Author Archives: Brian D. Butler

Awful Books

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

One of my guilty pleasures is checking in periodically with this hilarious website dedicated to really terrible books. The Awful Library Books blog is the passion project of two professional librarians from the State of Michigan. Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner collect … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Libraries, USA, Writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Highest and the Shortest

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Unless you are a skier or a public transit geek, it’s not likely that you have ever heard of, or visited, the Austrian village of Serfaus. The lovely little town with a population of around 1,200 is renowned for its … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Europe, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s still Constantinople to me

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

As is often the case in the antiquarian book trade, we can search for a title for weeks with no avail and then years later stumble across a copy when we are not even looking. Many years ago I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Maps, Middle East, Travel Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

New House for the Bauhaus

Posted on March 10, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

This year marks the centennial of the founding of the Bauhaus movement. This world renowned school of art and design has had a dramatic impact on architecture and design around the world.  On April 6, the Klassik Stiftung Weimar will … Continue reading →

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Citizenship in the land of knowledge

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Brian D. Butler
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TGIF

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Thank god it’s Frida.

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Coast to Coast by Train and Plane

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

These days it takes about 5 hours to travel coast to coast across North America, but in 1929 the fastest route took at least 48 hours. This very cool map was given to passengers who traveled on Transcontinental Air Transport … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Travel, History, Maps, Public Transport, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Lunar Library

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Last week, a SpaceX rocket launched a lunar landing module from its base in Florida. That would be interesting in its self, but the mission is an Israeli crowdfunded project to land a module the size of a home washing … Continue reading →

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Fool The Eye

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

I am always on the lookout for interesting book art. So, I was excited to stumble upon the amazing trompe l’oeil cover art work from Steve Wolfe. Using paper, linen, wood, paint, and ink Wolfe created fabulous copies of famous books that … Continue reading →

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The Wordless Novel

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Created by artist Lynd Ward, God’s Man is the first American wordless novel. Published in 1929 by Jonathon Cape and Harrison Smith in New York, the book is an example of the wordless novel, a narrative genre made of only … Continue reading →

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