Ferdinand I Font Friday
A fascinating article about calligraphy for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, in the waning days of hand-lettered books, from Noor Al-Samarrai at Atlas Obscura. See a Dazzling, Exuberant Renaissance Calligraphy Guide A masterclass in script, illuminated with an array of curiosities.
Mysterious paper sculptures carved from books
From thisiscentralstation.com: Those of you who don’t keep up with Edinburgh’s literary world through Twitter may have missed the recent spate of mysterious paper sculptures appearing around the city. [Nicola’s note: This post is from 2011 but the story is still wonderful.] One day in March, staff at the Scottish Poetry Library came across a […]
Secret Fore-Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa
From thisiscolossal.com: Autumn by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa A few days ago Colleen Theisen, who helps with outreach and instruction at the Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa, shared an amazing gif she made that demonstrates something called fore-edge painting on the […]
LousyBookCovers.com: Just because you CAN design your own book cover doesn’t mean you SHOULD
Please, please hire me if you’re self-publishing. Don’t design it yourself. Please. Mating With The Raptor A Different Kind of Fairy Tale Culture Shock The Legend of Oescienne: The Beginning Hard [Full site with many, many more]
Penguin Books has released new covers of five of George Orwell’s works
My personal opinion about the cover of Nineteen Eighty-Four: Beautiful conceptual design with its “redacted” look, but the type isn’t visible except when held in your hand, so the effect is completely lost on a bookstore shelf or online. By Mark Sinclair from CreativeReview: Brand new covers for five of George Orwell’s works feature in […]
A miniature book collector and his little library
By Claire Kelley from Melville House: A visitor to the Headley-Whitney Museum examines a display of Neale Albert’s complete works of Shakespeare as part of a Miniature Book Society exhibit. Neale Albert, a 75-year-old man who has 4,000 miniature books, was profiled—along with his tiny collection—in the New York Times on Monday. His titles include […]
A Teenage Charlotte Bronte’s Tiny Little Romance
From Slate.com. Charlotte Brontë and her siblings started writing early and created many works of fiction, including this tiny book: Before they wrote world-famous novels, the four Brontë children—in descending order of age: Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne—constructed elaborate fantasy worlds. The family was reclusive, and the children were educated at home; they spent most […]