Posts filed under ‘books’
A library in cupcakes…
Victoria’s Kitchen, a London bakery, made these bookish treats for a customer’s 60th birthday. Each of the books shaped her life in some way. Thanks, Juliet Cook, Kathleen Kirk, and Hooked on Books!
library perfume!
The “main accords” of this library-scented perfume are wood and leather, with, apparently, a little bit of smoke and animal thrown in. Sounds a lot like some of the best libraries I’ve visited, though not all have actual animals in them. Thanks, BoingBoing!
book curse turned blessing
Our anonymous Oxford shenaniganner sends us another beauty:
Upon his death in 1715, William Brewster divided his substantial library between the Bodleian, Saint John’s College, Hereford Cathedral, and All Saints Parochial Library at Hereford. Among the nearly 300 chained books was the first Vernacular Livy (Venice: 1493) [pictured] which was left to All Saints. As with many books of the era, the Livius was graced with a book curse which remains just below the All Saints wood-engraved bookplate, reading:
“Qui libru[m] istu[m] furatu[r]
a domi[no] maledicat[ur]”
At some point in its history, some library patron had added his own Mediæval version of shenanigans, capitalising on the fact that the “a” in “maledicatur” had been left slightly open, and the “l” following it was left quite short, and hence, with three short penstrokes, the anathema which promised God’s wrath to whomsoever might dare pilfer the volume was made anew:
“Qui libru[m] istu[m] furatu[r]
a domi[no] benedicat[ur]”
promising that God would “speak kindly of” anyone who would steal this book.
For more information on book curses, try Marc Drogin’s Anathema!: Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses (1983), available at a library near you.
aMAZEme by Marcos Saboya and Gualter Pupo
Not exactly a library shenanigan, but close enough for me. It’s part of the London 2012 festival, a Borgesian maze over 500 meters square. Thanks, Dina Wood!
books in hollowed-out logs in Berlin
These shelves are connected with Book Forest and BookCrossing. I hope they succeed! Thanks, BoingBoing and Bookshelf.
Mini-libraries all over town
The Little Free Library project aims to get little one-shelf libraries all over the U.S.. The birdhouse-like structures are endearing and the project seems delightful. (The librarian in me, though, fears that these sweet little birdhouse structures will end up becoming dumping grounds for junky books that nobody wants. Hush, librarian in me!) Thanks, BoingBoing!
1928 hospital bookmobile
This photo from the beautiful and stylish Bookshelf blog shows the Los Angeles Public Library’s hospital bookmobile in 1928. Thanks, BoingBoing!
Another book igloo!
Artist Miler Lagos has made an igloo out of books, and you can walk inside it. It might remind you of a similar structure built by CC students in 2010. Thanks, BoingBoing!
Giant book sculptures
Two giant book sculptures that seem like library shenanigans: Alicia Martin’s “Biografias” in Madrid and a giant tower of books about Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. Thanks, BoingBoing!
The Library Phantom Returns!
She’s at it again! Someone has been sneaking around putting wonderful altered-book paper sculptures into libraries and museums in Edinburgh. She says she’s finished. I hope she isn’t. More here.
Library Shenanigans 