How is Willie doing these days? It has been over 400 years since the bard roamed Stratford. Much has changed since then- film and television have pushed the theater into the backdrop of today's culture and much of the language of his day has been stripped of its glamor.Well, the most money paid at auction for a book in 2006 was for a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, 1623. It went for $5.2 million at Sotheby's. It was a healthy $700,000 more than the next highest grossing book at auction.From Ron Rosenbaum's book "The Shakespeare Wars:...
The Business of Bookshelves
Anyone who has an appreciation for the books they own must spend some time thinking about bookshelves. Should I build them or buy them, where should I put them and which books should I put where are all questions one asks when trying to house their books.BusinessWeek.com has a story "Beyond the Bookshelf"that talks about some of the do's and dont's when thinking about shelves for your books as well as a slideshow of some of the different types of bookshelves on the market.When thinking about placement for your bookshelves just remember the Three D's - dark, dry and dust...
Book Watch
Historically, the relationship between our eyes and books was a simple one. Our eyes scanned printed pages producing symbols for our brain to work with. We read.Somewhere along the line book design added another visual component to the mix through cover art and dust jacket design. This change was so profound that today most people who are browsing in a bookstore for something to read rate the cover art as the most important factor when purchasing a book.Now we are at the next visual intersection.Videos and books.Lets start with this one from YouTube. A video by lestyoubejudged showing off books...
Books and Boycotts
Here is one for spreading the love this holiday season.Some groups are calling for a boycott of the Chapters and Indigo bookstores in Canada. Seems like the majority owners support a charity for soldiers in the Israeli Army called Heseg the Foundation for Lone SoldiersIsn't a portion of the proceeds from the current government bestseller by the Iraq Study Group going to a charity to help our soldiers families? So if I am against the war and all its collateral damage should I not buy the report?and while we are taking some leaps- since the conservative Rupert Murdoch owns the...
Books: Espresso Style or Another Nail in the Coffin of the New Bookstore
And finally I'm going to thank all the booksellers of the world. Remember, Brokeback Mountain was a book before it was a movie. From the humblest paperback exchange to the masters of the great bookshops of the world, all are contributors to the survival of the culture of the book. A wonderful culture, which we mustn't lose. Thank you." --Larry McMurtry from his Oscar acceptance speech March 5, 2006The number of independent new bookstores in the U.S has gone from around 4,700 in 1993 to about 2,500 today. In 13 years close to 50% of shops that sell new books...