Fuck Yeah, Book Arts!

unhistorical:

September 21, 1937: The Hobbit is published.

J.R.R.Tolkien’s classic children’s novel turns 75 years old today. The book begins with the line “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”, a sentence which, according to Tolkien, came to him spontaneously while marking papers. The first edition dust jacket was designed by the author himself, who also provided the black and white illustrations. Since 1937, The Hobbit has been translated into over forty languages and sold tens of millions of copies. The initial print of 1,500 copies ran out in three months, and response was unanimously favorable. Tolkien’s close friend and fellow fantasy author C.S. Lewis wrote in The Times Literary Supplement: ”Prediction is dangerous: but The Hobbit may well prove a classic.”

Perhaps The Hobbit’s greatest legacy was not the book itself but the sequel that was published seventeen years later - the far more complex first volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring. Urged on by his publishers, who wished to make the most out of the smashing success that was The Hobbit, Tolkien worked on his sequel slowly and deliberately through the years of World War II and after. Both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings brought the popularity of fantasy literature to new heights and established Tolkien as the “father” of modern high fantasy. 

When I close a book 
I open life. 
I hear 
faltering cries 
among harbours. 
Copper ignots 
slide down sand-pits 
to Tocopilla. 
Night time. 
Among the islands 
our ocean 
throbs with fish, 
touches the feet, the thighs, 
the chalk ribs 
of my country. 
The whole of night 
clings to its shores, by dawn 
it wakes up singing 
as if it had excited a guitar. 

The ocean’s surge is calling. 
The wind 
calls me 
and Rodriguez calls, 
and Jose Antonio— 
I got a telegram 
from the “Mine” Union 
and the one I love 
(whose name I won’t let out) 
expects me in Bucalemu. 

No book has been able 
to wrap me in paper, 
to fill me up 
with typography, 
with heavenly imprints 
or was ever able 
to bind my eyes, 
I come out of books to people orchards 
with the hoarse family of my song, 
to work the burning metals 
or to eat smoked beef 
by mountain firesides. 
I love adventurous 
books, 
books of forest or snow, 
depth or sky 
but hate 
the spider book 
in which thought 
has laid poisonous wires 
to trap the juvenile 
and circling fly. 
Book, let me go. 
I won’t go clothed 
in volumes, 
I don’t come out 
of collected works, 
my poems 
have not eaten poems— 
they devour 
exciting happenings, 
feed on rough weather, 
and dig their food 
out of earth and men. 
I’m on my way 
with dust in my shoes 
free of mythology: 
send books back to their shelves, 
I’m going down into the streets. 
I learned about life 
from life itself, 
love I learned in a single kiss 
and could teach no one anything 
except that I have lived 
with something in common among men, 
when fighting with them, 
when saying all their say in my song.

- Pablo Neruda

teachingliteracy:

Bijou Books: The Biscuit 2.0

prettylittlepieces:

How to Make Hang Tag Notebooks

Beeswax Book Sculpture by Markus Fiedler 

Bookbinding Technique: Coptic Stitch

A selection of DIY Coptic Stitch Tutorials:

• Coptic/Chain Stitch 1
• Coptic/Chain Stitch 2
• Video Tutorial 1
• Video Tutorial 2
• Video Tutorial 3

I used to be a design student is a new publication by Camberwell BA Graphic Design alumni Frank Phillipin and Billy Kiosoglou (Brighten the Corners)

The inspiration for the book came from a talk Frank and Billy gave to Camberwell students. For the talk they decided to present a series of old student projects alongside work they had completed since graduating.

The students responded extremely well to the talk, not only in terms of being able to relate to the student projects, but also to the fact that through seeing a ‘then’ and ‘now’ the idea of becoming a professional designer appeared far more attainable. Realising that other people’s work would offer similar insights the idea for the book was born.

50 designers were invited to share one student project and one professional project for inclusion in the book. They were also asked to offer a piece of advice and a warning!

(Source: blogs.arts.ac.uk)

Evergreen by Jill Bergman

Edition of 5,11.75 x 7.25 x 4.25 inches 

This book has samples of needles and bark, images, statistics, and a few lines of poetry for each of seven different Colorado evergreen trees. The prints are hand colored solarplate etchings framed with brass strips. The tree samples are covered with mylar and held in place with stained wood.  The pages are made of 5 stained pine boards sewn onto leather straps with linen thread. 

beautifulbookcoversdotcom:

Stunning James Bond book covers by Michael Gillette, featuring classic Bond Girls such as Vesper Lynd, Honey Rider and Tracy Bond in vintage pinup form.  This was released for Ian Fleming’s 100th birthday in 2008 in a (tragically) limited run by Penguin.

Learn more about these beautiful designs (and where, if you’re very rich or very lucky, you might find them in hardcover form).

Check out more classic book designs on the Beautiful Book Covers website, or subscribe on:
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saul williams from “she” (via jamima-puddle-duck)