Books, Boxes and Wraps

Second Edition

I simply cannot believe that this book is already out of print again!

Books, Boxes & Wraps: Bindings & Building Step-By-Step, by Marilyn Webberley, has been a go-to book for me since I bought the first edition of the book in about 1997.

This second edition, updated in 2014, is advertised as an expansion and a refinement of the first. I see that it is no longer available except as a used book. I’ve ordered a copy to see what new things were added.

Art books online from the Guggenheim

Solomon R. Guggenheim collection of non-objective paintings : on exhibition from March 1, 1936 through April 12, 1936

The Guggenheim has put online more than 200 books about modern art! You can download most of them in a variety of formats: ePub, Kindle (MOBI), PDF, plain text, and more.

There are a lot of books on Kandinsky, some Klimt, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, a great catalog on Jenny Holzer … and some great Guggenheim collections.

Check the whole list of offerings from the Guggenheim at archive.org.

The Secret History of Twin Peaks

Wait, isn’t this a lettering blog? Not to worry. Read on.

I mentioned last May in passing that I had finished a fun bit of commercial lettering. There was the usual last-minute scramble to make a deadline, and then I turned to all the work I had set aside. 

Well, yesterday upon being reminded of the book, I looked it up on Amazon .. and I ordered a copy. Meanwhile, I’ve enjoyed seeing my lettering in the “Look Inside” Amazon feature. Click on the book jacket to go to Amazon and see for yourself.

Woven and Interlocking Book Structures now a free PDF

Woven and Interlocking Book Structures, by Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner
Woven and Interlocking Book Structures, by Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner

Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner have made their 2002 book Woven and Interlocking Book Structures freely available in a variety of formats (PDF, EPUB, Kindle, etc.) at the Internet Archive. Published in 2002 and no longer in print, this book is a self-teaching manual with directions for making basic models of 16 book structures designed for Janus, Steiner, and Gefn Press publications. UPDATE: The links I’ve posted and updated since first writing this post have all gone the way of many internet links. But, as of April 2021, this link is working https://archive.org/details/woveninterlockin00vanv/mode/2up

I’m lucky to have the print version. Though out of print, used copies are available (at a premium price) from third-party sellers at Amazon.

I read at one of the dead links that you can print the PDF 2-sided and bind it in a 3-ring binder as a bench-top manual; it will take 76 sheets of letter-size paper.

Beautiful needlework instruction book

Needlework instruction book. Dublin, Ireland, 1833-37.
Needlework instruction book. Dublin, Ireland, 1833-37.

http://northeastauctions.com/product/two-extremely-rare-needlework-instruction-books-with-samples-from-the-female-model-school-kildare-place-dublin-ireland-1833-37/

http://northeastauctions.com/product/two-extremely-rare-needlework-instruction-books-with-samples-from-the-female-model-school-kildare-place-dublin-ireland-1833-37/

Art 21 / Geometry of Design

I’ve been spending some time at PBS’s Art 21 website recently. It’s packed with information about contemporary art and artists, and excerpts from the 20-minute interviews shown on their PBS television series.

I’ve ordered the book associated with the first season.

Another interesting book I just got in the mail:
Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition, by Kimberly Elam. It’s got a lot of compact information about the golden section and illustration as circles (which I’ve seen a lot) and squares (which I’ve seen less often), as well and some great overlays illustrating the underlying geometric design of various commercial artwork.