这是一部有关图画再现心理学研究的论文集，引人注目而发人深省，是作者另一部具有广泛影响的著作《艺术与错觉》的有益补充。《通过艺术的视觉发现》介绍了透视问题；关于动作、表现、手势和运动的再现问题，关于视觉图像在信息交流中的地位问题，关于再现中的真实性标准问题，贡布里希教授将一位艺术史家的洞察力与知觉心理学家严谨的研究方法紧密结合。
长久以来，《艺术与错觉》不但启发了艺术专业学生，也对科学家颇有启迪。在这部补充论文集中，作者仍旧以其清晰而热忱延续着艺术史与科学的对话。

这是一部E.H.贡布里希有关价值及其在人文学科中的作用的最著名的论文集。正如作者在中文版导言中所说：“本书的文章出诸一个艺术史学者之手，但它们的主要论旨不是艺术问题，而是文明史学者所面临的问题。当然，文明史的问题与艺术史的问题息息相关。”从黑格尔哲学到战争时期的广播宣传，从博物馆的未来，到艺术研究中理性与情感的作用，贡布里希教授一直持有这样一种观点：我们文化中的理想始终承受着非理性的、僵化的偶像的威胁。
时至当今，这部论文集仍不失为一部对自由和人类价值适时而重要的肯定。

Book Description
New Format and Redesign of the World's Best Selling Art Book
"Gombrich (1909-2001) had a gift for clear, conversational language, a narrative approach, and an interest in pop culture--he even included mass media and cartoons in The Story of Art. The book, which receives high praise in the CAA report [a recent assessment of art history textbooks by the College Art Association], is today the world's best selling art history textbook, with total sales of 8 million copies." -Art News, February 2006
E.H. Gombrich's warm, lively, opinionated--yet never patronizing--authorial voice brings history to life in a way that attracts both adults and young readers alike. Last year the first English translation of A Little History of the World, originally written in 1935 in German, was a surprise publishing success. Yet, this isn't even Gombrich's most popular work. The Story of Art has sold over 8 million copies, has been translated into more than 30 languages and served as the standard introduction to art history for students around the world for the past century. Now, the book will be available in a new affordable format, in wide release for the general public, just in time for the holidays.
Phaidon Press is pleased to announce the publication of THE STORY OF ART: POCKET EDITION by E.H. Gombrich, a re-designed, re-formatted compact edition of one of the best-known and best-loved books on art ever written. This new edition combines smoothly flowing text with a clear, simple design in a convenient and accessible format. The new edition allows this classic work to continue its triumphant progress for another generation, and to remain the first choice for all newcomers to art.
Phaidon Press commissioned Gombrich during World War II to write a history of art for young people. In 1950, The Story of Art was published and so a classic was born. Gombrich dictated the whole text from memory, using illustrations from books in his library as prompts. The outcome was a seminal work of criticism and one of the most accessible introductions to the visual arts. Starting with the cave paintings at Lascaux and stretching as far as Postmodernism, the whole of art history is presented as a chronological narrative. Using vivid imagery, storytelling and sly humor, Gombrich's voice draws in all--the student, connoisseur, or amateur.
The Story of Art has always been admired for two key qualities: it is a pleasure to read and a pleasure to handle. The pocket edition is no exception. With this new edition this classic work is now as accessible as the story inside. Gombrich's extraordinary knowledge and wisdom will continue to teach and inspire generation after generation.
From Library Journal
Phaidon Press has produced a much-improved edition of Sir Ernst Gombrich's classic narrative study of art history, which was first published in 1950. Among the many competing introductory texts?the central monuments of which are H.W. Janson's History of Art (Prentice, 1986. 4th. ed.) and Helen Gardner's Art Through the Ages (4th ed. o.p.)?Gombrich's venerable work has inhabited a unique niche, having been created specifically for newcomers to art. As his title indicates, he presents the whole of art history as a chronological narrative. Gombrich's voice is lively, opinionated, and almost conversational, yet his erudition shines through to make a book that is both accessible and informative. His premise, that the love of art, not the love of history, is the appropriate basis for its study is communicated directly with his irrepressible enthusiasm for certain masters and his passionate exasperation with 20th century nonobjective artists. While much of the text is unchanged, the format has been completely redesigned with vastly expanded illustrations, improved captions, better charts and an excellent index. This book belongs on every art-lover's bedside table, and even those libraries owning an earlier edition would not regret adding this refinement of an already first-rate work.
Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., Cal.
From Booklist
Gombrich's The Story of Art has been a treasured standard in the field, selling more than 4 million copies since its first edition in 1950. Now in its 16th edition and available for the first time in paperback, this comprehensive look at Western art from prehistoric times on up to the present has been completely redesigned and extensively revised and updated. In addition, the illustrations have all been enhanced, and a total of 443 are now in color. Gombrich is more than an authority, he's an advocate, and his love and deep respect for art infuse his invigorating text. In his discussion of twentieth-century art, for instance, Gombrich explains how even the most experimental contemporary art is connected in some way to what has gone before. Gombrich tells the story of art "as the story of a continuous weaving and changing of traditions in which each work refers to the past and points to the future." Gombrich's invaluable history is a veritable celebration of this "living chain."
Donna Seaman
Midwest Book Review
Enjoy the most famous book on art ever published: an overview which covers the entire subject, from early cave paintings to modern experimental art. This has been revamped for the first time since 1972, offering larger illustrations, more color, and improved text and coverage. Highly recommended.
Book Dimension
length: (cm)18.5 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)10.7

书名原文∶Meditations on a hobby horse:据英国费顿出版社1978年第三版选译:本书精辟的论述了艺术形式产生的根源，艺术价值中的视觉隐喻，精神分析与艺术史，艺术与学术等理论问题。

本书为贡布里希谈话录和回忆录的合集。这部新译本分为两部分，第一部分包括了英文版A Lifeng Inrerest的全书，第二部分则由几篇对话录和回忆录组成。全书对话居多，其余辅之。作者娓娓道来，闲闲落墨，令人读之忘倦，快然有得，从某种程度上讲，贡布里希的主要思想大约有一半在这里得到了平易而简约的说明。在本书中，贡布里希不仅回顾了他作为“艺术史家的双重生活”的一生，书中也涉及到他的许多代表著作，如《艺术的故事》、《艺术与错觉》、《秩序感》等的思想核心问题。尽管本书不是一部全面的回忆录，但却包括了大量的回忆片段，因此，要了解贡布里希的生平和学术观点，本书是一部难得的佳作。

贡氏已被译成30种文字销售达500万册的《艺术的故事》(《艺术发展史》)，但是至今仍然有学者单纯地将贡氏与图像学划等号(贡氏的确对图像学作出了重要贡献，并且“图像学”的中译名也是范景中等先生在译介贡氏理论时确定的汉译)，或者武断地将贡氏视作其本人最不愿意的结构主义美学。然而，贡氏的学术野心是试图对整个艺术发展――以再现为中心及象征与装饰为两翼――作出概括性的解释。面对如此宏大的学术目标，凭借单一的、令人捉襟见肘的现成方法，对古典学者贡布里希来讲，这简直毫无学术感可言。所以还是埃里邦问得实在：“我们能否说你没有方法?”贡氏的回答更令人击节：“我不想要一种方法，我只需要常识(common sense)!这是我的唯一方法。”