All animals are equal…

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

I recently ran across the wonderful 50th anniversary edition of the first U.S. publication of George Orwell’s Animal House. Issued in 1995, Animal House: A Fairy Story features 100 mindblowing illustrations by the inimitable Ralph Steadman.

Along with the addition of the brilliant illustrations, the commemorative edition included Orwell’s unpublished preface to the original edition titled “The Freedom of the Press.”

Sadly, the 50th anniversary edition from Harcourt Brace and Co. is no longer in print. However, there are quite a few reasonably priced used copies available from secondhand booksellers.

 

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For Readers

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

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Alternative Literary Mapping

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Map loving bibliophiles at In The Book designed this clever alternative London Tube map, replacing actual station names with titles from novels set nearby. Covering just zones one and two, the map features book titles from authors including Zadie Smith, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, Graham Greene and many more favorites.

Tom Matthews  from In The Book said: “The map aims to give a comprehensive geographical guide to London’s diverse literary history.

“We’re all familiar with Charles Dickens, Martin Amis and Zadie Smith, but it’s also titles such as Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows that help colour areas of the city in their own unique way.

“It was created to showcase London’s rich literary history for both locals and tourists. As bookworms ourselves we feel that literature has a unique was of painting places like few other things can.

“For instance, we found it fascinating how certain genres and authors “owned” certain parts of the map: Dickens’ London dominates the Central Line, while Gothic Victorian works Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all haunt the Piccadilly Line.

via: In The Book

 

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Some Books

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Some books leave us free and some books make us free.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Cringeworthy but on the nose

Posted on May 25, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

If you stop by this humble blog on a regular basis, you are probably aware that I love good faux book cover art. I recently ran across this selection and thought that I’d share some. While they’re all amusing, they also have that cringey feel of verisimilitude.

 

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A view of nature in ascending regions

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

These illustrations are from Levi Walter Yaggy’s Geograpahical Portfolio – Comprising Physical, Political, Geological, and Astronomical Geography. Published by Western Publishing House of Chicago in 1887, the book features large educational geographical charts.

Using chromolithography, Yaggy created stunning colors and contrasts in his images of the world, its regions, and peoples. Yaggy intended his charts to be used in classrooms by students, and issued a teacher’s handbook to assist with instruction.

H/t to the David Rumsey Map Center at the Stamford University Library

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Banksy pranks Venice

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

So it seems that that lovable street art scamp known as Banksy has brought his personal commentary on overtourism, commercialism, and the art world to Venice on the heels of the pretentious Biennale.

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Copenhagen : Books and Coffee

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Although I have my quibbles with the baffling commitment to light roasts by Scandinavian 3rd wave coffeeshops and roasters, I do appreciate that there are coffee drinking opportunities everywhere—even in libraries. One of the coolest place to enjoy a good pour-over is at the Democratic Coffee Bar, which is actually situated inside of the city’s main library branch in the heart of town on Krystalgade.

When the Hovedbibliotek was renovated in 2011, Democratic Coffee moved into a first floor spot. Since there are no barriers in the shop, you can actually bring your coffee into the library. But there’s always a selection of free reading materials inside the coffee bar from the library collection.

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A Little Fjord Music

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Part of Iceland’s problem with overtourism is that too few tourists take the time to visit the beautiful East of the country. I always try to see the “real” Iceland by driving to some of the little waterfront towns like the village of Fáskrúðsfjörður in the East Fjords. With only 662 residents, the peaceful settlement recently gathered the entire population by the harbor  to watch Italian pianist and composer Costantino Carrara, 22, as his music video, featuring an arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” was being recorded.  Carrara is among a new generation of musicians, who strive to reach an audience through social media, rather than by selling CDs or giving concerts. Enjoy the show and the scenery.

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It’s Always Winter Somewhere

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

 HBO’s Game of Thrones reached its dramatic conclusion yesterday, but the Folio Society is encouraging fans to go back to the original source by releasing collector editions of George R.R. Martin’s original Song of Ice and Fire novels, beginning with A Game of Thrones.Last week, the publisher revealed the full cover art for the planned re-release of Martin’s first book in the fantasy epic, which will come July 16 in two volumes for $195.

The cover of one of the volumes features a raven perched atop the corpse of a mother direwolf, the one fatally gored by a stag in Winterfell but whose pups would grow up to become the direwolves of the Stark family. The other cover shows a lion, the sigil of House Lannister, attacking a stag, the sigil of House Baratheon.

These new covers — accompanied by eight illustrated chapter openers, nine illustrated house sigils, and nine family trees — were illustrated by artist Jonathan Burton, a regular collaborator with Folio who previously designed special edition covers for Cover Her Face, by P. D. James; Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell; and the entire Hitchhikers series.

Fantasy author Joe Abercrombie also wrote an introduction for this release of A Game of Thrones. A Game of Thrones also comes with a fold-out map of “the Known World” that arrives as a separately bound volume, and a gold-blocked slipcase with a secret illustration of a White Walker inside.

 

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