Classical Bookworm

Etagère Pour Livres by Philippe Nigro

Etagère pour livres, Philippe Nigro, 2005 (France).
[VIA catalogue, p. 25]

I saw this wonderful bookshelf on the Bookshelf blog (where else?). I love it not only for its beautiful and interesting design but also because it reminds me of the "Books Spiral" at the Seattle Public Library. The Books Spiral is four connected levels of gently sloping floors holding the nonfiction collection in one continuous band. This allows for the easy rearrangement of books and prevents categories from being broken up on to different floors. Here are a couple of views:

Anselm Kiefer: The Secret Life of Plants

Blood on Paper is a new book art exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. A new edition of The Secret Life of Plants (2001) by Anselm Kiefer, seen above, was commission to be the main piece of the show, but unfortunately I can't find a photo of it. Another variation on this theme can be seen here. If you can't make it to London, you can see a number of works from the exhibition online, and also browse through the V&A's collection of over 100 "artists books." Enjoy!

via Book Patrol

Lacy Letters

BibliOdyssey posted this interesting combination of crafts: typography and lace-making. Make of it what you will.

Ferris' Chair of Wonder

Bookscape

Satyrische Briefe (Satyrical Letters), 1752. Photo by soozika.

Sitting on History

All of history is filtered through millions of pages of writing, making the book the major vehicle for years of research and study. Woodrow proposes that although we absorb this knowledge, we appear to have great difficulty in changing our behaviour as a result.

Sitting on History I by Bill Woodrow

Bookzai

From trees to paper to books to trees again. See the artist's gallery here.

via Book Patrol

Book with Wings

Anselm Kiefer, Buch mit Flügeln, 1992-1994, (Book with Wings)
Lead, steel, and tin, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Close-up photos at Flickr.

Involved Student

Involved Student by Brian P. Hanlon

via Slow Reading

Written in Stone

Thanks to the always wonderful BibliOdyssey I have some stone books for you today. The first is a mysterious artifact donated to the University of Newcastle (Australia) recently.

There is some speculation about what this is:

A cursory glance over the various interpretations of “stone books” garnered the following insights. As a symbol in the paintings of Bosch a ‘closed book’ represents ‘the futility of knowledge in dealing with human stupidity’. In Christian symbolism a ‘book’ most commonly represents the Bible. If open, it portrays truth or revelation, if closed, ‘it may be presumed to contain the names of the elect, and so may symbolize the Last Judgment and the inheritance of the saints’. We also learn that “The book is the physical representation of knowledge and wisdom. It is the container of intellect; open books depict the book of life, learning, and the spirit of wisdom. Closed book is in the hands of God, Divine Mystery.”