Image: 4lexandre

The photographer noted that this was an art installation in Prague rather than a sidewalk bookstore as I first imagined.   As a sidewalk bookshop, it would be really difficult to browse the titles, but I’ve seen other bookstores that face similar challenges.  Image: Emiliano

Yet another view of the wonderful Shakespeare and Co. in Paris.  This one utilizes the Droste effect which is an image within an image within an image.  Image: Alexandre Duret-Lutz

The Mount Caesar Union Library in New Hampshire.  Image: jessamyn west

The books of Joseph Banks, who traveled with Captain Cook on the Endeavour south of Sydney in 1770.  Image: Alex S. Bayley

Books left behind in Tyneham, England when the village was permanently taken over by the military in WWII.  The school house is now a museum.  Image: megaankate

Other posts in the roundup this week from A Pretty Book include:

• Blue Books Awaiting Their Fate
• Weekend Treat:  Printing with a Colonial Press
• Pretty Faux Books in Spring Colors
• Libreria San Gines in Madrid
• Play Ball with Books

Enjoy,

JT

Pretty old cloth covered books.  Image: Patrick Q

The baseball shelves in the San Francisco Public Library.  Image: katerba

Reading in a baseball glove.  Image: SFDenverLV

A collection of baseballs and baseball books.  Image: Corey Seeman

Up close and personal with a baseball.  Image: Eugenio

A bird, a baseball, and some books…naturally.  Image: Vickie C

Enjoy,

JT

The Chocolateria is open all night so you can indulge in your churros con chocolate any time. Image: M. Martin Vicente

Libreria San Gines is basically a book stall.  The shelves back up to the church wall and are covered as needed with roll down doors.  A small room jutting out from the church wall houses a bit of inventory and the cashier.   Image:  FDV via Wikipedia

San Gines was opened sometime in the 1800s and is frequently referred to as one of the oldest bookstores in Spain. Image: Ricardo Ricote Rodríguez

The Libreria sells antiquarian and second-hand books. Image: Patrick Dobeson

Image: juantiagues

Image: Dr. Azzacov

An HDR enhanced view of the bookshelves.  Image: le Maître

Enjoy,

JT

The cover of each faux book opens to reveal a storage space.  I’ve noticed this before on faux books;  many of them have raised bands on the spines like a fine or vintage book.

These even have an endband, that tiny strip of fabric or silk stitching at the top of the spine.  See the yellow and red thin line?

Each faux book motif has a coordinating set of boxes, some with clasps and handles.

I think the scroll work is pretty on these spines and wish more modern day books had these designs.

And finally, you can build a library of faux books with titles of places you want to visit and inspirational messages.

While Muskogee might not be famous enough to be emblazoned on the spine of a faux book, you may have heard of it if you’ve listened to the old 1969 Merle Haggard song, Okie from Muskogee.  But you’re more likely to have heard Carrie Underwood sing about her hometown, Checotah, which is just a few miles south of Muskogee.

Enjoy,

JT

Here’s the link to view the video directly.

Enjoy,

JT

I could spend all day moving books from boxes to stacks to shelves and enjoy every minute.

Hope you enjoy the stacks,

JT

An antique store in Ely, UK. Image: adeltoclarencedock

Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Image: researchgirl

Beautiful spine designs.  Image: Julian@- OFF/on

An old Dickens with other well worn books.  Image: Bart Heird

Antique bookshelf in Bukidnon, Phillipines. Image: MikeVC

Bookshop in Paris. Image: I Am Not I

The roundup for A Pretty Book this week includes:

• Robinson Crusoe – The Spanish Edition
• Weekend Treat:  A Peek in the Prelinger Library
• Staircases Mixed with Books
• National Library of Spain

Enjoy,

JT

The library was established as the Royal Library in 1712 by King Philip V.  An early royal decree obligated anyone publishing books or papers in Spain to deposit a copy with the library.  An order in 1750 gave the library right of first refusal when collections of books were offered for sale, thus further expanding its holdings.  Photographer: Barrado, I., 1930

Look at those beautiful glass fronted bookshelves. Date: 1930s

Today the library has over 26 million items, including 15 million books and papers, and 500,000 maps.  How many card catalogs would it take to keep track of that many items? My card catalog holds over 1,000 cards per drawer, is about the size of the one shown here, and is filled with 50,000 recipes.  I’ll let you do the math for 26,000,000 items; it’s a lot. Photographer: Cortés Faure, Miguel, 1932

Notice some of the library patrons looking up at the photographer. Probably wondering what the heck was going on. Photographer: Cortés Faure, Miguel, 1934

Photographer: Videa, 1930s

Oh the glory days of libraries.  I should have been a librarian, not an accountant, and spent my days in a room like this instead of staring at Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint documents.  I wish I could straighten up those ginormous books on the table. Photographer: Cortés Faure, Miguel, 1932

Get ready, I may be writing about books in Spain for the next few weeks. Two of my daughters are headed to Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo, Seville, and other wonderful cities with specific instructions from me to step inside the libraries and take some pictures. Do you have recommendations for their bookish photo opportunities?

Enjoy,

JT

But book owners braver than me have found that staircases are actually very practical for books.  If the pile gets too high, I guess you have to really, really want the book on the bottom to make it worth moving all of the books.

Shakespeare & Co Bookstore in Paris. Image: chloester

All I know about these beautiful stairs is that they are somewhere in Savannah, Georgia. Image: burr0ughs

Another bookstore that has exhausted their shelving options.  Image: Jacob Patterson-Stein

A cool Brazilian bookstore kitty in São Francisco, Curitiba – Paraná. Image: Paulo Marcel Coelho Aragão

Image: Fergus Ray Murray

Image: Sharon Brogan

I wonder how a coffee cup with an image of the Queen ended up in a cubbyhole next to old pretty books. Image: peripathetic

Have you run out of room for your books? Would you store them on your staircase?

Enjoy,

JT

An article in Harper’s details how this library came into existence and how the owners think about books and information, both in the physical and digital realms.    Image: rockcreek

Image: Jeremy Brooks

Enjoy,

JT