I stumbled on weloveyouso via BoingBoing today, and on it was featured handmade clutch purses. The artist’s name is Olympia Le-Tan and she is clearly wonderful. Look how great these are! I love them all. I think the Nineteen Eighty-Four one is my favourite. I think…. Hm. Maybe I should look again.
Over at the Times Online in honour of the 70th Anniversary of the Marvel Comics, they put together a tremendous list of 70 little-known facts about the comic company.
To see the full list of 70, you’ll need to scoot on over to their article but here’s a selection of ten of the fun tidbits they posted:
1. Marvel was first known as Timely Comics. It was set up in 1939 by New York magazine publisher Martin Goodman. From 1951 the company’s comics were printed under the name Atlas but this was changed to Marvel in 1961. The first comic to appear under the Marvel Comics brand was Amazing Adventures No 3.
2. Goodman thought that Spider-man was a rotten idea for a superhero. He told Stan Lee that the character would fail because readers hated spiders. He changed his mind when the sales figures came in.
3. Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant once worked for Marvel. Between 1975 and 1977, Tennant was an editor at Marvel’s UK division, a job that required him to anglicise American spellings and indicate when the more scantily dressed superheroines needed to be redrawn decently.
4. The word ’sex’ was concealed in the illustrations of New X-Men issue 118 at least 18 times - one almost every page. It surreptitiously appears in hair strands, bottles of whisky, a hedge, a puddle, tree branches, protest signs and, thanks to some conveniently placed garden tools, a lawn. The book’s artist, Ethan Van Sciver, has said that he scattered the word throughout the book because Marvel was annoying him at the time and he thought it would be fun to inject a little mischief into his work. Weirdly, this was the sort of activity that the psychologist Fredric Wertham railed hysterically against in the Fifties. He thought that comics were corrupting America’s youth, with their overt and covert depictions of sex and drugs, and his book on the subject, Seduction of the Innocent, led to Senate hearings and a strict moral code being imposed on the comic industry.
5. Marvel once owned the rights to the word zombie. As improbable as it sounds, Marvel attempted to trademark the word zombie in comic book titles after publishing Tale of the Zombie in 1973. By the time the trademark was approved two years later, the series was coming to an end. Marvel lost the trademark in 1996 but it wasn’t long before it was once again trademarking the armies of the undead, registering the words Marvel Zombies to protect its comic series of the same name. With DC, Marvel also trademarked the phrase ‘Super Hero’.
6. Artist Dave Cockrum’s resignation letter to Marvel surreptitiously appeared in Iron Man No 127. In the issue, Tony Stark’s butler, Jarvis, resigns after a drunk and out of control Stark verbally abuses. The letter reads:
Anthony Stark,
I am leaving because this is no longer the team-spirited “one big happy family” I once loved working for. Over the past year or so I have watched Avengers’ morale disintegrate to the point that, rather than being a team or a family, it is now a large collection of unhappy individuals simmering in their own personal stew of repressed anger, resentment and frustration. I have seen a lot of my friends silently enduring unfair, malicious or vindictive treatment.
My personal grievances are relatively slight by comparison to some, but I don’t intend to silently endure. I’ve watched the Avengers be disbanded, uprooted and shuffled around. I’ve become firmly convinced that this was done with the idea of “showing the hired help who’s Boss”.
I don’t intend to wait around to see what’s next.
Three issues later Iron Man’s writer, David Michelinie, explained to readers that this was the not the letter Jarvis had intended to write and that due to a production error the wrong text had been published. The letter that appeared was none other than Cockrum’s own resignation letter, only someone had swapped “Marvel” for “Avengers”.
7. The Comics Code Authority forbade the use of werewolves in comics so Marvel writers had to come up with ingenious ways of including the classic villain archetype. For X-Men No 60 (1969) Roy Thomas and Neal Adams created Sauron, a were–pterodactyl to get round the code.
8. Mario Puzo, the author of The Godfather, found writing comics too difficult. Before he found fame as a novelist, Puzo eked a living writing for men’s adventure magazines for Marvel’s publisher. Short of cash one month he asked Stan Lee if he could try his hand writing a comic script. Lee readily agreed but Puzo couldn’t deliver the goods. “He said it was too difficult,” Lee recounts in his autobiography. Puzo told him: “I could write a novel in the time it would take me to figure this damn thing out.” Puzo did eventually crack the superhero nut, writing the screenplays for the first two Superman movies.
9. Marvel was the first comic company to give a black superhero his own comic book. Created by Archie Goodwin and John Romita, Luke Cage was a streetwise hero whose skin was as hard as steel. He made his first appearance in Luke Cage: Hero for Hire No 1 in June 1972 and was clearly an attempt by Marvel to cash in on the popular Blaxploitation genre.
10. Readers who alerted Marvel to mistakes in their comics were awarded a No-Prize. This would be empty envelope sent back to the reader on which would be written: “Congratulations! This envelope contains a genuine Marvel Comics No-Prize, which you have just won!” The No-Prize has become a much sought-after item for fans.
You never know what might turn up a garage sale. Like a set of Ansel Adams’ glass negatives….perhaps. (Not only did this guy pick them up at a garage sale but he kept them in his loft for 10 years.)
If you are wondering just how much Ansel Adams memorabilia is worth, then look at our feature on the most collectible photography books.
This morning I visited the library at the University of Victoria and got an update from two great friends of AbeBooks, Susan Henderson and Wendie McHenry. Just like everywhere else in the global book world, things are changing very quickly in the world of libraries. It’s interesting times for almost everyone who handles books. UVic - as it is known here in Victoria, British Columbia - has a dedicated staff of librarians and they host many interesting book-related events. Here are a few…..
Alcuin Society 2008 Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada
McPherson Library Special Collections reading room Oct 5 – Nov 14
On display are 32 winning titles from these awards, as selected from the 243 entries submitted by 89 publishers and representing the eight Canadian provinces.
(I got to spend a few minutes this morning looking this display and there are some wonderful books on display. My favourite was The Essential P.K. Page designed by Tim Inkster at The Porcupine’s Quill - what a beautiful cover!)
Michael J Prince Book Launch & Talk - Thursday, Oct 22, 2009
4pm–6pm
McPherson Library Staff Lounge
Michael Prince is Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy in the Faculty of Human and Social Development. In his new book, Absent Citizens: Disability Politics and Policy in Canada, Michael describes how disability exists in the shadows of public awareness and at the periphery of policy making.
2009 UVic Author Celebration - Tues Oct 27, 2009
7:30-9:30 pm - University of Victoria Bookstore
Author who have taught and studied at the university will read from their books and CBC Radio’s Jo-Ann Roberts will be hosting this event.
Bill Gaston, Gargoyles
Lorna Jackson, Cold Cocked: On Hockey
Karena Shaw, Indigeneity and Political Theory: Sovereignty and the Limits of the Political
Paul Zehr, Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero
Find more details for these events here.
No, not Phil Collins and the other two who stayed behind after Peter Gabriel moved on, we’re talking about Genesis from the Bible. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb received a huge plug this morning on NPR. I’m sure fans of Crumb will love this one.
I was talking to Paul from Exquisite Corpse, one of our booksellers who specializes in art books, yesterday and he showed me a fantastic example of “things I would buy if only I could afford them.”
It’s a limited edition, signed, 10-page book by Lucas Samaras made up of individually die-cut boards bound together, and extensively illustrated on every page which have visual games and bright colored pop art designs. Among the designs is extensive text in a variety of fonts telling the story. Or as Beth described it ….A board book for grown-ups!
The famed celebrity and fashion photographer Irving Penn died earlier this week. He is best known for his images of people with the plain, stark backgrounds of his studio. Moments Preserved was his best known work and for some people one of the high spots of American photography since 1950.
Unsurprisingly, the most expensive Penn book ever sold by AbeBooks was a 1960 first edition of Moments Preserved that had been signed by the photographer. It went for $1,600.
The Independent takes a look at a new photography book called We English by Simon Roberts - a book of snaps that is supposed to show what England is all about.
At Fountains Fell in the Yorkshire Dales a couple sit in fold-up chairs looking out over the valley. They have a table between them, with plastic cups filled with tea from a flask. Their backs are to us. He is wearing a straw Panama hat and her dress is floral. Their Vauxhall Corsa is parked on the verge. Roberts came across the couple as he was driving through the valley. Called Les and Doreen Barnett, they have been coming to this spot every week for 50 years to sit and take in the view. In Hathersage, Derbyshire a middle- aged Muslim couple, wearing traditional robes, walk through the bracken by the rocks at Stanage Edge. They are on a walking holiday from their home in Leicester.
It sounds like he didn’t attempt to take pictures in any small market towns at around 11.30pm on a Friday night as the pubs are turfing out the drunks. Then he’d have some entertaining photos.
I just can’t get enough of these gorgeous covers. There are books with cool, interesting or neat covers now, but even the changes in binding over the last 100 years have (in my opinion) reduced the art factor of books. Heavy, decorated cloth on boards, gilt, watermarks behind text, embossing/debossing, floral decorations, illuminations - these are no longer the standard fare in producing books.
I wish I had all the money in the world to build a giant library, fill it with lovely, antique books and spend all my time in it. But for now, I’ll be content to buy one or two really special, exquisite old books as a treat for myself each year.
Of all my books - and there are many - some of the ones I enjoy best are my Edward Gorey books. I have Amphigorey, Amphigorey Too, Amphigorey Also, The Epiplectic Bicycle, and more. The Amphigorey books are particular treasures. Each is a fantastic compendium of weird and wonderful tales, bizarre creatures, Edwardian, high-strung, hysterical women taking ill and having fainting spells, dark, mysterious guests lurking on the doorstep, fanciful and frightening insects, and desolate, barren wastelands.
Ranging from eccentric, bleak and disturbing to downright silly and surreal, I find something new each time I open the books. 
I was delighted to learn that there is going to be an Edward Gorey documentary released soon, and look so forward to seeing it. Edward Gorey’s mind has been a subject of fascination to me ever since I first read his writing (then in the form of The Gashlycrumb Tinies, a grisly alphabet rhyme of children done in by various horrifying methods. “A is for Amy who fell down the stairs; B is for Basil assaulted by bears” and the like…with accompanying illustration) and this film looks so thoroughly done, and like such a project of love that i’m sure it will satisfy.
In the meantime, check out this fantastic Flickr set of photos of Edward Gorey’s home.
A few of my favourites below:
Edward Gorey's car. One of his anagram pen names, Ogdred Weary, is where the vanity plate comes from.
Edward Gorey died in 2000. I’m disappointed I won’t ever have lunch with him.
Clearly he had a thing for magnets - a man after my own heart.
He used his kitchen counters properly
And lastly, a neat AbeBooks tie-in…among the (stacks and stacks and STACKS) of books found in Gorey’s home:
Some of Gorey's books
And an interview with Edward Gorey in which he talks about ‘Suture’ - one of the weirdest films I’ve ever seen.
Earlier this week we had a very interesting sale for art fans - a letter from the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo for $3,750. Written in August 1947, the letter to Arturo Sidon concerns the purchase of five watercolours and states that reproduction rights are not to be included. A rather mundane letter but letters from Kahlo are particularly hard to locate.
Kahlo is famous for her use of bright colours and was heavily influenced by European realism and surrealism. Her self-portraits, often painful in their themes, are particularly sought-after. She was married to Mexican artist Diego Rivera but had a turbulent marriage. Her lovers included Leon Trotsky. Salma Hayek portrayed her in the 2002 movie, Frida.
The letter might have gone this week but you could still pick up a handwritten invitation from Kahlo to the opening of her first solo exhibit in Mexico. She famously attended the exhibit after being carried to the event on her bed because she was very ill from gangrene in her right leg. The invitation is written as a poem. It is available for $7,500 and you’d also receive an illustration by Rivera created for the first anniversary of his wife’s death - it reads “Para la Niña de mis ojos (that translates as the girl of my eyes), Fisita mia el 13 de Julio de 1955.”
When I sitting here reading about people like Frida Kahlo, I can’t help but think that I lead a very dull life.
Richmond Council in the UK has a big problem with a publicity shot of Lynn Barber smoking, reports The Guardian. After the men in suits complained and asked for an image sans cigarette, Barber pulled out of their literary festival.
Barber is a journalist and a very good one. The Council doesn’t understand that all journalists smoke and smoking (and also drinking) is an essential part of journalism. Years ago, I remember looking across my desk at my editor while we were stuggling to put to bed a particularly difficult edition of our newspaper and I noticed he had four cigarettes on the go - all lit. One in each hand and two in the ash tray. I imagine Barber relies on her smokes in much the same way.
Archivists are going through 610 cardboard boxes, filing cabinets and a shipping container that contain items that were collected by legendary pop artist, Andy Warhol.
Admittedly, there is a lot of junk to be sifted through. Warhol appears to have been a hoarder. There are cab receipts, long beyond stale wedding cake, and old soup cans - and not the ones on his paintings. There are however, a lot of interesting treasures too. Finds so far include a drawer full of gems, a mummified human foot belonging to an ancient Egyptian, a naked picture of Jackie O. and $17,000 cash.
Recently uncovered are books by Allen Ginsberg including Mind Breaths. There is also a note to Warhol from Ginsberg. (Signed copies of Mind Breaths start at $950 on AbeBooks but you can find copies for $100 and under.)
In this photo taken on Aug. 13, 2009, books and a note by Allen Ginsberg found in one of Andy Warhol's time capsules wait to be catalogued at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (AP)
What other treasures are there are yet to be revealed. Uncovering them is a daunting task - when Warhol died, his four-story Manhattan townhouse was full of “stuff” . And then there are the boxes in storage. The collection of these started back in 1973 when an associate of Warhol suggested that he carry around a box and just throw things into it. As each box (or “time capsule”) was filled, it was taped shut, dated and shipped off to a storage facility in New Jersey.
Starting in September, the archivists who have alreday opened and catalogued 177 boxes in 18 months, will start blogging about the “Object of the Week”. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what was squirreled away.
With a price tag of 100,000 Euros, La Dotta Mano probably won’t make the bestseller list but it has the distinction of being the most expensive new book available. And the New York Public Library has the distinction of receiving a copy which they will put on public display.
The book which depicts the life and work of Michelangelo takes six months the create and has a cover made of white marble from Michelangelo’s favorite quarry, in Carrara. Handmade red silk velvet from the same shop as the main stage curtains at The Metropolitan Opera and Milan’s Teatro Alla Scala covers the binding. The book is no light-weight either - it weighs in at 62 pounds.
“This book is meant as a provocation,” says Marilena Ferrari, the Italian publisher producing the book. “Books are being destroyed by the Internet, they’re losing their identity - it’s the modern, Internet version of burning books. Today, things last so little before they disappear. ”
Ferrari makes her point by offering the book with a 500-year warranty - the length of time Michelangelo’s work has lasted.
Display books have been donated to the New York Public Library, the Prado museum in Madrid and to the city of Bologna. Another 20 books have been purchased by private buyers around the world.
The book goes on display at the New York Public Library as of tomorrow and can be seen there until December 8.