Monthly Archives: September 2021

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Happy Monday! The floriated initial M in the above text comes from the 16th century alchemical book Della tramutatione metallica sogni tre by Gio. Battista Nazari Bresciano. Floriated, or decorative, initials are common in antiquarian books. Typically new sections of … Continue reading →

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pushing right back

Posted on September 19, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Reading In Bed Is So Relaxing

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

  I’m not sure why videos and photos of French performance artist Thierry Mandon reading in bed have popped up this week since the event was in 2015. Still, it’s too good not to share. In his project “Inside-Outside”, the … Continue reading →

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Tower of Babel

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

The infographic below was created by Alberto Lucas Lopez  and it manages to condense the 7,102 known living languages today into a visualization, with individual colors representing each world region. Only 23 languages are spoken by at least 50 million … Continue reading →

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The best view in town

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I’m jaded when it comes to New York City tourist attractions, but I’m looking forward to the October 21st opening of the city’s newest site. Summit One Vanderbilt, which describes itself “the most immersive observatory” experience,” sits on top of … Continue reading →

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Another Tolkien Surprise

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

As a collector and bookseller, I’ve seen many versions and editions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel The Hobbit over the years. However, it wasn’t until recently that I was aware of Swedish and Finnish language editions that were illustrated by the anti-Fascist … Continue reading →

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Heaven is not like flying or swimming

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

“Seascape” by Elizabeth Bishop This celestial seascape, with white herons got up as angels, flying high as they want and as far as they want sidewise in tiers and tiers of immaculate reflections; the whole region, from the highest heron … Continue reading →

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The one where I compare myself with Leo Tolstoy

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

You may be dubious that a humble blogger, bookseller, and failed author could possibly have anything in common with the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, but hear me out. Both Tolstoy and I have roots in Czarist Russia. The legenday … Continue reading →

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Six for Sunday

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

After reading Moby-Dick for the first time last year, Peter Gorman published a fascinating book called Kaleidoscope Brain that consists of 100 visualizations of Moby-Dick. The graphics, diagrams, and maps were his way of making sense of the iconic American … Continue reading →

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Erasing Books for the Sake of Art

Posted on September 11, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I am always somewhat ambivilant when it comes to book art that actually damages or destroys books, however, I am a fan of Vermont-based poet and book artist Mary Ruefle’s decades-long project Erasures. Since 1998, she has amended more than 100 books … Continue reading →

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