Freedom of Choice Three Poems of Love and Death by Lucie Brock-BroidoRichard Minsky, 200973" x 26" x 24" Exhibit press releaseRichard Minsky's website
A Place of Reading: Three Hundred Years of Reading in America
That's the title of the recently launched online exhibit from the American Antiquarian Society.Background:During the early colonial period, books were seen as rarefied objects, most prohibitively expensive, and some almost impossible to obtain no matter what the cost. In time, presses were established, trade improved, machines were invented, paper became affordable, and, finally, the price of books went down. But books were still cherished; they were read, saved, and handed down. By the early 1900s the vast majority of the American population—rich or poor, black or white, male or female—were readers. This is their story. The exhibit contains an image...
More is Not Merrier. The Polluting of the Online Book Marketplace
Colin Robinson, co-publisher of OR Books, has written a piece for the latest issue The Nation titled The Trouble With Amazon. In it he effectively laments the real and potential consequences for both the publisher and the reader in an Amazon-led book universe. Remember Amazon's early tagline "The Earth's Biggest Bookstore"? The tagline disappeared as Amazon branched out into product markets and today books comprise about 25% of their total revenue but their stranglehold on the book world seems only to be increasing. And as they continue on their quest to give, as Jeff Bezos told his shareholders, "the customers...
Written in Clay: Archaeologists Unearth Oldest Written Document Ever Found in Jerusalem
Archaeologists digging outside the walls of Jeruselum's Old City have uncovered part of a clay tablet containing cuneiform symbols that dates back to 14th century B.C.E. The tablet measures 2 x 2.8 centimeters and is one centimeter thick.It is the oldest written document every found in Jerusalem, eclipsing the previous record by some 600 years.Prof. Wayne Horowitz , a scholar of Assyriology at the Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology who helped decipher the script says:"The words the symbols form are not significant in themselves, but what is significant is that the script is of a very high level, testifying to...
Book Wear Roundup
There seems to be an increasing amount of crossover between the book and fashion worlds these days.Designer Marc Jacobs recently announced he was opening a bookshop in New York City's West Village. The shop, to be called Book Marc, will undoubtedly carry his new line of stationary products, fittingly called the Bookmarc collection.Canadian author Douglas Coupland has announced that he is collaborating on a new line of clothes and accessories. The line is called Roots x Douglas Coupland and will "explore a new way of seeing Canada." The collection includes apparel for women/men/children, accessories, leather goods, design items, furniture and...