Saturday, August 23, 2008

Illustrated Books

1st blog ever!! I'm a book lover and in particular I admire Illustrated, handmade, artists'& fine press books . A book collector I am... and proud of it. I'm particulary fond of Beatrix Potter Arthur Rackham & Rockwell Kent. I like the blend of illustration with hand crafted text on quality paper and bound to suit the text. A couple of my favourite books include the Kelmscott Chaucer, Undine-illustrated by Arthur Rackham , Walter Cranes illustrated Faerie Queen by Spenser & Rockwell Kents landmark 3 volume illustrated edition of Moby Dick.

I love the feel and smell of leather bound books and the decoration thereof. Velum, hand made paper, watermarked paper all contribute to a fine book. Letterpress printed text is is so textural and rich and when typographically set by a master can almost jumpoff the page!!

I' m huge fan of Charles van Sandwyk who is a Canadian treasure of an illustrator and book designer with his small press , The Fairy Press based out of North Vancouver BC.

5 comments:

Margaret said...

Thank you for stopping by, and congratulations on your new blog! It sounds like it will be fascinating. There's nothing quite like a beautiful book. I look forward to reading and seeing more!

I'd actually never heard of Charles van Sandwyk before I read this post. His artwork is just lovely! His books must be beautiful, though it sounds like they are hard to get.

Cheers!
Margaret

A World Away said...

Margaret,

Thanks for visiting. His books are mostly available in Western Canada and I do sell them in the gallery here in Calgary along with original etchings.

cheers,

Stephen

Tess Kincaid said...

I'm smelling those leather bound books from here! I'm visiting by way of Margaret's place. Your new blog is nice. Mind if I stop by again sometime?

Willow x o

A World Away said...

Willow,

Thank you for stopping by, you are always welcome. Don't get to high on that leather.

cheers,

Stephen

lotusgreen said...

i'm glad i found you. congratulations on your first blog!