What is a museum?  And why do we collect things: shells, words, clocks, teeth, trains, dinosaur bones, mummies...and two-headed sheep?

These questions and many more are explored in The Museum Book.  Find out where the word museum comes from, how whole cities can be considered museums, and which fascinating things (unicorn horns? mermaids?) were displayed in early museums.  

Jan Mark's many humorous and conversational insights lead the reader deftly through the history of museums, and Richard Holland's eye-catching illustrations complete this quirky and original book.  With vivid examples drawn from all around the world, The Museum Book will make you consider museums—and the artifacts within them—in a whole new light.

From the dust jacket