60 unseen artifacts from the world's best museums.  In Manhattan, priceless books sit on rows of shelves under traffic-jammed streets; at the Museum of Sacred Art in Brazil, a 17th century bejeweled processional cross is squirreled away under the floor; body bags in Washington protect spacesuits covered in moon dust; and in an unvisited aircraft hangar sits Auguste Piccard's extraordinary invention, the balloon gondola.  In fact, a great many of the world's most precious objects are kept in secret locations, protected from public view and safe from harmful conditions. Too fragile to be handled or exposed, too likely to be stolen, or too big to display, they hide in secure darkness or locked rooms, waiting for an obsessive treasure hunter to find them.  Museum enthusiast and researcher Molly Oldfield is just that. Consumed by curiosity about what is behind the closed doors of museums' back rooms, she spent two years touring the world in search of the most extraordinary inventions, legacies and artifacts hidden from the public. She has curated the best of what she found into this remarkable collection.  The Secret Museum reveals sixty unseen artifacts whose stories touch all five continents, for example:   An original Gutenberg Bible printed on vellum in the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City  A piece of Newton's apple tree at the Royal Society in London, England  The artist's sketchbooks at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam  Charles Dickens' favorite feline letter opener at the New York Public Library  Vladimir Nabokov's cabinet of butterfly genitalia at Harvard University Logbook of the Kon-Tiki expedition in Oslo, Norway  Livingstone and Stanley's hats at the Royal Geographical Society  Christmas telegram from double agent Little Fritz aka Agent Zigzag, at Bletchley Park, the top secret World War II MI6 decoding location  Delightful illustrations accompany Molly's descriptions and the lively stories of how she came to see the artifacts. Like the very best mornings spent exploring a museum, The Secret Museum is enlightening and enormously good fun.

The Secret Museum

Oldfield, Molly

Collins

"An absolute delight" - David Walliams"One of the best kids books I have ever had the pleasure of reading" - Pandora Sykes"Truly ace and answers every question your children may ever need answered" - Sophie DahlA collection of 366 curious questions asked by children from around the world, based on the award-winning podcast by original QI Elf, Molly Oldfield. How much bamboo can a giant panda eat? Do aliens exist? What we would do if we didn't have a prime minister? Why do hammerhead sharks have such strange-shaped heads?Find out the answers to these curious questions and much, much more! Ponder where ideas come from with award-winning illustrator, Rob Biddulph. Find out why you taste things differently when you have a cold with Michelin star chef, Heston Blumenthal. Learn about everything from how astronauts see in the dark to what the biggest dinosaur was with experts from the Natural History Museum. Fascinating facts are accompanied by gorgeous illustrations making the perfect gift for Christmas. Whether you read a question a day, or dip into it whenever you are feeling curious, this is a book to treasure and share all year round.Illustrated by Momoko Abe, Kelsey Buzzell, Beatrice Cerocchi, Alice Courtley, Sandra de la Prada, Grace Easton, Manuela Montoya Escobar, Richard Jones, Lisa Koesterke, Gwen Millward, Sally Mullaney, and Laurie Stansfield.Praise for Everything Under the Sun:'Trivia fans will relish Everything Under the Sun' - The Guardian"A wonderful gift for families" - Evening Standard"This is a book to treasure all year round" - My Baba"As cute as it is educational" - Babyccino Kids "A wonderful collection of 366 curious questions about everything from science to nature, dinosaurs to space" - Scottish Sun "Simply mesmerising compendium" - Waterstones"A beautiful gem of a book" - BookTrust"Fascinating for anyone who opens it" - Red magazine

Everything Under the Sun: a curious question for every day of the year

Children's Books

Education & Reference

Ladybird

Open up this treasure trove of wonders to visit 43 museums and 50 exhibits! Discover the most fascinating and mysterious objects found in museums, from star attractions to unsung exhibits. With Molly Oldfield, research elf of hit television show QI, unearth the astonishing stories of how these treasures were created, found and finally displayed. Travel back in time to discover an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, encounter China's mysterious Terracotta Army, sail the seas in a Viking ship, take flight in the world's first aeroplane, defend World War Two Britain in Churchill's siren suit, journey to the Moon with Neil Armstrong in the Apollo 11 Command Module and even play in a World Cup Final wearing Pele's victory shirt. Through stunning photography and glorious illustration, these wonders and many more will bring history, science and culture to life for readers aged 10+, as well as the whole family!

Wonders of the World's Museums

Wren & Rook

Everything Under the Sun

Kane/Miller Book Publishers

60 unseen artifacts from the world's best museums. 
 In Manhattan, priceless books sit on rows of shelves under traffic-jammed streets; at the Museum of Sacred Art in Brazil, a 17th century bejeweled processional cross is squirreled away under the floor; body bags in Washington protect spacesuits covered in moon dust; and in an unvisited aircraft hangar sits Auguste Piccard's extraordinary invention, the balloon gondola. 
 In fact, a great many of the world's most precious objects are kept in secret locations, protected from public view and safe from harmful conditions. Too fragile to be handled or exposed, too likely to be stolen, or too big to display, they hide in secure darkness or locked rooms, waiting for an obsessive treasure hunter to find them. 
 Museum enthusiast and researcher Molly Oldfield is just that. Consumed by curiosity about what is behind the closed doors of museums' back rooms, she spent two years touring the world in search of the most extraordinary inventions, legacies and artifacts hidden from the public. She has curated the best of what she found into this remarkable collection. 
 The Secret Museum reveals sixty unseen artifacts whose stories touch all five continents, for example: 
<ul>
<li> An original Gutenberg Bible printed on vellum in the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City</li> <li> A piece of Newton's apple tree at the Royal Society in London, England</li> <li> The artist's sketchbooks at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam</li> <li> Charles Dickens' favorite feline letter opener at the New York Public Library</li> <li> Vladimir Nabokov's cabinet of butterfly genitalia at Harvard University Logbook of the Kon-Tiki expedition in Oslo, Norway</li> <li> Livingstone and Stanley's hats at the Royal Geographical Society</li> <li> Christmas telegram from double agent Little Fritz aka Agent Zigzag, at Bletchley Park, the top secret World War II MI6 decoding location</li> </ul>
 Delightful illustrations accompany Molly's descriptions and the lively stories of how she came to see the artifacts. Like the very best mornings spent exploring a museum, The Secret Museum is enlightening and enormously good fun.

The Secret Museum: Some Treasures Are Too Precious to Display...

Arts & Photography

Firefly Books

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