Eiffel blueprints
The blueprints for the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Apparently, they are reproductions from a book titled The 300 Meter Tower, written by Eiffel himself, and published by Lemercier in 1900. I wasn’t able to find an electronic copy of the book (it’s likely out of copyright), but I did come across another book about the tower published in 1889.
Alice as mathematical satire
The absurdity in Alice in Wonderland is often attributed to drugs or a dark trip into the subconscious. For her PhD work, Melanie Bayley examined some of the most popular scenes from a mathematical perspective, which is summed up in Alice’s adventures in algebra. Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Caroll) was a rather conservative mathematician, who disagreed with many of the new mathematical theories emerging during the 19th century.
The madness of Wonderland, I believe, reflects Dodgson’s views on the dangers of this new symbolic algebra. Alice has moved from a rational world to a land where even numbers behave erratically.
I don’t imagine that Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland will delve too deeply into mathematical theory.
Cormac McCarthy on The Road
A discussion with Cormac McCarthy and John Hillcoat. There’s some information about the film adaptation of The Road, his next novel, and insight into McCarthy’s process.
I’m not interested in writing short stories. Anything that doesn’t take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing.
McCarthy also decided to part with his typewriter, it sold at auction for more than a quarter million dollars. He’s not going digital though, a friend bought him the same Olivetti model to replace the old one.
Bookstore stupidity
Stupid Quotes from BookMine. You can only wonder what goes on in the heads of some people.
Barthleme’s syllabus
Donald Barthleme’s list of must-read literature. Can’t say I’ve read much on the list, but it seems like a good starting point on the way to becoming better read. Phil Gyford posted a full-text list of the books, which is probably a bit easy to print out and drag along with you.
Pictorial Webster’s
Pictorial Webster’s features over four hundred original woodcut and copper engravings from 19th century editions of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The fine press edition features a letterpress interior, leather binding and a hand-tooled cover. A trade edition of the book is now available from Chronicle Books.
This video offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of the book. You get a good sense of what’s involved with production and the amount of effort that goes into it.
Books in a digital world
Want to know why books will never go away? Read this blurb from the description of Code(x)+1.
The book is a durable artifact in which author, reader, and the artisans who make and preserve them enter into ordered and potentially pleasurable relationships. A printed book is enhanced by the materials and processes with which it is made. The book in the era of digital reproduction is an object of pleasure as well as a container of information. To consult information relieved of the pleasures of turning a page, smelling ink, or admiring the binding, we can rely on the internet. The book as ark of deposit requires neither electricity nor fossil fuel to either read or maintain. The book as an object dwells at the intersections of writing and art, philosophy and poetics, science and scholarship. The structure of a book is a sculpture for reading. The meaning is transmitted and the book remains.
The production run is limited to 500, anyone want to buy me a copy?
Leaden Army
Goudy Fonts is a tribute site, dedicated to the work Frederic and Bertha Goudy and their impact on American typography. I am type is one of Goudy’s more famous essays on the subject. This quote is a bit dated, but I like it.
I am the leaden army that conquers the world. I am type.
That essay and others can be found in Texts on Type.
Book design books
Jan Tschichold’s The Form of the Book still soundly trounces the modern competition. His work focuses on what not to do, rather than showing you a bunch of examples of what you can do.
Indie bookstore closures
Pages is shutting down in Toronto. It’s quite a shame, it was definitely one of my favourite bookstores, and always one of my stops along Queen St. I also discovered that Shipley Books on Charing Cross Road, in London, was forced to shutdown this year. Hopefully, both are able to find affordable spaces to continue operation, or we’ll just continue the march towards big box store hell.
Bad books
Awful Library Books brings us the best of the worst books held in public libraries.
Printing Wikipedia
Rob Matthews printed a five thousand page book featuring all of Wikidedia’s featured articles. It shows the impracticality of physical encyclopedias, despite the fact that they were generally produced in volumes.
Cover artist
Thomas Allen cuts up pulp books and arranges them in a new context to create stunning photographs. I recently came across this post featuring samples of his work, and his desktop wallpaper for Kitsune Noir. Allen’s work is also featured at Foley Gallery, Carroll and Sons and Joseph Bellows Gallery.
Cornell goes public domain
Cornell has opened up their archive of public domain works, removing restrictions on reproduction and use of the works. On top of that, they have released more than seventy thousand works to the internet archive.
Rare books online
The Rare Book Room allows you to read old manuscripts in their original form, including works by Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin and Galileo.
