The three-volume book is an authoritative collection of design classics, which will include 999 industrially manufactured products, carefully selected by a group of experts. From cars to furniture, from tableware to cameras, from everyday objects to aeroplanes, this breadth of classic design has never before been collated. These volumes will be the sourcebooks on design from the early 1800's to the present, bringing together patents, prototypes, old advertisements, original drawings, images showing the process of manufacture, as well as rare archival photographs. Over fifty authors ranging from designers to curators, critics, and academics, have contributed with short texts for each objects, providing detailed research and precise information.