MEDIA INFO
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| MEDIA INFO |
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Contact Bruce Bobbins / Dan Klores Communications / 212-981-5190 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TWELVE COPIES OF TASCHEN'S LIMITED EDITION "MOONFIRE: THE EPIC JOURNEY OF APOLLO 11" ARE ACCOMPANIED BY LUNAR METEORITES, OF WHICH SEVERAL ARE FROM THE MACOVICH COLLECTION New York, NY — To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing, art publisher Taschen releases "Moonfire: the Epic Journey of Apollo 11." Limited to 1969 copies boxed in two editions, "Moonfire" features the foremost images from the Apollo 11 mission accompanied by excepts from Norman Mailer's epic work of non-fiction, "Of a Fire on the Moon." In addition, each copy includes a signed (by astronaut Buzz Aldren) and numbered print of one of the most iconic and definitive images of Apollo 11: Aldren on a Moonwalk. In packaging especially designed by Mark Newson, twelve copies of this edition contain certified lunar samples—several of which are from the Macovich Collection. Said Macovich Curator Darryl Pitt, "I cannot exaggerate my delight in an association between the Macovich Collection and Taschen, and what are the single most extraordinary volumes on any aspect of the Apollo program." The lunar samples originate from lunar meteorites which were launched off the Moon's surface following asteroid impacts. Specimens of the Moon are identified by highly specific geological, mineralogical, chemical and radiation signatures. The most common minerals found on Earth’s surface are not found on the Moon, and the minerals that comprise the Moon’s crust are limited and readily identifiable. There is less than 200 pounds of lunar meteorites known to exist--making the Moon among the rarest objects on Earth--and a significant fraction of this scant amount of material is held in scientific repositories and is forever unavailable to the public. The Macovich Collection of Meteorites is indisputably the foremost collection of aesthetic iron meteorites in the world. Numerous private and institutional collections contain specimens from the Macovich Collection, including the Smithsonian, the Natural History Museum (London), the Academy of Sciences (Beijing and Moscow) and the American Museum of Natural History (New York). Steven Spielberg, Nicolas Cage, James Taylor, Jerry Bruckheimer, Yo-Yo Ma, Saud bin Mohammed al-Thani and Ripley's Believe it or Not Museums have all acquired meteorites with a Macovich provenance. U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, Art & Antiques, The New York Times, USA Today and Smithsonian Magazine are among the publications that have written about the Macovich Collection and its curator, Darryl Pitt.
For information on purchasing Taschen's "Moonfire": |
