The Art of Book Bindings (cont.) – Reflecting on ye books of olde

Last week I posted about book bindings, and today, finally, I have a chance to discuss some of the really nifty vintage books we have.  The pure artistry of these books is astounding to me.  I’ll begin with two, and will post about a couple more every week or so.

Kennedy Square‘s 1911 first printing is a bold green, with a fantastic chandelier taking prominence over the title.  The smoke coming out from the candles is gorgeously done, striking out a bold claim as an eye-grabber.  We’re selling this wonderful book for $6.00, which, with our sale, comes down to $3.00.  Not bad!

The Adventures of Captain Horn is unfortunately a little damaged, but the incredible front binding is not, and is one of my favorites of the department.  This was printed in 1895, and has a beautiful sailboat surrounded by the title of the book, ribbons, and what look like satchels furthest on the outside.  A fine piece of book binding excellence, for the low price of $5.00 ($2.50 with our sale!).

More to come next week!

Gloryland Event Wrap-Up

Our event with Shelton Johnson last week was a magical one.  Shelton read four chapters of Gloryland with his clear, captivating voice, really making me wish there was an audio book of Gloryland available.  He was an absolute pleasure to have here, and we had a pretty full house on hand to hear him speak.  Shelton also signed all of our copies of Gloryland we had remaining after the event, so if you were not able to attend, we do have those here for you.  Congrats to Shelton on making it to paperback!

In a fascinating sidenote, Gloryland happens to be the #1 bestselling book of our store of all time.  It’s a mesmerizing story, and one that really needs to be read!  Come on in if you’re intrigued to see why it’s been our most popular book in the history of the store!