Edward J. Goodman. Too Curious. London; Guildford: Bentley & Son, 1888 — Source.
Simple. Elegant. Effective.
From: The Public Domain Review, The Art of Book Covers (1820 – 1914)
The Art of Book Design: Too Curious
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
Edward J. Goodman. Too Curious. London; Guildford: Bentley & Son, 1888 — Source.
Simple. Elegant. Effective.
From: The Public Domain Review, The Art of Book Covers (1820 – 1914)
Lord Dunsany. The Book of Wonder. London: William Heinemann, 1912 — Source.
From: The Public Domain Review, The Art of Book Covers (1820 – 1914)
E. A. Bowles. My Garden in Spring. London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1914 — Source. Cover design by Katherine Cameron
I love books. Real books with real paper are a treat for the senses. I love the way they feel in my hand, the way they smell and the way they catch my eye. That last bit, the eye-catching, is what this new series is all about; the art of designing striking books that make you stop and take a closer look. My original interest in starting this series came from The Public Domain Review and I’ll be pulling from their collections and lots of other sources. Every day you’ll get a beautiful book to admire. Many will be old, but not all. There will be a lot of art nouveau because I like art nouveau, but I’ll try to change it up and keep it interesting. I’m also willing to feature any book you might want to share as long as it’s beautiful and eyecatching. Send any of your suggestions to me at [email protected]. The address is always in the sidebar.
Our Book today is in celebration of Spring. The art nouveau design is by Katherine Cameron and together with E.A. Bowles they created a series of garden books. If you click on the link below you can also find the covers for My garden in Autumn and Winter and My garden in Summer. Together they make a beautiful set.
From: My Beautiful Book Finds
Well, one more book. I have about twenty knife and swords books in the sights for future purchases, but I am still in the middle of reading the first seven I already have purchased. The flu-like illness that has been bugging me on and off for two weeks is unfortunately not very conducive to reading, especially to reading in a foreign language.
But Marcus was so very, very kind and has sent me this beauty, which I have not seen offered anywhere here. I must say it is a lovely book on first sight and it became a cherished possession instantly.
Now I had not planned on buying a book specifically about japanese knives, because I intend leaving making japanese knives to the Japanese, but there is no denying that they have a reputation of being superb tools so it won’t hurt to know about them. Quite the opposite, I am sure there is a lot of knowledge in this book that will be beneficial to me and I am very much looking forward to reading it.
However this makes me think a little – all the knives that I have made so far and that I intend to make in the future are my own designs and represent my aesthetical preferences as well as my style of using a knife. And whenever I look at works of other knife-makers (which I do not do very often), often I see that everyone develops a distinctive style. For example Bob Loveless has been renown for drop-point small hunting knives, Walter Sorrels sells mostly very pointy and straight, tanto-style all-purpose knives, Stefan Santangelo seems to like knives which have a slight forward angle between the blade and the handle with a little kink in it etc. I have no doubt that all these knives are perfectly functional and comfortable to use. There is no single “correct” knife design.
I find it remarkable how expressive can be a piece of craft that is essentialy just a sharpened sheet of metal with a piece of wood to hold it with, even when looking at just the outline.
Incidentally you can see two things in the last picture. Firstly, my left middle finger is nearly completely healed. There is still slight swelling and an area with tickling-burning sensation when touched, but it gets constantly, albeit very slowly, better. Secondly, in case you are wondering, that is my school pencil-case, about thirty years old by now.
I got a baking book for Christmas from, my brother in law. we might start a tradition of giving each other cooking books and baking books, though he doesn’t actually like baking much. He#s somebody who follows certain cooks and Yotam Ottolenghi is definitely one of his favourites (he asked for several of his books on other occasions.)
Interestingly, the international cover is different from the English one…
Now, cooking books are like other books. They’re for you to read, but they have the added benefit of also containing recipes. What I instantly liked about it was that it had a lot of cakes and cookies and such that looked absolutely doable. Now, as you know, I’m not one above spending three days in the kitchen to make a CAKE, but most occasions are for simple cakes that you make in an hour and then enjoy.
Of course I had to try one out as soon as possible and decided to go for cakes baked in a can for New Years Eve.
Caaaaaaake, caaaaaaaaaake
These ones are with butternut squash, almonds, raisins and orange peel. I slightly upscaled the recipe because I only had medium eggs. Often recipes call for large eggs and if you only use medium eggs the cake gets dry. So I added an extra egg and a bit more of everything else. that way I ended up with three cans and was I glad.
That’s two of them cut into slices.
I thought I’d save the third so it wouldn’t become dry… After a while our host asked if there was anything left. I cut the third. Suddenly our other host said: Shit, my parents aren’t here yet and look at what we left!
Not much…
The cake was delicious in taste and very moist. We could have kept eating, obviously.
Which is why I decided to make it for my birthday breakfast at work, that’s why my kitchen currently looks like I was planning to open a stall at fun fairs…
Three throws for a buck.
I know I am very behind the curve here, but the phenomenon of Hunger Games has completely missed me, both the books and the movies. I learned about them through social osmosis, probably in comments and articles around FtB, but I never paid it much attention and I never knew what it is about, except a vague feeling that it should be good and that there is some girl shooting a bow.
So because I needed a pause from listening to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series over and over again, and I also needed a rest, I bought an audio book of the first in the trilogy and listened to it these last few days, whilst trying to get rid of some damn virus trying to cook me in my skin.
The book is an excellent piece of storytelling, there is no doubt about it, I will not be able to resist and I will buy the rest of the trilogy as well. But had I known in advance what it is about, I probably would not have bought it, definitively not now. It shook me to the core. I was, and I still am, absolutely horrified.
That might seem odd, because I have read my share of books of all genres, from horrors to comedies, but I do not remember being moved this much by a book for quite a long time. It was not the deaths what has got to me. It was not the quite excellently portrayed psychology of an individual caught in a string of apparently lose-lose situations. It was not the story, that was pretty straightforward and to someone well read slightly predictable at times. It was the believability of it all what really got me.
There are simply too many parallels to societies like that one portrayed in the book throughout human history and even today.
Of people living in distinct caste-system that is impossible to escape from.
Of entire populations being worked to death and held on the brink of starvation for the benefit of an elite few.
Of totalitarian regimes where everyone is a subject to the whims of the powers that be.
Of people jeering and laughing at the suffering of those they perceive as lesser, as other, as subservient.
And we still are not in the clear. We might be heading towards societies just like that, again. The book might very well be an accurate prediction of a future mere hundred years from now. And that there was no suspense of disbelief needed makes everything in it much worse than it would be in an ordinary horror with magical or inhuman monsters. People can be the worst monsters, it seems to me.
ShabbyAdjective.
1: Clothed with worn or seeding garments.
2a: Threadbare and faced from wear. b: ill-kept: Dilapidated.
3a: Mean, Despicable, Contemptible <must feel shabby…because of his compromises – Nat Hentoff>
b: Ungenerous, unfair. c: Inferior in quality.
-shabbily, adverb.
-shabbiness, noun.
[Origin: obsolete English shab a low fellow.]
(1669)
“She stole a glance round the office – the office of the senior partner of the firm. It suited Walter Fane, she decided. It was definitely old-fashioned, the furniture was shabby, but was made of good solid Victorian material.” – Sleeping Murder, Agatha Christie.
PrickNoun.
1: a mark or shallow hole made by a pointed instrument.
2a: a pointed instrument or weapon b: a sharp projecting organ or part.
3: an instance of pricking or the sensation of being pricked: as a: a nagging or sharp feeling of remorse, regret, or sorrow b: a slight sharply localized discomfort <the prick of a needle>.
4: usually vulgar: penis.
5: usually vulgar: a spiteful or contemptible man often having some authority.
[Origin: Middle English prikke, from Old English prica; akin to Middle Dutch pric prick.]
(before 12th Century).
“Stone shook his head. “Rapid’s not going to be the Wild West for too much longer, girls.” I could tell Madame was included in that “girls,” and it put my back up. She had years and miles on Dyer Stone, and brains to boot. But he had a prick, and inherited money, and a prick. I guess that gave him the right to lord it over her. – Karen Memory, Elizabeth Bear.
CantingAdjective: affectedly pious or righteous <a canting moralist> [Origin: 5Cant.]
(1663)
1Cant
Adjective dialectal, England: Lively, Lusty. [Origin: Middle English, probably from Middle Low German kant.]
(14th Century)
²Cant
Transitive verb.
1: to give a cant or oblique edge to: bevel.
2: to set at an angle: Tilt.
3: Chiefly British: to throw with a lurch.
Intransitive verb.
1: to pitch to one side: lean.
2: slope.
[Origin: ³Cant]
(Circa 1543)
³Cant
Noun.
1: Obsolete: corner, niche.
2: an external angle (as of a building).
3: a log with one or more squared sides.
4a: an oblique or slanting surface b: inclination, slope.
[Origin: Middle English cant side, probably from Middle Dutch or Middle French dialect; Middle Dutch, edge, corner, from Middle French dialectal (Picard), from Latin canthus, cantus iron tire, perhaps of Celtic origin; akin to Welsh cant rim; perhaps akin to Greek kanthos corner of the eye.]
(1603)
4Cant
Adjective.
1: having canted corners or sides.
2: inclined.
(1663)
5Cant
Intransitive verb.
1: to talk or beg in a whining or singsong manner.
2: to speak in cant or jargon.
3: to talk hypocritically.
[Origin: perhaps from Middle French dialect (Norman-Picard) canter to tell, literally, to sing from Latin cantare.]
(1567)
6Cant
Noun.
1: affected singsong or whining speech.
2a: the private language of the underworld. b: obsolete: the phraseology peculiar to a religious class or sect. c: jargon.
3: a set or stock phrase.
4: the expression or repetition of conventional or trite opinions or sentiments; especially: the insincere use of pious words.
(1640)
“You could certainly call it that,” said Cornish. “Pompous, canting old hypocrite!” he went on. “Everybody’s got it in for him. Throws his weight about, ultra sanctimonious, and neck deep in graft for years past!” – The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, Agatha Christie.
Nomenclature of human bones in Sòng Cí: Xǐ-yuān lù jí-zhèng, edited by Ruǎn Qíxīn (1843).
Song Ci (Sung Tz’u) is considered to be the founder of forensic science. In 1247, Song Ci wrote Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified or The Washing Away of Wrongs.
Different versions of the book exist, but the earliest existing version was published during the Yuan Dynasty, containing fifty-three chapters in five volumes. The first volume describes the imperial decree issued by Song Dynasty on the inspection of bodies and injuries. The second volume contains notes and methods on post-mortem examinations. The third, fourth, and fifth volumes detail the appearances of corpses from various causes of death and methods of treatments to certain injuries of a wounded person.
Song Ci ruled regulation about autopsy report for court, how to protect the evidence in the examining process, the reason why workers must show examination to public impartiality;how to wash dead body for examining the different reasons of death. At that time, the book had given methods to distinguish suicide or pretending suicide.
The particulars of each case must be recorded in the doctor’s own handwriting. No one else is allowed to write his autopsy report. A coroner must not avoid performing an autopsy just because he detests the stench of corpses. A coroner must refrain from sitting comfortably behind a curtain of incense that masks the stench, letting his subordinates do the autopsy unsupervised, or allowing a petty official to write his autopsy report, otherwise any potential inaccuracy is unchecked and uncorrected.”
He also said:
“Should there be any inaccuracy in an autopsy report, injustice would remain with the deceased as well as the living. A wrongful death sentence without justice may claim one or more additional lives, which would in turn result in feuds and revenges, prolonging the tragedy. In order to avoid any miscarriage of justice, the coroner must immediately examine the case personally.” [Source]
Medievalists has a list of ten observations Song Ci made when it came to discerning murder, and different types of murder.
Last year, photographer Robert Shults did a photographic series called The Washing Away of Wrongs, all taken at a forensic research facility in Texas.
Robert Shults, photograph from The Washing Away of Wrongs, with flowers from a nearby tree fallen across a donor’s body (courtesy the artist).
You can read all about that, and see more too, at Hyperallergic. There are some graphic photos, so have a care.
Last week, a colourful bucket full of hand painted stones was on the reception desk in 7 (infusion). The stones were painted by a 3rd grade class for all the people undergoing chemo. We chose our rocks, they are lovely little tokens, like carrying good wishes with you. We also brought home books, and a lovely plant. I will probably be snoozing most of today, having been up all night with the big, bad butt pain again. It’s a right pain in the arse, literally. As usual, click for full size. As for the books, I finished Bird Box, reading it on 7, and the ride home. It was interesting. The concept was certainly intriguing, but fell a bit short on execution. There were questions which never get answered, leaving me with a vague sense of dissatisfaction. Notwithstanding, it was still a good tale, and it was a quick read. It’s a debut novel by the lead singer of the band The High Strung, Josh Malerman. A movie has been made, and will be released by Netflix this December.
© C. Ford.
Hugger-MuggerNoun.
1: secrecy
2: confusion, muddle
[Origin: one of a number of similar-sounding reduplicated words in use around this time and meaning much the same thing, including hucker-mucker, which may be the original of the bunch if the root is, as some think, Middle English mukre “to hoard up, conceal.”]
(1529)
Adjective:
1: secret
2: of a confused or disorderly nature: jumbled.
-hugger-mugger adverb.
“No, her book would hold a dark mirror to such conceits. Since Mother Eve’s day, women had whispered of herb lore and crafty potions, the wise woman’s weapons against the injustices of life; a life of ill treatment, the life of a dog. If women were to be kicked into the kitchen they might play it to their advantage, for what was a kitchen but a witch’s brewhouse? Men had no notion of what women whispered to each other, hugger-mugger by the chimney corner; of treaclish syrups and bitter pods, of fat black berries and bulbous roots. – A Taste for Nightshade, Martine Bailey.
Anodyne¹Adjective.
1: serving to alleviate pain.
2: not likely to offend or arouse tensions: innocuous.
[Origin: Latin anodynos, from Greek anōdynos, from a- + odynē pain.]
(1543)
²Noun
1: something that soothes, calms, or comforts.
2: a drug that allays pain.
(1550)
“Well,” I said, “look at this way. Some collectors are only interested in things that are like new, factory fresh, mint in the box. If something looks like it’s had a life before they got their hands on it, it loses its value. But then, other people believe that an object’s worth more if it’s been used for whatever it was designed for, so a stamp should have been stuck to an envelope and posted to somewhere a long way away, and a comic book is meant to be read and enjoyed, not sealed in a protective case and never opened, and an old racing car should be scuffed and grimy and—” with no particular emphasis “—scarred. And it’s the same with people. How much time do you think you’d want to spend with Barbie and Ken? Anodyne, by definition, is not entertaining.” – Normal, Graeme Cameron.
Book Note: This was one of the weirdest books I’ve read, a slice of life story, with the main character being a serial killer. You never know his name, and he’s never described. The book is filled with black humour, but the casual cruelty of the character is never disguised in any way. This is also a story of how everything starts to go wrong in his life, in a very big way. The book is written in such a way that the main character is often amusing, and finds himself in a situation you can sympathise with, which makes the reading a bit uncomfortable. Altogether, it’s an engaging and entertaining read. There are a number of different cops involved in the story too, and the second book is just fresh out, centering on Detective Sergeant Ali Green, who was very present in Normal. That one is called Dead Girls. I haven’t finished it yet, but there’s considerably more tension in the second book.
