Exhibition Catalogs & More

Ancient Mesopotamia Speaks

Highlights of the Yale Babylonian Collection

Edited by Agnete W. Lassen, Eckart Frahm, and Klaus Wagensonner

Selected for American Library Association’s Choice 2019 Outstanding Academic Titles List

This book of essays is a stunning and unique companion guide to the exhibition that celebrated the Yale Babylonian Collection’s formal affiliation with the Yale Peabody Museum through artifacts in the collections, including cuneiform tablets and miniature carved seals. World-renowned experts provide new perspectives and the latest research on the accomplishments and legacy of ancient Mesopotamian society and culture with a look at writing and literature, the world’s oldest recipes, the role of women, medicine and magic spells, early law, kings and gods, and student math problems.

Available for purchase in paperback. Distributed for the Yale Peabody Museum by Yale University Press.

Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples

What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures

By Lucianne Lavin
With a contribution to the Introduction by Paul Grant-Costa
Edited by Rosemary Volpe
Foreword by Faith Damon Davison

American Library Association’s Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2013, North America
Honorable Mention, General Nonfiction Category, 2013 New England Book Festival, JM Northern Media Family of Festivals
Winner of the 2014 Connecticut League of History Organizations Award of Merit
Second Place, Books, 2014 New England Museum Association Publication Award Competition

This much-needed book is the first to give a full account of the rich 13,000-plus-year history and culture of Connecticut’s indigenous peoples. It is a detailed and well-illustrated archaeological and ethnographic portrait of Native American communities before European contact and during the last 400 years of colonial and state history. This book brings to light the richness and diversity of Connecticut’s indigenous histories, corrects misinformation, and reveals the significant contributions of Native Americans to modern Connecticut.

A co-publication of the Yale Peabody Museum and Yale University Press. Available for purchase in paperback and as an e-book from Yale University Press.

The Age of Reptiles

The Art and Science of Rudolph Zallinger’s Great Dinosaur Mural at Yale

2nd edition, spiral bound with poster
Compiled and edited by Rosemary Volpe

Best in Show & First Place, Books, 2008 New England Museum Association Publication Award Competition

This second edition of the Peabody’s history and meaning of Rudolph Zallinger’s 1947 masterwork The Age of Reptiles mural brings together earlier material and new information to tell the story of a work of art that has defined our view of the prehistoric world and continues to inform thousands of visitors. Vincent Scully’s classic essay on the mural’s place in the history of art accompanies updated descriptions, detail-revealing illustrations of the animals and plants in the mural, and a 12-page foldout full-color poster bound into the book.

Available for purchase in paperback. Distributed for the Yale Peabody Museum by Yale University Press.

Exploration & Discovery

Treasures of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

By David K. Skelly and Thomas J. Near
Photography by Robert Lorenz

Iconic fossils, striking ethnographic pieces, historical flora, and extinct species—this beautifully illustrated book celebrates the Yale Peabody Museum’s 150th anniversary year. It is a tour of the Museum’s rich collections that tells the story of science at Yale and the Peabody’s exploration of the remarkable record of the history of Earth, its life, and its cultures in its care, revealing important connections between social change and the evolution of science.

Available for purchase in paperback. Distributed for the Yale Peabody Museum by Yale University Press.

Samurai and the Culture of Japan’s Great Peace

By Fabian Drixler, William D. Fleming, and Robert George Wheeler

This generously illustrated companion book to the exhibition takes an engaging journey through many facets of medieval Japan. Accessible descriptions and cutting-edge research outline the politics, culture, and technology of the samurai warrior. An exquisite collection of swords and armor, intricate lacquerware, everyday items of daily life, paintings, and illustrated manuscripts are brought together from the Yale Peabody Museum, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and other collections across Yale to evoke visions of a lost world and themes of romance, adventure, faith, and death.

Available for purchase in paperback. Distributed for the Yale Peabody Museum by Yale University Press.

The Forest Primeval

The Geologic History of Wood and Petrified Forests

By Leo J. Hickey

This is the story of wood—what it is, how it is put together, and its long evolutionary history as an integral part of Earth’s forests. These very readable introductory essays provide insights into this familiar material all around us, including the abundant petrified wood in the fossil record.

Available for purchase in paperback. Distributed for the Yale Peabody Museum by Yale University Press.