Tag Archives: China

Links

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I’ve been bad about doing link posts the last few weeks.  Things have been a bit hectic around here lately, but they’re starting to calm down, at least until I leave the country on the 18th of September!

— Via Lifehacker: ebook software called GutenMark which formats Project Gutenberg downloads for easier reading.  It’s free and works in Windows, Mac and Linux, but I haven’t tried it yet so I can’t say how well it works.

— Jeremy offers his thoughts on a newly discovered early facsimile copy of the Declaration of Independence.

— Audra shares information and links regarding important Chinese conservation work.

— This week at Bookride, Bastards with Bookshops!  Need I say more?

— On that note, The danger of laughing at your customers, from Signal vs. Noise.

— Ministry of Type discusses the Faber Finds imprint, which publishes out of print works on-demand with completely unique cover designs.  It’s an interesting concept, but I can’t say that I like the design; it’s a bit busy for me.

— BibliOdyssey shares the Codex Manesse, a lovely 14th century illuminated work which he describes as perhaps “the quintessential Medieval manuscript.”

Movable Type at the Olympics

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Fellow SHARPist and blogger Von Totanes has found a YouTube video of the movable type section of the Olympic opening ceremony.  It’s just a film of a television, so the quality isn’t stellar, but you can get an idea of the show.  No guarantees on how long this will be up, though; they’re removing Olympic videos right and left.

Links

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Tons of links this week!

— So, the Olympic opening ceremony!  The very beautiful first half of the show featured ancient Chinese paper and printing technology, including a giant LED scroll, human calligraphy, a troop of dancers dressed as Confucian disciples carrying bamboo scrolls, and a truly amazing homage to movable type.   (I certainly never thought that I would hear an NBC announcer talking about “movable printing.”)  Unfortunately I, and it seems no one else, can find any video online.  So check out this BBC page for photos (they captured more of the book history stuff than NBC or CNN).  If you want to take a shot with video here’s the Wired guide to watching the Olympics online.

— Hoefler & Frere-Jones point out the intensely beautiful work of typographer and graphic designer Janno Hahn.  Do check out the gallery on Hahn’s website.  I will probably make some desktops for my computer from these images.

— Acephalous discusses the 1934 obscenity case that was decided in favour of Ulysses.

— PhiloBiblos and Upward Departure report on the sentencing of Richard Delaney, an electrician who stole £89,000 worth of rare materials from the Birmingham University Library.  Apparently the guy claimed he was going to read and then return them?!  Terrible.

— Morbid Anatomy shares some wonderfully creepy images from The Dances of Death Through the Various Stages by Hans Holbein the Younger reproduced as copperplate engravings by Dabid Deuchar in 1803.

— Satirical maps of World War I at BibliOdyssey.

Bookride continues a great series called “Where Do You Get These Books?”  This week’s installment is on the perils and pleasures of Book Towns.

— Book Patrol farewells skilled marbler Ann Muir.

— The Exile Bibliophile gets the prize for discovering the best toy ever.  If only I had several hundred extra dollars lying around.

— Hoefler & Frere-Jones also point us to an awesome pencil collection website.  I have to stop looking before I drool on the keyboard.

— The New York Times presents a sideshow titled “Book Ads: The Golden Age, 1962-1973.  Via Quillblog.