A PALACE FOR WEDNESDAY

2008. 132 pages. A full-color, lavishly illustrated book about the magical dollhouse that’s a favorite with Museum visitors. The hardcover book comes with a DVD and features text in English with Spanish and Japanese translations.

Excerpt

INTRODUCTION
Rob Sidner, Director

For more than a decade at Mingei International Museum A PALACE FOR WEDNESDAY has been a beloved treasure for children and adults first to discover and, then, to return to visit. It came to us, first on loan and, later, as a museum purchase from the collection of John Darcy Noble. Living in retirement in San Diego County in the 1980s and ‘90s, John Darcy Noble served on this Museum’s International Advisory Board and curated two exhibitions: FIRST COLLECTIONS – Dolls and Folk Toys of the World, 1987-88, and DOLLS – Mirrors of Humanity, 1997-99. He was a dear friend and colleague of many staff members and a constant source of delight and whimsy. One of the first museum curators of toys in the United States of America, John was also an enchanting artist, writer of published books on dolls, unpublished, magical stories, and a raconteur of great wit. John died at 83 years of age in September 2003.

Mingei International Museum staff members have become acquainted with Alice Hudson through John and by telephone and letter. We all wish we could know her face to face – as will everyone who picks up this book. She has created a magical world to astonish and delight. It is a great pleasure to make Wednesday, her palace and its charmed and charming residents available, at last, to a wider public.

Two special features of this book are accompanying translations of the English text in Spanish and Japanese and a delightful introductory tour on DVD of A PALACE FOR WEDNESDAY conducted by John Darcy Noble and recorded in 1999.