“This is an artwork by Richard Prince. Any similarity to a book is coincidental and not intended by the artist.” © Richard Prince - so says the colophon.Richard Prince has made a very good living out of appropriating and transforming material from the cultural ether. So why not take what many believe is the quintessential American coming of age novel and make it his own.With the exception of the title page Prince's "sculpture" is an exact facsimile of the first edition with the second issue dust jacket (lacking the author photo). The dust jacket text reads: “Anyone who has read...
George Herms, Joseph Conrad and The Librarian
The Librarian, 1960. Assemblage: wood box, papers, books, loving cup, and painted stool57 x 63 x 21 in. (144.8 x 160 x 53.3 cm)George Herms emerged from the heart of the Beat Generation to become one of the founding artists of the California Assemblage movement. Three years after assembling his first piece or "junk sculpture" he began a series of works based on real people and places.One of the first pieces in the series and now considered one of his most important was The Librarian. During a visit to the local library in Larkspur, California where Herms lived for a...
In the Stacks: Women’s Travel Diaries at Duke University
The folks at the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University have a new digital collection on view. Women's Travels Diaries features over 100 diaries written by British and American women who documented their travels to places around the globe, including India, the West Indies, countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as around the United States.The collection is comprised mostly of the diaries of Mary McCornack Thompson, a Presbyterian missionary and teacher with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in South Africa and Mary McMillan, a United Methodist missionary and...
book patrol TV: episode 2
Welcome to the second episode of book patrol TV. A hour-long feast of book goodness.This episode includes an amazing chair-based reading performance piece by Héloise Bourgeois, talks by Robert Darton and Chip Kidd, a live version of My Morning Jacket singing Librarian, Snoop Dog talking about his new 'smoking' book, a little clip from The Dead Poets Society, an animation of the Billy Collins poem Forgetfulness and a short video by archivist Harrison Wick, of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Libraries, on the Benefits of Digitizing Rare Books.Enjoy. 4:05 Les 7 doigts de la main / The 7 Fingers -...
A book from Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House Library grows up
It is the largest, most famous and many believe the most beautiful dollhouse in the world. It was conceived as a gift for Queen Mary by her cousin Princess Marie Louise and built under the supervision of Edwin Lutyens, who at the time wore the crown as Britain's most famous architect. The library Aside from the toilets that flush, the working elevators and the six working automobiles that live in the garage the dollhouse features a 171-volume library of short works, some written exclusively for the dollhouse, by some of the leading writers of the day including Sir Arthur Conan...