The Royal Academy s popular Summer Exhibition has been an annual event since 1769. Today, around a thousand works are selected each year from over 10,000 entries. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, architectural design and models, and continues to be the largest open exhibition in the UK. First published in the 1870s, the Royal Academy Illustrated presents the highlights of each year s show and is a fascinating barometer of changing artistic tastes. A wide cross-section of the works on display is included, accompanied by installation shots of the galleries that reveal the individual nature of each year s show. The book s illustrations, selected this year by the Academician Humphrey Ocean  together with an introduction by the art historian Frank Whitford  make the book a handsome and informative document of this most popular event.