The Making of Mona

Australian History Biography Art History Cultural Studies Museology Contemporary Art Institutional History

First-edition hardcover copies of The Making of Mona are already scarce, and this clean, smoke-free example is the one collectors and art-lovers keep hunting for. Published by Viking in 2014, Adrian Franklin’s 353-page illustrated deep-dive shows exactly how Hobart’s tiny, subversive MONA turned into Australia’s most talked-about cultural destination. Owning a pristine first printing—especially one with no ex-library marks, inscriptions, or shelf abuse—means securing the earliest physical record of the museum’s origin story, a title that already commands a premium on the secondary market.

Franklin, a sociologist and long-time MONA insider, blends art history, biography, and cultural studies into a fast-moving narrative that appeals to both young-adult readers discovering contemporary art and adults who follow modern museum-building. Every chapter is studded with behind-the-scenes photographs, sketches, and installation shots that never appeared online, making the illustrated hardcover the richest way to experience the saga. Readers come away understanding how an unconventional collector, a riverside winery, and a radical “no wall-labels” philosophy rewrote the rules of public art display.

For Australians the book doubles as a lively slice of national history; for international buyers it’s a case-study in how a privately funded institution can upend a city’s economy and global image. First-edition hardcovers in “very good” condition are increasingly scarce because most copies were thumbed through in museum gift shops, so finding one that’s tight, bright, and unmarked is the safest way to future-proof both a reading copy and a collectible asset.

Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.

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