In spite of all the doom and gloom surrounding the life and future of the book the book business still rakes in around $90 billion a year worldwide.Two of the healthiest and fastest growing areas of the trade are online bookselling in general and the selling of used, out-of-print and antiquarian books in particular.In a recent blog post from the Frankfurt Book Fair Edward Nawotka, book columnist for Bloomberg News and Southern Correspondent for Publishers Weekly, had this to say about the future of books:"One immediate consequence of Obama's victory was the boost in sales for newspapers. So now we...
A Coin of Beauty : The New Commemorative Dutch 5 Euro
click to enlargeHere is Stani Michiels amazing design for the new commemorative Dutch five euro. It was the winning design in a competition organized by the Dutch Ministry of Finance. The theme of the competition was the 'Netherlands and Architecture'.The front is a typographical marvel featuring a portrait of the queen which "is constructed with names of important Dutch architects. On the outside the names are clearly readable, while they slowly get smaller to the center. Under a magnifying glass all names are readable, but not with only the human eye. It is fascinating to see how an old medium...
The Beauty of Ebru
Ebru is the Turkish term for the art of paper marbling.The Turkish website World Bulletin has a nice feature on this ancient art that some date back to the 8th century."For the ebru artist, sitting down at the ebru basin is a ritual. For a loving discourse ensues between basin and artist. Many things go into the art of ebru: the angle at which the droplets strike the water, their size, large or small, the points at which they fall, the harmony and distribution of the colors, and the relationship between the different dyes. And who knows if it is...
The Chains are Breaking : A Look at Bookselling in a Post-Chain World
The numbers are brutal. Hardly anyone bought anything in the month of October. According to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index, retailers had their weakest October performance since the index's inception in 1969! If this trend keeps up through the holiday season it is safe to say that January will become National Bankruptcy Month.How the economic meltdown will ultimately play out in the book world remains to be seen, but early indicators are pointing to a significant shakeout.In a memo to his employees last week Barnes and Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio said "Never in all of the years I've been in business...
The Book Looking Good in the Art World
Juan Gris. "Livre, pipe et verres" (Book, Pipe and Glasses). Oil on canvas, 1915.Carol Vogel covers the art world for the New York Times. A quick glance at the headlines of her stories from the past week remind us that the upper reaches of the art world are not immune to the economic meltdown that is upon us.November 2 - Tapped Out? : With the market easing, the big auction houses brace for the fall sales.Nov. 4 - Auction Season Opens With Little Enthusiasm : During an auction at Sotheby’s, the results were spotty, a relief to those who thought...