AbeBooks will announce shortly that have acquired Chrislands.Chrislands is a company that provides low-cost websites to online booksellers. For as little as $19.99 a month and a $200 set up fee they can get you enjoying all the benefits of e-commerce.Apparently, as with all of AbeBooks past acquisitions, they will continue to exist independently of the mothership.No telling how this fits into Abe's overall strategy.
Book Neglect : Russian Style
Images from an abandoned library somewhere in Russia.Are there are too many books in the world?Unless this is a Friends of the Library reject pile something has gone terribly wrong.A few more images at English RussiaThanks to The Millions for the lead
A Bicycle Library
Fort Collins, Colorado now has a bicycle lending library.The FC Bike Library is a "free service for residents, students, and visitors to Fort Collins. Members can borrow a bike for as short as one hour or for as long as a week (7days). FC Bike Library members also enjoy a variety of bicycles and bike trailers for children and cargo as well as tandems and tag-a-longs for older children."There are currently two locations and 50 bikes to choose from.Now this is an idea with legs.FC Bike Library websiteArticle at Denver's Channel 7 News
Printers Ornaments
Since the dawn of printing with moveable type printers have used various design elements to embellish the printed page.Design elements of the ornaments include typographic fleurons, dingbats, headpieces, tailpieces, scrolls, trophies, lunettes, calligraphic and heraldic devices, cupids and wreathes.BibliOdyssey has a tremendous post on this long-standing relationship of word and image and often overlooked aspect of book illustration. He has also put together a Flickr set with over 80 examples of the craft.
Thinking About Book Collecting?
Well so is Kristen Ogden. Her piece over at the Kenyon Review blog, "Antiquarian Book Collector Wanna-be", gives us a worthy peek into the process.Ogden says: "As it turns out, book collecting is pretty easy. Book Collecting As A Hobby by P.H. Muir offers a pretty good justification for buying first editions rather than spending half the cost of a first edition on a cheap paperback. If you know it’s an author or subject you’ll like, you might as well buy the good stuff because it’ll last longer, and if you ever get rid of it, you’ll get some sort...