Juan Gris. "Livre, pipe et verres" (Book, Pipe and Glasses). Oil on canvas, 1915.Carol Vogel covers the art world for the New York Times. A quick glance at the headlines of her stories from the past week remind us that the upper reaches of the art world are not immune to the economic meltdown that is upon us.November 2 - Tapped Out? : With the market easing, the big auction houses brace for the fall sales.Nov. 4 - Auction Season Opens With Little Enthusiasm : During an auction at Sotheby’s, the results were spotty, a relief to those who thought...
Fortified Book
Here is a copy of Thomas a Kempis's Works printed in Nuremburg in 1494 and bound around the same time.Not one for the beach but clearly built to last.The book now lives at the Folger Shakespeare Library.And for those who revel in the details - the Folger Shakespeare Library's full catalog description of the binding:"Bound in a German chained binding, c. 1495, of alum tawed pigskin over wooden boards with blind decoration and adorned with brass corner bosses, title plaque, clasps, and several links of iron chain. Both covers blind tooled with three-line fillet border. Upper cover decorated with a...
History Through Food : Eating in Toronto, 1830-1955
Local Flavour: Eating in Toronto, 1830-1955 is currently on view at The Toronto Public Library's TD Gallery . The exhibition features highlights from the library's Special Collections and looks at "Toronto’s history through cooking and dining" The exhibit includes cookbooks, advertisements and photographs."The exhibition traces 125 years of culinary history in Toronto from the publication of early cookbooks to the development of household appliances; the rise of manufactured and convenience foods; grocery stores; victory gardens and rationing during the war years; dining out and the growing sophistication of an urban palate."The exhibit is curated by librarian Sheila Carleton of the...
For the Book Spy : Secret Book Camera
Here's one for your next covert operation. The Secret Book Camera- imported from Japan and at 4.5”x 1.5” it is small enough to fit in your purse or coat pocket.$55 and available at the design site fredflare.comThanks to Books, Inq. for the lead
In Defense of The Kindle
Virginia Heffernan in the NYT Magazine:I can’t seem to put it down. It’s ideal for book reading — lucid, light — but lately it has become something more: a kind of refuge. Unlike the other devices that clatter in my shoulder bag, the Kindle isn’t a big greedy magnet for the world’s signals. It doesn’t pulse with clocks, blaze with video or squall with incoming bulletins and demands. It’s almost dead, actually. Lifeless. Just a lump in my hands or my bag, exiled from the crisscrossing of infinite cybernetworks. It’s almost like a book.