990 Kč
990 Kč / 1 ks
The most comprehensive book on the history and development of toilets, extending to environmental topics and current and future trends and risks. Includes a large catalog of collector's items from the Museum of Historical Chamber Pots and Toilets.
Spouses Renáta Sedláčková and Jan Sedláček have been collecting chamber pots, toilets, and objects related to bodily hygiene and doing research in this area since the year 2000, when they purchased a dilapidated medieval fortress. While undertaking their own structural and historical survey of the building, they discovered one of the earliest extant toilets in the Czech Republic, highly valued in professional circles. This discovery provided the impetus
to research where people in various historical periods went to the toilet, what sort of vessels they used, what sort of rooms and structures they built for this purpose, and what kind of systems they devised for disposing of human waste. In addition to these topics, the authors explore human hygiene from a contemporary environmental perspective with a view to the near future. After twenty years spent doing extensive research and assembling a collection of nearly 2,700 exhibits (registered in the Czech Book of Records), and with a wealth of experience running the Museum of Historical Chamber Pots and
Toilets, the authors decided to write and publish this book. The first edition in Czech came out in 2020. It was awarded Third Place in the “Fine Arts Encyclopedia” category of the 2020–2021 “Diconary of the Year” competition organized by the Czech Association of Interpreters and Translators (JTP). It is now available in an updated and expanded edition and in English translation.
For the sake of clarity, the book is organized into four consecutive parts:
Part I The History and Development of Toilets
Part II A Selection of Exhibits from the Museum's Collection – Chamber Pots, Bedpans, Urinals, and Toilets
Part III Human Waste in History, Religion, and Law, and the Influence of Water Pollution on Human Populations – Current Risks and Threats
Part IV Curiosities, Contests, Charity
The authors take a popular science approach in presenting the results of their investigation, offering a candid and insightful examination of human hygiene in all its contexts, including some unforeseen ones, that will both educate and entertain the reader.
