Books come in different shapes and sizes. They can be small or very big indeed. Quarto, duodecimo, octavo and elephant folio are just some of the terms you will hear used, and this video from my colleague Christi helps to demystify the jargon.
You can learn more about book sizes at the AbeBooks’ Book Collecting Guide.
From penguins and dolphins to borzois and beyond, this article explores how some of the best-known publishing houses in the industry chose their animal-themed logos.
I love how some of them, like Penguin’s penguin have become so iconic that I hardly even recognize them as a picture of an animal anymore – I think “books” not “penguins” when I see it.
My personal favourite is Puffin. Here are some facts about puffins:
-A puffin is a seabird, whose diet consists mainly of fish.
-For some reason, a lot of people seem to think puffins are flightless birds. Not so.They nest on cliffs and rock faces, so being flightless would be a cruel trick.
-Their outrageous, colorful bills are largely to attract mates – they shed them after mating season to reveal a smaller, less impressive beak.
-There are a lot of puffins in Iceland, and they’re hunted there, for meat, feathers etcetera. If you’re a tourist to Iceland you can expect to see Puffin offered on a lot of menus, including the fresh, raw heart of a puffin offered as a delicacy. That strikes me as a bit on the grisly side. Sure, we eat chicken, but if someone offers me the fresh, raw heart of a hen, I will politely decline and request a well-broiled drumstick.
-Puffins have been featured in many advertisements and signs because of their contribution to the hilarious phrase “No Puffin’!” in order to communicate that people should please not smoke in the vicinity.
Bobbs-Merrill existed in a bygone era of books. This company published L. Frank Baum, Ayn Rand and Irma S. Rombauer’s Joy of Cooking, but is largely forgotten now except by connoisseurs of the used book world.
Discover how a Midwestern company put a book into almost every household in America.
Dave Eggers, author of the most excellent Zeitoun and founder of McSweeney’s, is publishing a short story on a shower curtain. No, it’s not a reworking of Psycho by Robert Bloch. The ‘publisher’ is The Thing, a quarterly that issues objects that are art-related or literary. The story curtain costs $65 – it better be good. Story and image via Jacket Copy.
This news opens up many literary possibilities especially for all the people who say the physical book is dead. Short stories could be published on towels, bed sheets, duvet covers, rugs, and table clothes.
Oh, Aragorn. Can you do no wrong? Your arrow flies ever swift, straight into my heart.
It’s true. Aside from being an excellent actor (and musician, artist, poet…), Viggo Mortenson appears to be a booklover. In 2002, the Danish-American dreamboat (sorry, sorry) founded Perceval Press, a publishing company devoted to showcasing the talents of little-known authors and artists who might otherwise go undiscovered. The press is based in Santa Monica, California, and boasts a varied catalogue of poetry, art, fine literature, fiction, non-fiction and more, some of which Mortenson has produced or collaborated on himself. And it’s not just books – Perceval Press puts out CDs, as well.
The Perceval Press web site has a full listing of the over 50 titles they’ve released so far, as well as personal recommendations of everything from films, books, political reads and more.
Explore some titles from Perceval Press.
….Do it for Viggo.
Take books that have already made their mark and then republish them with exceptional typography, illustrations, paper and bindings. That’s the magic formula for the Folio Society – half publisher, half book club, and founded in 1947 on the principle that books should be beautiful to the eye as well as captivating to the mind. They are entirely devoted to beautiful books.
AbeBooks offers thousands of stunning volumes published by the Folio Society.
Our latest on-site feature concerns Phaidon Press and the stunning art books produced by this publisher. Phaidon has been one of the pioneers of the art book format since the mid-1930s. Originally founded in Vienna in 1923, this company relocated to London to avoid the Nazis and never looked back.
Phaidon’s titles have covered many aspects of art, including photography, classical art, pop art, the history of art, the art collections of the rich and famous, fashion, architecture, decorative arts and all the major artistic movements. Learn more.
Jarvis Cocker, frontman of Pulp and the man who invaded the stage while Michael Jackson performed because Jackson was attempting to be some “kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing”, is the latest celebrity to move into publishing. He is following Pete Townsend, Henry Rollins and Anthony Bourdain. The Guardian interviews him and you will soon understand why he’s moving into publishing.
This video is designed to help people understand some of the jargon used by booksellers when describing the physical aspects of a book. I’m sure you can figure out what the spine is but do you know your hinge from your joint? What about the endpapers? I recommend the AbeBooks glossary for learning more about used and rare book terms.
Polly Courtney, a novelist who quit the banking profession because of its rampant sexism, has now fired her publisher for being sexist, reports the Daily Mail. She didn’t like the HarperCollins cover art featuring a lady in a short skirt with long legs. A case of frying pan and fire I think.
She said: “They dressed up my book as something frivolous, light and racy, which is the complete opposite of what’s inside my books. It is degrading to the writing and ultimately degrading to women. It’s sexist. A lot of chick lit patronises women. There’s intelligent writing out there and I don’t know why it has to be sold in such a fluffy package.”
Take a look at this book cover. What’s wrong with it? I had to look twice. Edgar Allan Poe is incorrectly printed as Edgar Allen Poe. The publisher lacking in proofreading skills was the International Fiction Library in Cleveland, although I like the actual cover art.
I emailed Dan Gregory at Between the Covers bookshop in New Jersey and asked how often this happened, when a horrendous typo made it all the way into print and then into bookshops too.
“One answer might be, ‘More often than the authors would like!’” replied Dan, who also pointed me towards Ernest Hemingway’s first appearance in a book.
The Best Short Stories of 1923 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story edited by Edward O’Brien is dedicated to Hemingway and contains one of his stories, and yet Hemingway is spelled “Hemenway” throughout.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue might not pass the accuracy test but copies are definitely a talking point.
Poe was born Edgar Poe in Boston on 19 January 1809. His mother died of TB and his father did a runner. Young Poe was fostered by John Allan, a merchant in Richmond, Virginia, who added Allan to his name.
The Guardian tells me that Tête-bêche books are making a comeback thanks a couple of publishers who are both releasing books in this intriguing format. This writer is quite specific in separating Dos-à-dos from Tête-bêche but in used and rare bookselling terms it appears the two terms have merged somewhat.
Here’s our feature from earlier this year about Dos-à-dos & Tête-bêche bindings where you can learn more about these head-to-tail books offering two reads in the same binding.
You are currently browsing the archives for the publishers category.
