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BookBook

The BookBook is hardback leather case designed for MacBook and MacBook Pro, making your laptop look like an old  book. See Twelve South for more info on the BookBook. I first saw the Book Book mentioned here. What a fun way to protect your Mac!

Bookends!

I’m loving the round-up of bookends that Design*Sponge posted yesterday.  My favorites were a sliced apple bookend available at Pottery Barn, blob bookends from CB2 and scissor bookends from Ballard Designs. Go take a look here for the rest.

“Pandora Opens Box” is piece by Su Blackwell. From Blackwell’s website, here is her artist statement:

“Paper has been used for communication since its invention; either between humans or in an attempt to communicate with the spirit world. I employ this delicate, accessible medium and use irreversible, destructive processes to reflect on the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of our life, dreams and ambitions.

It is the delicacy, the slight feeling of claustrophobia, as if these characters, the landscape have been trapped inside the book all this time and are now suddenly released. A number of the compositions have an urgency about them, the choices made for the cut-out people from the illustrations seem to lean towards people on their way somewhere, about to discover something, or perhaps escaping from something. And the landscapes speak of a bleak mystery, a rising, an awareness of the air.”

Another post on Su Blackwell’s works is here.  Or visit Blackwell’s website for even more images.

Uris Library Stacks at Cornell, by Eflon on flickr.

If you like altered books, you will love this stop-motion ad. Thanks for sharing Jason.

Smell of Books asks, “Have you been avoiding e-books because they just don’t smell right?”

Their aerosol e-book enhancer claims to be the answer. Check out the following scents:

  • New Book Smell
  • Classic Musty Smell
  • Crunchy Bacon Smell
  • Eau You Have Cats
  • Scent of Sensibility

Another beautiful library. This one is of the Benedictine Monastery of Ripoll, and was taken by Reinante el Pintor.

Santa gave me this fun “Books to Check Out” journal by Chronicle Books. There are sections for listing books to read, your favorite passages, and books you’ve borrowed or lent. Love it.

heck this out: Typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische is sharing some lovely drop caps with the blogosphere via The Daily Drop Cap project. Most days, she posts a hand-crafted decorative initial cap for you to use and enjoy. I love it! To go to her website to get the drop caps, click here. Here’s some of her latest drop caps alphabet…

coralie bickford-smith

I’m a big fan of Coralie Bickford-Smith’s cover designs (earlier this year I pointed out some of her great designs). Today I’m extra excited to show off these  cloth-bound classics that Coralie designed for for Penguin. I heard about them this morning via design*sponge, where you can also find an interview with Coralie. The series just became available in the US. Wouldn’t they make great gifts?

bovaryGreat ExpectationsSense and SensiblityThe Woman in whitePicture of Dorian GrayPride and Prejudice

 

coralie bickford-smith 2

Everyone’s talking about Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, which has been adapted and directed by Spike Jonze. Where the Wild Things Are Poster

Where The Wild Things Are poster for sale for $14.5o at 123posters.com

But, I’m actually more excited about another upcoming movie that has been adapted from a beloved children’s book–Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox! I love this book. The stop-motion film is directed by Wes Anderson and features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and Jason Schwartzman.

This first edition copy of the Fantastic Mr Fox book, with Tony Ross’ illustrations, is available at The Wee Web

Fantastic Mr Fox

Library Heaven

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” Jorge Luis Borgesw

Cambridge - Kings College Library

Cambridge, Kings College Library

Image source: Cornell Univeristy Library

Conway Library London

Witt Library London

Two more library photos from German photographer Candida Höfer, via thenonist.

Top image:  Conway Library London, by Candida Höfer

Bottom image: Witt Library London, by Candida Höfer

Who doesn’t love amazing library photos? These are all from German photographer Candida Höfer, famous for her photos of large, silent, and serene libraries, universities, and museums. Check out more at in her book Libraries , and buy some of the originals at artnet.com

canadida hofer

Candida Hofer

Rijksarchief Limburg Maastricht I Library, 2003

Rijksarchief Limburg Maastricht I Library, 2003

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, 2006Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, 2006

Handelingenkamer tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal den Haag III

Handelingenkamer tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal den Haag III

Bibliothèque Administrative de la Ville de Paris IBibliothèque Administrative de la Ville de Paris I, 2007

All from the The Book Cover Archive.

Top row, from left to right:

The World Without Us. Author: Alan Wiseman. Book cover designer: Pete Garceau.
The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson. Author: Jerome Charyn. Book cover designer: Gabrielle Wilson.
The Golden Road. Author: Caille Miller. Book cover designer: Darren Haggar.

Middle row, from left to right:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Stories. Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The Chess Machine. Author: Robert Lohr. Book cover designer: Gray318.
Jane Eyre. Author: Charlotte Bronte. Book cover designer:  Megan Wilson.

Bottom row, from left to right:

English as She is Spoke. Author: José da Fonseca.
Dangerous Frames. Author: Nicholas J. G. Winter. Book cover designer: Isaac Tobin.
Battle Royale. Author: Koushun Takami. Book cover designer: Izumi Evers.

Indianapolis Central Library, from Serge Melki on Flickr.

Indianapolis Central Library

Indianapolis Central Library2

Indianapolis Central Library3

Indianapolis Central Library4

I found these great book covers designs by Coralie Bickford-Smith at the Book Cover Archive.

The Masque of the Red DeathThe Masque of the Red Death, book cover by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Summer in AlgiersSummer in Algiers, by Albert Camus, book cover by Coralie Bickford-Smith

The Virgin of the Seven DaggersThe Virgin of the Seven Daggers, book cover by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Library of the Main Monastery in Gyantse TibetLibrary of the Main Monastery in Gyantse, Tibet, at allposters.com

I’m so happy to have discovered Book City Jackets on design*sponge this week. These new artist edition covers by Eveline Tarunadjaja, Morgan Blair and Matthew Caputo are great.

tiger

whale whisperer

king birds

I also like these ones, from another series:

fiction

favorite

Beautiful book sculptures from Jacqueline Rush Lee:

Absolute Depth

Anthologia

peacock

inside out

Unfurled, Devotion Series 2008

From top to bottom: Absolute Depth, Anthologia, Peacock, Inside Out, Unfurled: Devotion Series 2008

Thank you to the reader that sent me Jacquline’s website!

Romantic Imagination UnleashedSee a selection of Sarah Bodman’s work here.

Check out these works by Mary Lou Dauray specially commissioned for the Night+Day travel guide book covers.  Beauties. There are lots of great things about these guides (I should know, I work editorially on them), but I’ll save all that for another time.

New Orleans

New Orleans

New York

New York

TorontoToronto

ParisParis

SydneySydney

AmsterdamAmsterdam

swiss army book

Swiss Army Book by M.L. Van Nice

If Wikipedia were a book….

wikipedia book

wikipedia 2

This was created by Rob Matthew, who I discovered via CaiLun.info

I’ve been drooling over Faber’s gorgeous 80th anniversary poetry covers ever since spotting them on designsponge last week.  Illustrators and printmakers were commissioned for the covers of six new editions of twentieth-century poetry (by W.B. Yeats, W.H. Auden, Sylvia Plath, John Betjemen, T.S. Eliot, and Ted Hughes) and the woodcut and linocut results on the covers and matching endpapers are just beautiful. I recently started dabbling in linocuts and found these to be fantastic inspiration. Visit FaceOut Books for a great description of project designer Miriam Rosenbloom’s process, including how themes, artists, and unifying elements were chosen. I’d think they’d make beautiful gifts. W.H. Auden Faber 80th Anniversary EditionPoetry of WH Auden, poems selected by John Fuller, cover by Paul CatherallSylvia Plath Faber 80th Anniversary EditionPoetry of Sylvia Plath, poems selected by Ted Hughes, cover by Peter LawrenceJohn Betjeman Faber 80th Anniversary EditionPoetry of John Betjeman, poems selected by Hugo Williams, cover by Joe McLarenT.S. Eliot Faber 80th Anniversary EditionPoetry of T.S. Eliot, poems selected by T.S. Eliot, cover by Clare CurtisW.B. Yeats Faber 80th Anniversary EditionW.B. Yeats, poems selected by Seamus Heaney, cover by Heaney Nick MorleyTed Hughes Faber 80th Anniversary EditionPoetry of Ted Hughes, poems selected by Simon Armitage, cover by Mark Hearld

Bloomsday!

ulysses james joyceHappy Bloomsday!

Today, June 16th, is the day on which James Joyce’s mammoth novel Ulysses takes place.

Check out what’s going on in Ireland and around the world and a brief timeline of where and when the novel’s events take place on the James Joyce Center website.

This weekend I flew into Boston for a really lovely wedding in Western Massachusetts, so I wanted to share pics of few East Coast libraries. I love how some have a cozy, quaint feel and others are nice and grand.

Want to show me your library shots? Send pics to curledupwithabook@gmail.com and I might include them in a future library post.

Calais Free Library

Calais Free Library, Maine from Number six (bill lapp) on Flickr.

Kennedy Library, Massachusetts

Kennedy Library, Boston from Tony the Misfit on Flickr.

Library of Congress, Washington DCLibrary of Congress, Washinton DC from maveric2003 on Flickr.

I’ve been a little obsessed with library shots lately. I’d love to find more great libraries,  so if you have library shots from your hometown or places you’ve visited, email them to me at curledupwithabook@gmail.com and I’ll try to include them in a post on that library!

Today I’m loving the Seattle Public Library…so colorful!

Seattle Public Library

by TroyMason on Flickr

Green Shadowfrom Jan Tik on flickr

Reading at Seattle Library on Tetris Chairsfrom boy27wonder on Flickr

meetingrooms3from sashafatcat on flickr

Seattle Public Library2by JeffWilcox on Flickr

Seattle Public Library3from faeryboots on Flickr

Biblioteca Vasconcelos

Love this library photograph of the Vasconcelos “mega-library” in Mexico City. Taken by Eneas, found on Flickr.

Check out this nifty Bibliochaise book chair (found on Decomodo thanks to a tip..thanks Kelly!)

bibliochaise

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