Bestselling author Bill Bryson, who is a make-believe Brit like Madonna, says he believes the UK has become increasingly self-absorbed and greedy. I’m not going to argue with him but his vision of Britain in the 1970s seems radically different to mine. The strikes, the power cuts, the confused politics, the dreadful fashion, some really poor glam rock, failure to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, parkas, Boney M, the Worzels, British Leyland cars etc. I think Bryson looks back on the 1970s with rose-tinted specs because it was the era of his youth. Perhaps he missed the IRA bombings?
Archive for May, 2010
Beauty of inscriptions
Monday, May 31st, 2010Some bloke in Saturday’s NY Times ponders the inscriptions found in books. No e-reader for this man.
Collectible vintage posters
Monday, May 31st, 2010
A little known secret about AbeBooks is that thousands of collectible vintage posters can be found for sale on the website. Pop culture, the history of art, politics (including a lot of propaganda), war and commerce – we have many posters on offer.
Check our collectible vintage posters feature. My favourite is definitely Jimi Hendrix at the Fillmore East and it’s a bargain at $7,500 considering the Chairman Mao one is $25,000.
The librarian with 45,000 books of scripture
Thursday, May 27th, 2010Meet the librarian who takes care of “45,000 books of scripture printed in more than 2,000 languages during six centuries.” The profile comes from the Catholic News Services – an organisation that’s probably glad to have the opportunity to write about rare books right now.
Tolkien in Russian
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Englishrussia.com has a great spread of text and illustrations from a Russian version of Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
I love the cover especially, and I like how beatific (and possibly marijuana-addled) Gandalf looks. Gollum is a very different interpretation than versions I’ve seen, but nevertheless looks appropriately pathetic and snivelly. The illustration of Smaug the dragon sleeping is also particularly great. This would be an amazing addition to the collection of any die-hard Tolkien fan or lover of Russian art or illustration.
50 iconic book covers
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
I enjoyed putting this list of 50 iconic book covers together.
I love the Out of Africa cover (pictured at left), but, frankly, they are all wonderful.
Southern Museum Seeks Cookbooks
Thursday, May 27th, 2010The Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB) is working on rebuilding its collection which lost over 900 volumes during Hurricane Katrina. They’re looking for hardcover, softcover, spiral-bound cookbooks of any taste or region are needed and will become a fully accessible collection as part of the New Orleans Public Library. They are also collecting Southern menus. So if you have either and wish to donate you can send them directly to Chris Smith at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, One Poydras Street, #169, New Orleans, LA 70130-1657.
via Fine Books
Bookshelves of the Rich and Famous
Thursday, May 27th, 2010Our Bookshelves of the Rich and Famous feature offers an insight into some of the really expensive books that can be found on AbeBooks. A bit of Tolkien, Beckett, Potter (the Beatrix variety), Salinger, Joyce, Shelley, Stoker and Einstein.
Book thieves
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010Anna Goodall, who works in a bookshop and writes books, describes the murky world of bookshop crime in The Independent. You’d think that people who love beautiful books and great literature would not be the shoplifting kind – wrong!
UK customers revisit The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Lots of interest in The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico from our AbeBooks.co.uk customers. This classic novella is currently the most searched for book on our UK site thanks to the BBC Radio 4 adaptation on Sunday. Last year, the listeners to the BBC’s Open Book programme voted The Snow Goose to be the book they felt most deserved to be re-read and reinstated onto our bookshelves.
Gallico (1897-1976) is best remembered for The Snow Goose but he also wrote The Poseidon Adventure. The Snow Goose was first published in 1940 in the Saturday Evening Post and then published in a book-format in April 1941. The Snow Goose is about friendship and love. It tells the story of Philip Rhayader, a solitary artist living in an abandoned lighthouse, and a young girl, Fritha.
Austerity in literature quiz
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010The Guardian has a quiz on austerity in literature. Six out of 10 for me.
20+ books in the home = good at school
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010The UK’s Daily Telegraph reports on a “major study” revealing that having 20 books in the home can boost children’s chances of doing well at school. I know I am in a bookish job and from a bookish family but the idea that a househould could have less than 20 books is painful to think about.
And from America, here is a study that says if you have a library of 500 books then it “has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education).
