“Modern Home” color lithograph, 1879 from The Complete Home: An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Life and Affairs In her 1879 book The Complete Home: An Encyclopaedia of Domestic Life and Affairs Julia McNair Wright had this to say about having books in the home:
It has long been my opinion that one of the chief ways of making a home happy, thriving and useful in its influence, is to supply it well with books and papers. Having carefully observed and contrasted homes well furnished with reading matter, and homes where literature is unknown, I find that intelligence, family affection, thrift, economy, business habits and joyous home-loving mark the homes with books; and bickering, wastefulness, general ignorance and idle pleasure-seeking, characterize the others
She goes on “A Home without books is like a garden without flowers, a forest without birds or sunshine, like a house without furniture. Out of bookless homes go the majority of the criminals, paupers, vagrants, maniacs and chronic invalids”
I wonder what Ms. Wright would make of Leni Leth and her website Book Decor, a site that specializes in books as decoration. At Book Decor it’s the outside that counts; you can fill your home with books without the slightest regard for what is in them.
Other booksellers, most notably the Strand, have had success with the book by the foot or yard approach but most often it is part of their larger business model. Leth just might be the first exclusive “ornamental book merchant” or “decorative book dealer.”
Here are a couple of nuggets from Book Decor:
“Our books are so beautiful on the outside that their interior ceases to be important.”
“Here at Book Décor, we specifically carry antique books printed in Danish. While they might not be suitable for cozy fireside reading, they will definitely enhance the comfortable space!”
“Another reason why books are great for home décor is that they never wear-out. Unlike fabrics or expensive rugs whose luster seems to fade with age, books never loose their appeal,” but of course you can add books from the Zen Collection at $25 a pop where “due to prolonged exposure to light, have developed a very delicate and soft look. They are truly unusual looking and will add calmness to any decor.”
Will this new breed of a book filled home be wraught with the “bickering, wastefulness, general ignorance and idle pleasure-seeking” found in the homes without books or will it add another domestic dimension that has yet to be explored?