Whether the subject is art, photography, interiors, design or erotica, the company's mission is make it beautiful, unique, high-quality, and above all, value for money.

There's never been a better time to live vicariously through Taschen's books, whether your passion is maps, art, architecture, design, movies, travel or sex.

Comic beginnings

In 1980, eighteen-year-old Benedikt Taschen, son of a doctor in Cologne and the youngest of five children, became a publisher of comics. After years of collecting, he opened his own shop, selling a huge selection of new and rare collectors' comics.

Struggling for four years, his breakthrough came in 1984 with the acquisition of 40 000 books about Belgian artist Rene Magritte for a dollar each. Within a short time, he'd sold them all for $6.60 each and the "art book for the masses" was born.

Benedikt Taschen then published a book by Annie Leibovitz, who was becoming one of the most famous photographers in America. Then came books on Dali, Picasso and the big format art book was born. A new type of publishing had been established.

Making publishing history

Taschen continued to build on their success and by 1988 were publishing in 20 languages. In the mid-90s, when there was an increased awareness of contemporary art and architecture, Taschen started to publish the best visual books on these subjects, showing an uncanny instinct for sensing trends.

While focussing on low-cost publications Taschen decided also to enter the opposite end of the market — to produce the most exclusive and expensive books in the world.

With the publication of SUMO by Helmut Newton in 1999, Taschen set the world record for the most expensive book published in the 20th century, selling at auction for $304 000.

The Muhammad Ali tribute book, GOAT (2003) measured in at 50 X 50 cm, and weighed 34kg and is "... the biggest, heaviest, most radiant thing ever printed in the history of civilisation", it says.

Into the future

Taschen's editor-in-charge Angelika Taschen joined the company in 1987, and conceived Taschen's Interiors series in 1994 and the Country Houses series in 1999.

This year sees the launch of the massive two-volume book project that will be called Inside Asia. Other fantastic books in this popular range include: 'Berlin Interiors', 'Spa', 'Inside Africa', 'Living in Morocco', 'The Hotel Book' series (South America, Africa and Asia).

In the boundary-dissolving world of Taschen, there are so many countries, subcultures and lifestyles to choose from that the only way we can explore them all is to settle down and enjoy them vicariously.