Meggendorfer, Lothar. Travels of Little Lord Thumb and His Man Damian. London: H. Grevel, n.d. [1890s]. The pop-up or moveable book has come a long way since the groundbreaking work of Lothar Meggendorfer (1847-1925), the gifted Munich-based illustrator who brought visual sophistication, innovative paper engineering with complex mechanics, and humor to movable books. The Genius of Lothar Meggendorfer: A Movable Toy Book. New York: Random House , 1985. After Meggendorfer, the form declined amongst artists and faded from the general public’s consciousness. The skills were at risk of becoming lost. Much, if not most, of the credit for the revival...
She Collects Shoes, He Collects Books
Oh, the perils of posting - and discovering that the posts are actually read.On Tuesday, I wrote about a friend and book collector who was considering tapping into his retirement savings to buy highly desired rare books. I feared for his sanity - and that’s not all: I privately extended an invitation to him to sleep on my couch after his wife found out about the plan.After posting the article, This Is Your Brain On Books, and alerting him to temporary room and boarding availability when his wife kicks him to the curb, I received the following response from him:“My...
This Is Your Brain On Books
There has been a spate of recent books covering new research upon how our brains work and the human decision-making process. Madeleine Bunting, at the Guardian, nicely sums up the science and its implications. It turns out that just about all of our assumptions about free-will, autonomy, and rationality in our choices and decisions are chimerical.I was reminded of this just the other day when I received the following note from a close friend and rare book collector with a Ph.D,, and who has been certified as sane. His first note limns an extraordinary find in which serendipity smiled upon...
John Updike Collection Up For Grabs
One of the largest collections of John Updike material in private hands has hit the market.The collection, which was amassed over a 30 year period consists of:126 Signed works,267 “A” items representing almost 90% of his primary publication titles,Extensive “B” items and numerous other appearances, including a 29 year (1980-2009) run of his “New Yorker” work.Two signed letters from Updike and multiple uncorrected proofs.Highlights of the collection include: Dance of the Solids, inscribed.Earthworm, first and second state.Lovelorn Astronomer.The Angels.Bath After Sailing.Rabbit, Run, First Edition.A Rabbit Omnibus, twvo volumes signed.Chaste Planet, signed.Couples, first edition review copyDog’s Death, framed and signed.Carpentered Hen.Flying...
Public Collectors : Share Your Collection with the World
Public Collectors is the brainchild of Marc Fisher. Its goal is to allow "large collections of materials to become accessible so that knowledge, ideas and expertise can be freely shared and exchanged," and is "founded upon the concern that there are many types of cultural artifacts that public libraries, museums and other institutions and archives either do not collect or do not make freely accessible."Tremendous potential here for the book world. Creates an opportunity for collectors to add their wares to the public domain allowing the gems of their collections to be accessed by scholars, researchers and other interested parties.Now...