Book Patrol

Curt Lund: Book Surgeon

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:44:00 +0000

Exhibition Title Graphics, Minneapolis Central Library

From his graphic design work to his altered book pieces Curt Lund is pretty adept at handling his scalpel. He turns some of his hand-cut works into elaborate book dioramas.

Here is a sampling from his work:

Poster for MCBA

From the series The West, (2007-08). Hand-cut and burned books, found images, found objects.

Stones from the River, (2010). Hand-carved altered book, stones.

Chemistry, (2010). Hand-cut altered book, glass.

Field Guide, (2010). Hand-cut altered book, glass.

Curt Lund on Behance

Book Wash

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:29:00 +0000

Note: There is no sound on this videos - please choose your own background music and enjoy! If you do come up with the perfect soundtrack please let us know in the comments.

Información Científica Internaciona (ICI) is first Mexican company formed by professional librarians and archivists to serve and cater to the libraries of Mexico and beyond..

These videos, from late 2008, showcase a couple of contraptions used in the cleaning and maintenance of books. The English translates to Automatic Cleaning System and it looks like they took the technology of the car wash and applied it to books. Oh, and in the video above and they added a little lift to a ladder to get the books down safely from the higher shelves.

Seems destined to be a classic instructional video.

A Wilde Mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:11:00 +0000

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future - Oscar Wilde

I remember when I was first introduced to Oscar Wilde. It was the late 1980's and I was spending a semester studying in London. My roommate was a serious fan of The Smiths, especially the lead singer Morrissey. There is this famous lyric in their song Cemetery Gates where Morrissey croons :

A dreaded sunny day
so I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
while Wilde is on mine

So naturally, my roommate, a young twenty-something from a little town in Wisconsin, had a copy of Oscar Wilde's Collected Works by his side. I remember the thick red paperback and it wasn't soon after he finished with that it was by my side.

I've been a fan ever since. Clever, witty, smart and a deep understanding of the human condition, it didn't matter what the form, poetry, fiction, drama -Wilde was tuned in. He was one of the cultural superstars of his era.

That all came crashing down when he was found guilty of indecency and sent to prison for two years.

It is this dark time where Oscar Wilde and the Murders of Reading Gaol begins.

It is the sixth and perhaps last volume in an entertaining series of mysteries emanating from the life of Wilde by Gyles Brandreth.

It starts at Wilde's sentencing and takes us through Wilde's grueling two years of confinement - most of it solitary, and for none of it could he write! Along the dreary way two prison employees are murdered and the Governor turns to Wilde to help sort it out.

Brandreth has got Wilde down pretty good, his knowledge of him and the Victorian times he lived in is evident throughout and keeps the spirit of Wilde alive for one more journey.

You can order the Hardcover, Paperback or e-book here

The other volumes in the series are:

Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders: A Mystery
Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance
Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder
Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders
Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile

The Electrolibrary

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:16:00 +0000

Talk about going from the page to the screen.

Now with the Electrolibrary your printed book IS the computer interface!

Inspired by noted Russian artist El Lissitzky the Electrolibrary is the brainchild of Waldek Węgrzy, a student at Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland.

Here is how it works:

The book can be browsed as any other regular book but when connected to the computer via USB, by turning pages, you can navigate through the website, getting additional information, quotations, movies and animations appropriate to the currently open page.
The content of the book is Waldek’s diploma thesis discussing phenomenon of a book as an interface.

and the video:

I can't wait until you can plug one into your Kindle :-)

via Creative Applications Network

h/t Ebook Friendly

Happy Birthday L. Frank Baum

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:04:00 +0000

His fairy tale changed our world -

Did you know how he came up with the name "OZ"?

They were the letters on the last draw of his filing cabinet; O - Z.

Here are 5 collectible Wizard of OZ items; a game, a map and three books including one signed by the cast of the film, currently available through our friends at Biblio.com

WONDERFUL GAME OF OZ. Salem: Parker Bros. (board copyrighted 1921). This is the original Oz board game in the cardboard box. The box has a gorgeous chromolithographed color plate on the cover showing Dorothy standing in front of the Tin Man and next to the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow is sitting on the back of the Cowardly Lion with Oz in the background. The box flaps are repaired with some discoloration otherwise sound and VG. This is a later issue with the cover illustration not repeated on the game board and with side panels reaching to the bottom of the box. Inside there are no dividers in the box, contains a wooden barrel, 5 (of 6) wooden dies, 4 wooden tokens and an incomplete instruction booklet. Inside the box a fabulous game board that measures 19" square when opened. This is a nice example of the game, hard to find complete. $ 850.00

Speedy in Oz (First Edition)

Chicago: Reilly and Lee, 1934. First Edition. First Edition, matching all points in Greene and Hanff (p. 99). Publisher's red cloth, with spine title in black. 12 color inserts throughout. A bright, clean, Very Good plus copy, with light rubbing to the front paper label. $325.00

The Wizard of Oz

Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. 1940. Hardcover. Near Fine. No date, ca. 1940, in pictorial bright green cloth, plain endpapers, 8 color plates and numerous b/w illustrations by W. W. Denslow, near fine copy with light spottiness and soil to endpapers (and inscription on e.p.) in rare dust jacket with with text on cover saying 'The only edition containing the complete original text on which the famous Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer movie is based' and rear panel of dj featuring stills of Dorothy and the Wizard and the threesome of the Cowardly Lion, the Tinman and the Scarecrow, with 'Read the Book and See the Movie' as the bottom caption. Seems to be a slightly later printing, possibly 1940-ish of the edition featuring pictorial endpapers from the movie that the publisher issued in 1939. RARE edition, the dust jacket is very good with light edgewear and an inch loss to spine bottom.
Buy for $ 250.00

Map of the Marvelous Land of Oz

One leaf folded. 13" x 9". Folded in the middle and very nearly split at the fold, else good. One side is a map of Oz, the other is the Flag of Oz, both in color. According to Hanff, Greene Bibliographia Oziana p.66, the Map of Oz first appeared in Tik-Tok of Oz (1914), and was reprinted separately in 1920 to be given away with the Oz books published that year. Scarce. $ 300.00

LITTLE WIZARD OF OZ

Chicago: Reilly & Britton, 1914 From TBCL's Children's Bookcase. Signed By The Major Cast Members. First edition First state, 8vo., yellow cloth, decorated endpapers, pages bulking at 1st state, 1" on better grade paper stock vs 1 1/4" on cheaper, thicker paper stock. Color plates throughout. A very good attractive copy, showing general light use Frank Morgan, aka John R. Neill present as well. . In a custom collector's clamshell case. Signed. 1st Edition. $ 27750.00

Jane Freilicher: Painter Among the New York Poets

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Jane Freilicher and John Ashbery, 1952. Photo: Walter Silver

On the heels of their successful 60th anniversary exhibition, “Painters and Poets,” The Tibor de Nagy Gallery features a showing of the work of Jane Freilicher.

Titled Painter Among Poets, the exhibit takes the same format and approach as it predecessor in closely examining the pivotal role of the painter among the poets, in this case The New York School.

Freilicher "was not only the poets’ closest friend and confidante, she was also their muse," she is the Jane in title of Frank O’Hara's noted series of “Jane poems.”

It will be the first exhibition to explore in depth Freilicher’s relationship to the poets and their work. It will comprise the artist’s paintings and works on paper, including portraits of the poets, many on loan and exhibited for the first time. It will also include a selection of original letters between Freilicher and the poets, as well as films, book covers, and photographs. "

Here are a sampling of works on John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara and Kenneth Koch:

Portrait of John Ashbery c. 1968. Oil on canvas, 20 ¼ x 18 inches. Private Collection

John Ashbery, c.1954. Graphite on paper, 16 ¾ x 13 7/8 inches. Private Collection

John Ashbery, c.1954. Pen and ink on paper, 13 ¾ x 10 7/8 inches. Private Collection

Frank O'Hara, 1951. Oil on linen, 65 x 23 inches. Private Collection

Untitled (Frank O’Hara), nd. Pen and ink on paper, 14 x 11 inches

Untitled (Frank O’Hara in Landscape), c.1967. Pencil on paper, 11 ¾ x 8 ¾ inches

Portrait of Kenneth Koch , nd. Pen and ink on paper, 12 x 8 ¾ inches. Private Collection

Portrait of Kenneth Koch, c.1966. oil on linen, 30 x 40 inches. Private Collection

Jane Freilicher photographed by Jill Krementz on April 13, 2013 at Tibor de Nagy Gallery. via

The exhibit runs through June 14th and there is a catalog available

Press Release: Jane Freilicher at Tibor de Nagy

The Cocktail Chart of Film & Literature

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:16:00 +0000

Courtesy of Pop Chart Labs we now have a handy visual reference of almost 50 cocktails culled from books & movies. The chart covers "everything from Philip Marlowe's Gin Gimlet to Fredo Corleone's Banana Daiquiri to the simple yet effective Buttermaker Boilermaker," to the Dude's White Russian.

And better yet you can buy a copy to hang near the bar. The printed up 500 copies, the artist signed them and they're selling them for $22.

close up via Laughing Squid

Digital Backlash: World Records for Poetry Manuscripts at Auction

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:38:00 +0000

Christina Rossetti, ‘Remember me when I am gone’, Estimate £4,000-6,000 Sold for £33,650. Highest price ever paid for a Rossetti manuscript.

If we need any further proof that the art of writing is endangered have a look at the astounding results of the recent auction of poetry manuscripts held at Bonham's.

The collection, amassed over 40 years, belonged to poet and scholar Roy Davids who admits “it would now be impossible for the present collection to be even approximately replicated.”

The auction was the third and final part of Davids collection and brought in a staggering £750,000.

Here are some prime examples with prices realized. Wow!

Oscar Wilde. ‘Heart’s Yearnings’ written when he was an undergraduate at Magdalen College Oxford in 1874. Estimate £12-15,000 Sold for £67,250. Most ever for a Wilde manuscript.

Sylvia Plath working papers for ‘Sheep in Fog’ Sold for £37,250

Philip Larkin "Love" Sold for £7500

Hand drawn endpaper from a 1920's notebook containing nearly 50 unpublished poems by Siegfried Sassoon. Sold for £37,250

h/t Fine Books & Collections

Holy Book Club Batman!$#!& - Introducing the Topless Pulp Fiction Club

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:44:00 +0000

They meet in the parks of New York City to read mid-century pulp fiction. They also don't wear any tops.

They are The Topless Pulp Fiction Club.

Nothing wrong here, it is all legal and fair. Simply a group of women who like to read and desire to enjoy the same freedom as men.

Reading about a Brooklyn street gang in Harlan Ellison's 1958 novel Web of the City

Clearly they are committed, for they meet year round!

More at the NY Daily News: Bold New York bookworms strip down for Topless Pulp Fiction Club

The Trees of Julie Dodd

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:25:00 +0000

Forest: Lungs of the World

Julie Dodd is a friend of the earth. Much of her work is devoted to raise awareness of the perilous nature of our approach to, among other things, trees.

Her Year in Trees project is "a response to our involvement in the destruction of trees, concentrating on the importance and impact they have on the planet."

One component, Forest: Lungs of the World tackles carbon dioxide. "Inspired by lung tissue, this miniature forest canopy emphasizes how trees are the lungs of the World."

Then it is on to logging and the incredible piece Illegal Logging.

Illegal Logging

and finally, Pores for Thought where Dodd considers the loss of the native trees of Britain.

Dodd was also involved in a Tree-Cycle project with her local library where she "worked with groups of children and adults, helping them to decide how to create the shapes of trees on the floor, using books."

Here is a quick video of one being constructed:

She doesn't stop there. Another of her installations is Can't see the Trees for the Forest.

Good stuff.

Maira Kalman takes on the library at PS 47

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:00:00 +0000

In 2009, Maria Kalman transformed the library of PS 47 with an alphabet installation for the Robin Hood Foundation.

In this video shot by her son Alex, Kalman talks of the project, schools as "temples of information and hope" and of the importance of reading and libraries.

New York Public Library's newest branch will be housed in a condo-hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:06:00 +0000

When it opens in 2015 it will be one of the largest branches of the New York Public Library system. It will occupy the bottom 3 floors of a "ritzy new condo-hotel" being developed by the Baccarat crystal company and its parent company, Starwood Capital Group, along with Tribeca Associates.

Among its features is a 100+ seat auditorium, a children's reading room, a technology hub, and a family seating area.

"The airy, vibrant structure" is being designed by Enrique Norten’s TEN Arquitectos.

Public Library President Tony Marx says the new library will "not only beautiful, but designed with flexibility to maximize public space, and serve all members of the community for decades to come.”

New York Daily News: New York Public Library unveils designs for new $20M branch on W. 53rd Street

New York Times: A Place to Hang Out (Read, Too)

Kirsty Mitchell's 'Wonderland'

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:55:00 +0000

'Wonderland' began in 2009 as a series of works dedicated to the memory of her mother, an English teacher "who spent over thirty years inspiring generations of children."

While grieving the loss of her mom Mitchell took to "creating an unexplained storybook without words, dedicated to her, that would echo the fragments of the fairytales she read to me constantly as a child."

Now four years later the storybook is nearing completion and it is filled with 75 stunning works.

Once Upon a Time

The Storyteller

An Ocean of Tales Until The Shores Of Home

A Twist In The Tale

A Forgotten Tale

Wow! Wow! Wow! and just think - this is only the bookish part of 'Wonderland'

Prints available here

Kirsty Mitchell's website

Really Small Cookbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:49:00 +0000

Handbook of Practical Cookery, Matilda Lees Dods (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1906). 2 1/4 x 1 7/8″

In 2007 The Grolier Club held an exhibition titled Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures. Featured among the tiny treasures where a handful of miniature books related to food and drink.

Here are a few examples from the show with some additions.

Miniature Hanukkah cookbook (with a recipe for latkes). via

Thoughts from the Cork (Salisbury, Connecticut: Lime Rock Press, 1981). The cork is 1 5/8 x 1″

The Little Cookie Book, Ruth Adomeit (Woodstock, Vermont: The Lilliputter Press, 1960). 2 3/8 x 1 5/8″

Medieval cookbook for a dollhouse. One inch scale. via

The Boston Bean Pot With Views (Roslindale, Massachusetts: John E. Maclachlan, 1929). The strip is 19″ long and 3/4″ high.

St. Louis Exposition in a Nutshell (Chicago: L. I.. Silverman, 1904). The strip measures 1 1/2″ by 1 1/8″ and was a memento of the 1904 World’s Fair.

A monograph on the exhibit was published featuring an introduction from noted bookseller and miniature book collector Anne Bromer.

Copies available here

h/t edible geography

Paper and The Pleasure of Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Sun, 05 May 2013 03:02:00 +0000

Claudia Cohen is one of the better bookbinders around. She has done work for the likes of the Houghton Library, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Public Library, Pennyroyal Press, Heavenly Monkey Press and the Whitney Museum among others. She is currently in the midst of a stunning multi-book collaboration with noted author Barbara Hodgson.

Cohen also collects paper. Really cool decorated paper from all across the globe. Cohen then uses them to create covers, endsheets and box linings for her bindings and boxes.

For the month of May, the Paper Hammer Gallery in Seattle has transformed itself in a giant paper sample book featuring examples from Cohen's collection.

The paper dates from the nineteenth century to the present and exhibits a variety of techniques, including lithography, offset and block printing, marbling, stenciling, and paste paper.

Now imagine a whole room cover in this kind of decorated paper. I asked if I could spend the night.

The Pleasure of Pattern runs thru May 31st. All images courtesy of the Paper Hammer Gallery.

If you were wondering what one of her bindings might look like here is a beauty she did for a limited edition of the Haruki Murakami short story Sleep, which original appeared in The New Yorker, and was published by Kat Ran Press in 2004:

Here are some other examples of her work currently available

Book Collecting Heaven: First Editions Second Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:35:00 +0000

Roald Dahl's Matilda Extra-illustrated by Quentin Blake with eight pen and ink vignettes on front free endpaper (entitled 'The Reader of Books'), signed and dated 'Quentin Blake 25.2.2013'

First Editions Second Thoughts is a fundraising auction for English Pen curated by noted bookseller Rick Gekoski.

Gekoski invited authors to:

"scribble second thoughts, marginalia or drawings throughout the work in whatever fashion moves you, thus singling out this particular first edition and making it even more desirable for a reader or collector to want to own."

Kazuo Ishiguro sketch in The Remains of the Day

The result was "some authors annotated on many pages of the text; others wrote sustained comments on the endpapers and blanks; some edited and corrected the text, one marked a book for a performance or a reading; a substantial number offered their own illustrations."

Many literary heavyweights have contributed including Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, Alan Bennett, William Boyd, Margaret Drabble, Nadine Gordimer, Seamus Heaney, Kazuo Ishiguro, Howard Jacobson, Ian McEwan,Hillary Mantel, J.K. Rowling, Lionel Shriver, Ralph Steadman, Tom Stoppard and Jeanette Winterson among others.

Sotheby's will auction off the 50 contemporary First Editions later this month.

Seamus Heaney annotates 13 pages of Death of a Naturalist adding over 250 words

To Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Ralph Steadman adds 14 full page and 4 double page ink drawings across the text and rear end-pages. Also additions to the printed original illustrations, and characteristic ink splatters across other pages. Two new portraits of Hunter S. Thompson.

Hillary Mantel annotates Wolf Hall

Full list of books being auctioned

h/t Reading Copy

Bound by Tuttle: The Amazing Bindings of Richard Tuttle

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:32:00 +0000

The Raven 10” x 12”

One of Richard Tuttle's latest magical bindings is aptly called "The Raven." For it Tuttle takes a copy of the 1995 Folio Society edition of Poe's classic poem and binds it in some black goat leather boards. The boards and endpapers are then "feathered" to give binding the impression of flight. The book is able to stand alone for display.

Here is a sampling of some of his other recent astounding creations:

A copy of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World bound in lamb skin over boards that feature a drug dispensary motif with the titles and commentary printed on vinyl. The endpapers were created by Richard Tuttle for this book.

George Orwell's Animal Farm bound in full pig skin over sculpted boards with original endpapers. The sculpting of the boards is about an eighth of an inch deep showing the imprint of actual pig’s feet.

A copy of the two volume Heritage Press edition of Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell in a combination of green velvet and cowhide sale leather covered boards with “Tara 1 and Tara 2” on a paper label affixed to the spine.Tuttle’s also built a spectacular case/sculpture made of various woods that serve as a beautiful display piece for the books. The book measures 11.5” x 8”

A large print edition of The Catcher in The Rye bound in pig leather covered boards with elaborate tooling to the front board and spine expressing views from the book The front endpapers are an elaborate combination of a detective magazine similar to one Holden took on the train with him and other period memorabilia he might not want his mother to see. The final touch is a padlock. 2012. 11” x 9”

For The Henry Miller Trilogy Tuttle designed a custom valise/suitcase. He also created all the travel stickers that adorn the suitcase. The inside lid of the case includes the history of the books publication, censorship and eventual distribution.

All of the bindings are unique and available at Franklin Books

via

Spend Midsummer Online with The Royal Shakespeare Company

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Wed, 01 May 2013 23:02:00 +0000

Oberon wakes Titania as Bottom sleeps in her bower and Lysander, Demetrius, Helena and Hermia sleep on their trapezes in Peter Brook’s 1970 Royal Shakespeare Co. production of Midsummer Night's Dream at Stratford-on-Avon. Photo: Joe Cocks

This summer marks the 40th production of Midsummer Night's Dream by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).
To celebrate RSC has announced "a ground breaking digital theatre project –Midsummer Night’s Dreaming – in partnership with Google Creative Lab."

Here is what's going on:

Across Midsummer weekend (21 – 23 June) the play will be performed by an acting company in real time... culminating in a wedding, which you can attend.
Meanwhile, the story will be shared through photos, snippets and news stories online from the perspectives of some lesser known characters, as if it was happening in real life. After the event, we will release an audio recording of A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by the acting company, which will be annotated with content created by commissioned artists and audiences over the weekend and posted on Google+.

To stay plugged in and "be the first to hear updates as the story happens" you'll need to join the Midsummer Night’s Dreaming Google+ community

You are also encouraged to respond to the play. "You could invent a whole new character and play along for three whole days, or you could just write a newspaper headline. Or make a song, draw a comic, or bake cupcakes, or do a dance, or knit one of the characters a scarf. It is a world of opportunity."

And if that's not enough to pique your interest then this trailer featuring Billy Shakespeare and his pet pig Francis giving you their take on the plot just might.

Finally, here is a recent piece in The Guardian by Peter Brook as he looks back at his seminal 1970 RSC production.

A Visit to "The Mouse Library"

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:15:00 +0000

"Do Not Disturb Me!" 40x20cm [15.75" x 7.87"]

Welcome to Souris de Bibliotheque (The Mouse Library), an amazing series of painted clay sculptures by French artist Véronique Didierlaurent.

There is so much strength packed in these small creations; the dreamy serenity these women exude is contagious!

Enjoy the selection.

"the climber books" 55x25cm

Provisions for the road?" 35x20 cm

"The long literary chair" 45x20 cm

"the bookmark" 35x25 cm

"Playing perched" 40x20 cm

"Lili-Larousse" 35x20 cm

Sumptuous!

Artist's website

Day Jobs of the Poets

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:56:00 +0000

The latest bookish strip from Grant Snider at Incidental Comics. Who adds:

This comic is factual, but it requires a couple clarifications: Wallace Stevens was an executive at an insurance company, not your average insurance salesman. And there's no evidence that Emily Dickinson liked cats, but her sister Lavinia was cat-obsessed. So Emily must have been forced to cat-sit occasionally.

Previously on Book Patrol:
Performance-Enhancing Drugs for Writers and more from Grant Snider

A two-story Shhh!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:29:00 +0000

To create something to adorn the lobby of the then new library, the city of Walnut Creek, California enlisted the services of artist Christian Moeller.

Moeller went ahead and took what is probably the most stereotypical librarian behavior and he blew it up!

Like two-stories high!

“Shhh…Portrait in 12 Volumes of Gray” stands 26 feet tall and eight feet wide and contains 3,960 books. The covers are 12 shades of gray and arranged on a gigantic steel bookshelf,. The piece displays image of a woman’s face as she makes a “shhh” signal.

Each spine represents one pixel in the entire image and all of the pages in all of the books are blank. A limited number of library patrons can; however, purchase an exact same-shade replica of a specific volume in the sculpture and write in it. They then can then bring it back and put it on the shelf, replacing the corresponding blank book in the sculpture. By doing so the sculpture becomes a container of the notes and memories of the community.

Production of the books alone for the piece took two years to complete. It was unveiled in 2010.

UCLA Today covered the unveiling: Turning a new page on book art.

Ros Rixon's Love Lines and More

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:56:00 +0000

Love Lines IV - How do I Love thee?

What do you get when you mix Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43, How do I love thee?, with artist Ros Rixon?

You get Love Lines - a series of works that literally captures the poem in all its glory.

Rixon delicately reprints the text and encloses the lines in various bottles and glass cubes.

Love Lines V - How do I Love thee? Edition of 5. Image courtesy of Heartbreak Gallery

About becoming a book artist Rixon says she:

never set out to be a book artist it just happened. I began working with text and books at University while trying to get to grips with ‘the meaning of art’. The more I read the more I questioned my own thoughts and ideas until I stopped creating. The books began to take over my workspace and the words began to take over my walls. In the midst of research I suddenly found the information around me was evolving into the art. There were times when I wished I could just create something purely for creativity alone, but the words had taken hold

Love Lines II. Edition of 5

Other works:

The Story of Sculpture

Reunion

"Violence in the Art,"

and much more at her website

h/t The Forest and the trees

Raymond Carver, Subterranean Homesick Blues and World Book Night

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:55:00 +0000

Each year noted UK book artist Sara Bodman and fellow book artists collaborate "on a tribute event for World Book Night."

This year the starting point for the tribute was A Small, Good Thing a story from Raymond Carver's seminal 1983 collection of short stories Cathedral. The book was also the basis for Robert Altman's 1993 film Short Cuts.

An open call was placed inviting people to partake in a small good thing, write it down and send it in.

From there it went like this:

"On World Book Night we made a low-fi, video in a very homemade style of the original film clip for Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues, using those small, good things. The music was written and played by Simon Butler and Simon Smith."

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (Official Music Video)

Sticky fingers force Polish mobile library to go digital

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:56:00 +0000

The initial idea was simple:

Acknowledging that Poland is not one of the "European nations which read a great deal" the mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz took part in a plan to outfit a fleet of 35 brand-new trams with books from local libraries in an effort to promote reading.

Special nets were placed on the back of the seats and librarians worked hard in selecting the 5000 books that would stock these new mobile libraries. The program launched in January of this year.

By April all 5,000 books had been stolen!

So, what next?

A digital approach.

Now all trams are replete with virtual shelves where traveler's scan codes from the "book-spines" to read for free on their mobile device.

A Virtual Shelf

Perhaps the true solution lies somewhere in the middle. Let's not make this an all or nothing proposition.

What if the books were free and the rider's could take them with them? Still a great way to promote reading and the physical book without straining library budgets through theft. Get the publisher's involved, keep the librarians as curators and offer both physical and digital choice.

Gdansk turns trams into mobile libraries
Gdansk installs thief-proof e-books on trams

In the Stacks: First Visit to The New Digital Library of America

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Lieberman) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:58:00 +0000

Books are weapons in the war of ideas. Poster 20 x 27.9 , 1942. Published by the United States Government Printing Office.

In the this installment of In the Stacks we visit the newly launched and much anticipated Digital Public Library of America (DPLA).

The opening of DPLA represents a watershed moment in the history of American libraries and will undoubtedly become a seminal resource for our nation in the years ahead.

It is safe to say this will be the first of many trips for Book Patrol through the "stacks" of DPLA.

We begin with a couple of posters produced by the Unites States Government to combat the infamous Nazi book burning of 1933, then we feature an exterior and three interior shots of bookshops in the late 19th century, two in Minnesota and one in Idaho, and finally a picture of a book barn in Bozeman, MT from the late 1960's.

Enjoy!

Poster, color, 28 x 20 in., published by the United States Government Printing Office

Pinney Bookstore. Boise City, Iowa. 1890

Lundberg & Stone Booksellers. Duluth, Minnesota. 1896

Ireland Book Store. Rochester, Minnesota.1896

Country Bookself and Paperback Barn Bozeman, MT 1968

Previously on In The Stacks:
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Playing Cards at the Beinecke
National Library of Ireland
The Astor Free Library at the NYPL
Women's Travel Diaries at Duke University
Charles Darwin's Library
The National Archives

Columbia University, From Homer to Howl

Private Libraries at the Museum of the City of New York
Los Angeles Public Library
Boston Public Library