"That was the day that I really understood I could buy books and sell them for more money. That was the day I got hooked by books."Taylor Bowie has been selling books in Seattle for over 40 years. My first job in the book trade back in the early 1990's was working for Taylor at Bowie & Company. At the time I was working as a residential therapist at an in-patient facility for troubled kids and was beginning to show signs of social service burn. Taylor's friend happened to be the cook at this place and Taylor and I would...
The Desire to Read
Never diesImages via con valor
Herbal Remedy For Your Sick Books
Tran Van Luu's entire library was damaged by a typhoon last year. All his "books were flooded in mud and seawater and some of them [were] damaged by moths."Luu, a farmer in Vietnam, concocted a potion of native medicinal herbs to help restore the damaged books.The process:Boil the herbs then use that water to wash the books.After washing. Embalm the books with medicinal herbs and let dry in sunlight.The result:Pages are cleaned and do not stick together.Books are "sweet-smelling" and mold-free.The potion Luu developed is also non-toxic and environmentally friendly."Luu’s method to preserve ancient book by medicinal herb won the...
The Black Hole at the Library of Congress
Jefferson Building Stacks, Deck 15A recent survey at the LOC found that over 10% of the collection has been misplaced and was unable to be retrieved when requested. Where these items are nobody knows.A little over 10% might not seem like a substantial attrition rate but when you consider that the Library of Congress holds more than 130 million items then things get a little scary.That's over 13 million items! For a little perspective the entire Seattle Public Library collection (including books, audio books, CDs, DVDs, books in large type, and magazines and newspapers) is 2 million items.Part of the...
FUEL That’s Good for the Planet
FUEL is the London design firm of Damon Murray & Stephen Sorrell.In 2005 they launched FUEL publishing and their latest title brings to print a selection of amazing images from the noteworthy blog BibliOdyssey. The book is titled BibliOdyssey: Amazing Archival Images From The Internet"BibliOdyssey’s mission has been to search the dustier corners of the internet and retrieve these materials for our enjoyment. Thanks to the efforts of this singular weblog, a myriad of long-forgotten imagery has now resurfaced. Each of these fascinating images is accompanied by a commentary from PK, author and curator of BibliOdyssey, and a link to...