The Lure of Gold: An Artistic and Cultural History

by Hans-Gert Bachmann

When Hesiod, the Greek poet of the eighth century B.C., recounted the history of the world as he understood it, he described the legendary first generation of mortal men, who lived in peace and ease, as the "people of gold." Nearly three millennia later, we still refer to a particularly happy or prosperous era as a "golden age." The reason Hesiod's metaphor translates so perfectly into our own idiom is that the mystique of gold, the quintessential...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789209004
• ISBN13: 9780789209009
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 5.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 10.5" x 12.1"

Customer Reviews

Stunning book -

Highly detailed, beautifully photographed and deeply researched. The writer's eloquent and intuitive writing makes this a delicious book to own and enjoy. The offered variety and beauty of the photos displayed here will, I am sure, impress everyone. It is very worthy.

Nearly three hundred color photos of art objects and relics enhance a detailed, outstanding survey.

THE LURE OF GOLD: AN ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL HISTORY tells how the search for gold has shaped mankind from prehistory to modern times. It's a long history and a long story: to best organize the information, THE LURE OF GOLD places each epoch in a different chapter, explaining where people of the era found gold, how they mined and worked it, and how it affected their lives. Nearly three hundred color photos of art objects and relics enhance a detailed, outstanding survey. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch