Reading Chaucer. Bronze, edition of 8. Here's a sampling of British sculptor Philip Jackson's book-tinged work. Jackson covers the spectrum, from the realism of the Founders Sculpture below to the abstract aspects of the others, with each piece exuding a penetrating focus on a book. Guided Missal. Edition of 5. Chanting Cimarosa Edition of 8. Founder's Sculpture. Commissioned in 2005. Bronze, life size
Reading in the Mobile Era
A student in Kenya with her library of e-books. photo by @NdilaiG Another highlight from this years World Book & Copyright Day was the release of Reading in the Mobile Era by UNESCO. Based on interviews and 4,000 completed surveys in seven developing countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda and Zimbabwe) this landmark report "paints the most detailed picture to date of who reads books and stories on mobile devices and why." We learn that celluar networks reach over 95% of the worlds population and more people have access to cell phones than toilets. Then there is this tragic fact that most people in Sub-Shararan...
Still Looks Pretty Good: A map of bookstores and libraries in the U.S.
Here's a gem from Google Maps - a look at all the public libraries and bookstores across the country as of Summer 2013. h\t Chicago Public Library
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang praises Beijing’s first 24-hour Bookshop
This one might take the World Book Day cake. On World Book Day in China Premier Li Keqiang sent a letter to the staff of Beijing's Sanlian Taofen Bookstore. Recently the bookshop, which is owned by the China Publishing Group Corp, started a government-funded trial period of staying open 24 hours a day. And it looks like its working. Li praised the creative idea of a 24-hour bookstore and that it sets a good example for nationwide reading and hoped it could become a spiritual landmark of a city to make reading a common practice. Hmm.. "could become a spiritual landmark...to make reading a common...
Shakespeare Takes Center Stage in the Rare Book World
John Baret’s Alvearie, 1580 Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven ---William Shakespeare For some it would be as close to the Holy Grail as one can hope for. A copy of the dictionary Shakespeare himself once owned, annotated! As you can imagine, the antiquarian book world is in a tizzy. Two of their own, New York booksellers George Koppelman of Cultured Oyster Books and Daniel Wechsler of Sanctuary Books, have claimed to have unearthed a copy of John Baret’s Alvearie, a dictionary printed in 1580, with annotations in Shakespeare's hand and have just released a book documenting their find, Shakespeare’s Beehive: An...