Pride and Predjudice: An infant primer January 29, 2013

It took 200 years to get it to 12 words.Welcome to Cozy Classics a new series from Simply Read Books that they hope “will invigorate the genre of the infant primer”.The concept: Transform the classics into word primers. Every book contains 12 child-friendly words, each accompanied by a needle-felted illustration. Each word is carefully selected to relate to a child’s world and works even without any reference to the original. “If you, as a parent,…

Bad Dog! A 17th Century Canine Book Review December 11, 2012

The illustration above appears in the 1697 book, Critique historique, politique, morale, economique et comique sur les lotteries by Gregorio Leti. Leti was a vocal critic of the Catholic Church and of the Pope. His works earned him a spot on the Church’s infamous list of prohibited books, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. As a close up of the image reveals the dogs didn’t take to kindly to the stream of books invading their space. And here is the…

Fernando Vicente illustrates The Communist Manifesto October 11, 2012

Loving these illustrations by Spanish painter and illustrator Fernando Vicente for a new edition of “The Communist Manifesto by” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published by Nordica Libros. And here is the ultra-cool trailer: More images here

The earliest known printed book with illustrations by a woman October 8, 2012

Her name was Geronima Parasole and she lived in Rome in the late 16th century. She signed her work with her initials – ‘G.A.P’. Her woodcuts for a Italian translation of a book on Roman coins was published in 1592, making it very likely to be the first illustrations by a woman to appear in a book. Research shows that in the sixteenth century only 35 women are known to have been artists with Geronima…

A Natural Selection July 17, 2012

This complete set of 108 British natural history books sold recently at Bonhams for over $8200. The New Naturalist, containing topics relevant to the British Isles, is arguably one of the most influential natural history series ever published and has been in continual publication by Collins since 1945. It was first published just after WWII ended and signaled a renewal for the beleaguered Brits at that time. In the editors’ words, it was intended to “recapture the inquiring spirit of the old naturalists” and to…