‘Madame de Pompadour’ by Francois Boucher, 1756, As many of you who regularly check in with Book Patrol know, the representation of the book in art is one of the cornerstones of our foundation. Over at the British Library's Collection Care blog Christina Duffy looks at the value of books depicted in art as it relates to the history of bookbinding. Fueled by her week of studying European Bookbinding (1450-1820) at the London Rare Books School Duffy shows us how the "keen eye of the artist has captured precise details when depicting books throughout history, showing sewing structures, stitch types, supports, covers and even how...
The McSweeney’s Archive is open for business
Dave Eggers launched Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern from his Brooklyn apartment in 1998. When the the McSweeney's archive was acquired by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas a mere 15 years later the McSweeney's community had become one of the seminal hubs of literary culture in the 21st century. In addition to the highest quality writing each publication conveys a deep appreciation for design and craft making their publications instantly recognizable and consistently appealing. The archive documents the "evolution of a startup quarterly literary journal into a highly influential small publishing house and creator of several serials, including Timothy McSweeney's...
Eat this Bible: Devouring The Barbecue Bible
[youtube]http://youtu.be/9l1glIKMtqE[/youtube] Right on the heels of our recent story Biblio Lasagna, about "the first and only Cookbook you can actually read, cook and eat," comes this amazing 'book' produced by JWT Brazil to promote a line of barbecue accessories by Tramontina, the leading brand of kitchen supplies in Brazil. It's "a beautiful book you can put on your shelf or tear to pieces" Called Biblia Definitiva Do Churrasco, or The Bible of Barbecue, and each page plays an important part in maximizing your Brazilian grilling experience. A really important part! Like "one thick sheet shatters into chunks of charcoal, while another...
Art & Sole: Wild shoes for a good cause
“You can take me out of Manhattan, but you can’t take me out of my shoes!”- Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) Sex and the City If shoes are your thing no doubt you've heard of Stuart Weitzman. With retail stores across the U.S.A. and with its shoes sold in over 70 countries the brand is on top of the luxury footwear heap and "has earned a worldwide reputation as the embodiment of great American Style." Since the first shop opened on Madison Avenue in New York in 1995 Jane Gershon Weitzman, Stuart's wife and "sole mate", has been commissioning artists to create fantasy shoes...
Doug Beube: Breaking the Codex
The codex, compared with computers, is undeniably limited in its capacity to store, perpetuate, generate and recreate information, I accept these boundaries - Doug Beube We can call Beube the Constant Gardner of the book. for three decades he has fed and watered the book in all of its metaphorical and material aspects -Betty Bright Life, 2004 For over 30 years now Doug Beube has cut, folded and gouged his way through life. He along with Richard Minsky are two of the godfathers of contemporary bookworks. With Doug Beube Breaking the Codex: Bookwork, Collage and Mixed Media we now have a fitting...