Gaudi：1852-1926 Antoni Gaudi i Cornet - A Life Devoted to Architecture

TASCHEN'sGreatAdventurebeganbackin1980,wheneighteen-year-oldBenediktTaschenopenedashopinhisnativeCologne,Germany,tomarkethismassivecomicscollection.Withinayearhebeganpublishingcatalogspromotinghiswares,butitwasn'tuntil1984thathisfirstart-bookbreakthroughoccurred:hepurchased40,000remaindercopiesofaMagrittebookprintedinEnglish,resellingthemforafractionoftheiroriginalprice.Fromayoungage,Taschenhadbeeninterestedinartbutfoundthatartbooksweretooexpensiveandhardtoobtain,andthesuccessofthisdaringmoveprovedthatTaschenwasnotaloneinthinkingthattheart-bookmarketshouldbedemocratized.SoonhebeganreprintingbooksunderhisownnameforbudgetpricesandthenextyearhepublishedhisfirstoriginaltitleandthefirstbookintheBasicArtseries:Picasso.Beforelong,high-quality-yet-still-inexpensivehard-coverbookswereaddedtothelineupandin1989thelandmarkdouble-jumboVanGogh:TheCompletePaintingshitbookstoresaroundtheworld.Startinginthelate1980s,TASCHENestablishedsubsidiariesacrosstheglobeandcontinuedtocementitsreputationasapub-lisherofexcellent-valuebookswhilebranchingoutintonewareassuchasarchitecture,design,photography,lifestyleandclassics.In2000,TASCHENsurprisedtheworldbybreakingtherecordforthemostexpensivebookpublishedinthe20thcentury:copy#1ofHelmutNewton'sSUMO,signedbyover80celebritiesfeaturedinit,fetchedover$300,000atacharityauction.AyearlaterTASCHENlauncheditscinemacollectionwithBillyWilder'sSomeLikeitHot.Then,in2003,TASCHENtippedthescaleswithitsmassive,legend-aryMuhammadAlitributebook,GOAT.Twenty-fiveyearsafterBenediktTaschenopenedhislittlecomicsshop,TASCHENhasgrownintooneofthemostsuccessfulanduniquepublishersintheglobalmarket,publishinganeclecticvarietyofbooksforpeopleofalltastesandbudgetranges,distrib-utedworldwide,inovertwentylanguages.Withinthespaceofthelastfewyears,TASCHENhasopenedbookshopsinParisandLosAngeles,withplanstokeepexpandingtonewcitiesasourGreatAdventurecontinues.Forthefutureofpublishing,keepyoureyeonTASCHEN.作者简介：Theauthor:RainerZerbststudiedmodernlanguagesattheUniversityofTubingenandinWalesfrom1969to1975.From1976to1982heworkedasaresearchassistantintheDepartmentofEnglishattheUniversityofTubingen.Sincecompletinghisdoctoratein1982,Zerbsthasbeenactiveasacriticinthefieldsofart,literatureandthetheater.