crozet, Virginia, from taking pride in every aspect of Thomas Jefferson's life. But when an archaeological dig of the slave quarters at Jefferson's home, Monticello, uncovers a shocking secret, emotions in Crozet run high—dangerously high. The stunning discovery at Monticello hints a hidden passions and age-old scandals. As postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and some of Crozet's Very Best People try to learn the identity of a centuries-old skeleton—and the reason behind the murder—Harry's tiger cat, Mrs. Murphy, and her canine and feline friends attempt to sniff out a modern-day killer. Mrs. Murphy and corgi Tee Tucker will stick their paws into the darker mysteries of human nature to solve murders old and new—before curiosity can kill the cat—and Harry Haristeen.
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Murder at Monticello
by Jane Langton
While visiting Monticello for the bicentennial celebration of Thomas Jefferson's presidency, Homer Kelly discovers that among the throngs of visitors, a killer has selected his next victim.
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Visitors to Monticello
by Merrill D. Peterson
During the lifetime of Thomas Jefferson, through its days of vandalism and neglect, and to its final restoration, Monticello, the historic home of Jefferson, has lured thousands of visitors.