Thanks to the fruits of a $270,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) the first volume, 12 issues, of the seminal monthly magazine The Masses is now available in its entirety for your digital perusal at the Modernist Journals Project (MJP)Founded in 1911 The Masses was an illustrated socialist monthly that would soon become the premier journal of Greenwich Village and the burgeoning bohemian art community in New York City. Contributors included Carl Sandburg, Amy Lowell, John Reed Jack London, Upton Sinclair, and Sherwood Anderson among many others.Here is editor Max Eastman's "manifesto" that appeared in the first issue:A Free Magazine...
Librarians & Teachers Can Save Lives
"Librarians and teachers are the only reason I'm not in prison right now", explains illustrator William Joyce. When he was in the fourth grade, Joyce wrote and illustrated his first book in green crayon about the magical superpowers of the contents of his elementary school hero's nose. He soon found himself hauled off to the principal's office to be reprimanded. Since then, Joyce has written and illustrated more than fifty children's books, including Santa Calls, Dinosaur Bob and his Adventures with the Family Lazardo, A Day with Wilbur Robinson, and The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Most recently Moonbot Studios,...
DIY: Print-On-Demand and the Rise of the Photobook
Much like the changes to the book trade that took place with the advent of online bookselling; the photobook world has exploded with the introduction of POD technology. In both cases technology has greatly reduced the barriers to entry and opened up the floodgates, which in turn has redefined the trade.Desiree Edkins (American, born 1974). Offset lithography; 16.9 x 17.1 cm (closed), 2009. Courtesy of the artistNedejda, from Grodekovo series, 2009 (featured in Why Was I Born in Russia). Yury Toroptsov (Russian, b. 1974). Digital offset printing; 19.69 x 24.77 cm. Courtesy of the artist. Copyright © 2010–2011From what was a...
Amazon by the Numbers
At 80 million monthly visitors one "could fill 60 Disneylands." Just imagine if just half of those visitors went to an independent bookshop, either online or in store, and god knows what the trade can do with half of the $9 billion in book sales. They're not kidding when they pronounce Amazon the "undisputed giant of online retail," but of course, as we all now, bigger does not automatically equal better... via Mashable
Stay on the Grass: Nature goes inside the library
As the sign says in the lobby of the Mann Library at Cornell University:Yes, it’s real grass.Yes, you can sit, lay down and roll around on the grass, but please don’t stomp on it.The grass is part of the exhibit. Various professors in Human Ecology have done research on the restorative benefits of nature. Instead of telling you about this, we decided to show you.So sit, relax, lay down, and enjoy the grass!Building on the success of last years first-ever “bring the outdoors indoors” initiative students from the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA) installed lawns in three additional spaces...