Tag Archives: Venice

Venice, Violin, and Vivaldi

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

On Saturday tourists were treated to the spectacle of an enormous violin floating down the canals of Venice carrying a live string quartet. The cruising instrument, “Noah’s Violin,” was created by artist Livio De Marchi, as a way of “bringing a message … Continue reading →

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Strolling Cities

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Strolling Cities is a trippy project by Italian artist, designer and researcher, Mauro Martino,  that uses AI to generate visual poetry. The AI model trained with millions of photos of nine Italian cities (Milan, Como, Bergamo, Venice, Genoa, Rome, Catania, … Continue reading →

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the days slip by

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ezra Pound, Venice  1971 And the days are not full enough And the nights are not full enough And life slips by like a field mouse Not shaking the grass. Ezra Pound, “And The days Are Not Full … Continue reading →

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We Were Warned

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Last May, the street artist(s) known as Banksy unveiled a dramatic mural near Campo Santa Margherita  in Venice. It featured a child refugee clad in a lifevest and holding a neon pink flare. Over the course of Autumn flooding, during … Continue reading →

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Whence Italics

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

These two books were printed at the historic Aldine Press in Venice. Founded by Aldus Manutius in 1495, it was among the most prominent and successful printing houses of the time. These works date from the early 1500s and feature … Continue reading →

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Weekday Links to Love

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

I was recently asked: “Why do you call softcover books paperbacks ?” So, I had to get an answer and here it is. Not to burst your bubble, but here are 5 reasons you shouldn’t work in a bookstore. Although I stopped visiting … Continue reading →

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Look for the Book Label

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Over the many years that I have been collecting and selling antiquarian and secondhand books, I have been intrigued by the small booksellers’ labels that were once a fixture in the book trade. These are typically diminutive, usually small rectangles … Continue reading →

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Misteriosi d’Italia

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

I recently stumbled upon a marvelous new book of stories and illustrations exploring magical places, spooky folklore, mysterious legends, and unexplained phenomena in Italy. The Atlas of Mysterious Places of Italy was a joint project of illustrator Francesco Bongiorni and writer Massimo … Continue reading →

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Isn’t It Romantic

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Happy Valentine’s Day ! This beautiful edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s romantic poems Sonnets from the Portuguese was published in Venice in 1906. The lovely miniature book was handset and bound in vellum. H/t to the University of Iowa Special Collections Library.

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Support Venice

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn has created an enormous pair of hands emerging from the Grand Canal in Venice. The surreal installation, titled “Support”, was built to raise awareness about climate change and rising waters that threat Venice and cities worldwide. … Continue reading →

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