New exhibit at the Edward Gorey House Museum. "Edward Gorey's Creatures, Real and Imagined""The exhibit shows many of Gorey's original pen and ink, watercolor, and preliminary pencil illustrations for books of his own creation, and for other noted authors. Special books such as Gorey's only pop-up book, The Dwindling Party and the three-dimensional accordion book The Tunnel Calamity are highlighted." I wish there was a more comprehensive online component for the exhibit.Review in The Barnstable Patriot, "Creature Feature"***"Reading has long been up there with card playing, movie watching and tobacco chewing as a way for baseball players to pass the...
A Fewer New (er) Books We Like and a story of what can happen at a bookshop
Tomorrow is "Buy Indie Day", the latest foray in the seemingly never-ending quest to help the independent bookseller. Why should we care? It's all about the intangibles. We can't compete on price but the value of what else is offered cannot be duplicated by the chain or online experience. Here's a little example:In 2007, Wessel & Lieberman had an exhibit of the work of Briony Morrow-Cribbs. Amy Stewart was in town with her husband, then editor of Fine Books & Collections magazine, Scott Brown for the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair. While in town they stopped by the shop. The visit...
A Map of the Land of Books . Alphons Woelfle’s "Bücherland"
click to enlargeHere is the what the land of books looks like to German illustrator Alphonse Woelfle.Done in 1939, Woelfle's book world consists of distinct biblio-territories with names like:Leserrepublik - Reader’s Republic,Vereinigte Buchhandelsstaaten - United States of Booksellers,Recensentia - a realm for Reviewers,Makulaturia - Waste Paper Land, andPoesia - Poetry.Found via the Strange Maps blog where one of the comments provides the following translation of the inset:1. Büchermarkt - Bookmarket2. Boulevard der Massenauflagen - boulevard of mass circulation3. Neues Bücherviertel - quarter of new books4. Villenviertel der Verleger - exclusive residential area of publishers5. Vertragshaus mit Irrgarten und Vorschuß -...
Anselm Kiefer’s "Hortus Philosophorum"
Verunglückte Hoffnung, 2008. Lead and pottery. 51 1/4 x 67 x 78 3/4 inchesThe Rome branch of the Gagosian Gallery is currently featuring an exhibit of new work by German artist and Book Patrol favorite Anselm Keifer. The exhibit is titled "Hortus Philosophorum"The exhibition includes a group of eight sculptures that "evoke some of the central themes in his work deriving from his assiduous study of poetry, mythology, and cultural history." Each of the sculptures incorporate Kiefer's signature lead books.Danae, 2008. Lead, gold granules and aluminum sunflowers. 53 1/4 x 63 x 149 1/2 inches"By constructing elaborate scenographies that cross...
The Wasilla Public Library Before Sarah Palin
Remember the storm surrounding Sarah Palin and her book banning crusade at the Wasilla Public Library. It turned out to be one of the bigger issues of her campaign.20 years before Palin thrust the Wasilla Public Library into the national spotlight Edith Olson wrote a book The Library and I. A History of the first twenty-five years of the Wasilla Public Library. Olson was the librarian at the Wasilla Public Library from 1938-1958. When she arrived their was no library building and the library consisted of two bookcases in the hall of the school house. The library held 350 books,...