Bookish Talk #3 – Looking for Bargains on Book Markets
Is it wrong to buy a book at a low price when you know its real (high) value? How do the street book sales in Bucharest and Sofia look like? What's special about the book market in the Hague?
Galleries
Inspiring Bookbinding Projects of November
Time to discuss some of the inspiring bookbinding projects of November. As usual, the projects were chosen for the post are quite diverse, and include many things from fine and design binding to boxmaking. Some of them are quite accessible even for beginners.
Workshop Tour of Arta Cărții — Bookbinding Studio of Mihai Vârtejaru in Bucharest
Welcome to Arta Cărții! Or, at least that's how the workshop of Mihai Vârtejaru looked like almost three years ago. I planned to share these photos for quite a long time, and when I revisited Mihai's studio, everything was moved.work
Inspiring Bookbinding Projects of October
We continue our series of inspiring bookbinding projects with several new objects. All these books (not only books) are quite different, but the thing that unites them is that there is something special about every single one of them.
Doodles of NKVD Investigators
It is estimated that during the peak of the Great Purge in the USSR some 680,000 to 1,200,000 people were killed by NKVD. An average investigator in Moscow had some 30-40 political cases per month. And sometimes they were bored.
Newspapers Used in Cover Design? Sometimes It Is Quite Fitting
This album is a collection of newspaper cutouts with cartoons by the Dutch artist Jo Spier. From 1924 to 1939, he worked in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and authored a plethora of illustrations about everyday life.
Colorful Blue-Green Paste Paper from an Early 20th-Century Binding
These are paste papers from an early 20th-century edition of the German translation of Le déserteur, an opéra comique by the French composer Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny. Book from the collection of Leon Laserson.
Were You Ever Curious Who has Drawn a Doodle in Your Book?
The drawing is inspired by a doodle found in a 19th-century book about Napoleon. I found that volume on a flea market in Amsterdam. Sometimes the most interesting finds do not need any major investment!
Workshop Tour of Introligatornia Tylkowski — Bookbinding Studio of Jacek Tylkowski
Everyone loves a good old workshop tour. It's always interesting to get a sneak peek of how your colleague organized things and how they do the work. So today, we have a chance to visit Introligatornia Tylkowski.
Our Gentle Boy Onfim – Birch Bark Doodles of a Medieval Russian Kid
Part of an extensive collection of manuscripts, unearthed in the Russian city of Novgorod more than five years ago, these childish writings were produced by an old practice of writing on birch bark.
Sometimes Somewhat Naive Covers are the Best
This cover decoration is just an ink drawing on a canvas material of the cover that wasn't even properly fixed on the cardboard. Add not-really-straight lettering, voila! Metamorphoses by Publius Ovidius Naso. German edition, from 1897.
Bookish Street Switch Box in Leiden, Netherlands
Just a street switch box at a bus stop near our home in Leiden. You can find it right here: https://goo.gl/maps/ZAuiJza36ap8UXMi7
Mr. Marcel Proust and His Turquoise Marbled Papers
These two volumes were standing out among other tomes at the book market in the Hague. But what most impressed me wasn't visible while the volumes were tucked between other books. Just check the marbled paper!
Things Bookbinders Make: Jewelry Box
It is well known that bookbinders make boxes for books. And there are many types of them dedicated for different occasions. But cardboard boxes, in general, were a prominent part of a bookbinder's trade as well.
OPEN • SET Competition Prize Winners and Participants of the Touring Exhibition Announced
Winners of the second OPEN • SET competition were just announced by the American Academy of Bookbinding, as well as the participants of the moving exhibition that tour the US throughout the next year.
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