Check out this cool little piece of book furniture. Hailing from the Regency era this little book carrier, ca. 1820, offered a nifty way to carry some of your books around. Here's the full description: An attractive Regency period two sided Book Carrier incorporating a single drawer with fine cedar linings, the upper section with delicately turned spindles, the ends with swan shaped motifs. I can just see some literate royal filling it up with a beautiful leather-bound set of his/her favorite author and heading for the garden. It's being offered by Windsor House Antiques and can be had for £2300.
VHS Tapes = Cultural Artifacts: Yale acquires collection of 2700 VHS tapes
From the late 1970s through much of the 1980s VHS, which stands for Video Home System, tapes were all the rage. They were the dominant form of home video entertainment and in many ways revolutionized the movie industry. It created the ability to watch movies in the home while also creating the opportunity to produce low budget films for the format. The technology is now beyond obsolete but that doesn't mean there still isn't value to be had. Yale University, the first institution to actively collect in this area, recently announced the acquisition of a collection of 2,700 VHS tapes. Mind you, this is not a collection...
Health update: Printed Books in Satisfactory Condition
artist rendering of Jeff Kinney's forthcoming bookshop Lots of good news floating around recently on the health of the printed book. Jeff Kinney, author of the wildly popular "Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series is opening a bookstore. "I feel angry that so many bookstores have gone away" Kinney told the Boston Globe. "People love books and they don’t want to see them go away. We’d like to be a part of that movement." At Digital Book World, Dana Beth Weinberg tells us Why Authors and Readers Still Want Print. Citing the important 2014 PEW study, E-Reading Rises as Device Ownership Jumps, one thing...
It’s Read Across America Day!
Talk about a good day to read. Today is the birthday of Dr. Seuss and what a better way to celebrate his enduring genius than by having a nationwide reading celebration. Read Across America is a partnership between The National Education Association (NEA) and Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Its mission: to promote the joy and importance of reading and to celebrate the birthday of beloved author Dr. Seuss. Since its founding 1997 Read Across America has become the signature program of the NEA. Though today is the big day, the NEA offers year-round programming that focuses on motivating children and teens to read. There are...
Seattle book scene takes a big hit: Paul Constant leaves The Stranger
Paul Constant, the long time book editor and content machine for The Stranger, has announced he is leaving “Seattle’s Only Newspaper.” Following on the heels of other top writers and contributors who have recently exited, his departure marks the end of the glory days for the paper. This is a huge blow for the Seattle book scene. Nobody covered the local book beat better. Nobody provided more extensive coverage, nobody showed up at more events, nobody. Constant clearly has some renaissance leanings, he has also capably covered film, food, breaking news and the 2012 presidential election, but he is first and foremost a...