Exquisite cloth-bound edition of the classic art-history text – the perfect gift for every art connoisseur and student

For more than 60 years Ernst Gombrich's The Story of Art has been a global bestseller – with more than 8 million copies sold – the perfect introduction to art history, from the earliest cave paintings to art of the twentieth century, a masterpiece of clarity and personal insight. This classic book is currently in its 16th edition and has been translated into more than 30 languages, and published in numerous formats and editions. Now, for the first time, this Luxury Edition is the ultimate gift purchase for all art lovers – a perfect keepsake to treasure, and to inspire future generations.

Ernst Gombrich was one of the greatest and least conventional art historians of his age, achieving fame and distinction in three separate spheres: as a scholar, as a popularizer of art, and as a pioneer of the application of the psychology of perception to the study of art. His best-known book, The Story of Art - first published 50 years ago and now in its sixteenth edition - is one of the most influential books ever written about art. His books further include The Sense of Order (1979) and The Preference for the Primitive (2002), as well as a total of 11 volumes of collected essays and reviews.

Gombrich was born in Vienna in 1909 and died in London in November 2001. He came to London in 1936 to work at the Warburg Institute, where he eventually became Director from 1959 until his retirement in 1976. He won numerous international honours, including a knighthood, the Order of Merit and the Goethe, Hegel and Erasmus prizes.

Gifted with a powerful mind and prodigious memory, he was also an outstanding communicator, with a clear and forceful prose style. His works are models of good art-historical writing, and reflect his humanism and his deep and abiding concern with the standards and values of our cultural heritage.