Our regular look at new books that have recently caught the eye of our print and online editors this month.
The Study: The Inner Life of Renaissance Libraries by Andrew Hui
Hui focuses on the Renaissance ‘studiolo’ (“little studio”) and what they offered owners such as Petrarch and Montaigne, as well as his personal journey as a bibliophile, and imaginary libraries in Rabelais, Cervantes, and Shakespeare, plus depictions of saintly bibliophiles in paintings including Virgin Mary and St. Jerome. He brings the story up to date with discussions of Jorge Luis Borges and Umberto Eco. Iillustrated. Published by Princeton University Press.
A History of Old English Verse Layout: Poetics on The Page by Rachel A. Burns
Arc Humanities Press’s Book Cultures series continues with this look at Old English poetic mise-en-page, and in particular lineation, from early Latin writings in England to 21st century editions.
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll): A Bibliography of Works Published in His Lifetime compiled by Charlie Lovett
From the University of Virginia Press comes lifelong enthusiast Charlie Lovett’s updated (from the previous 1979 edition) authoritative bibliography of publications by Carroll during his lifetime (1832–1898).
Dogs in Early Photography by John Koh
Book collector and owner of Bernard Quaritch in London (which publishes this book), John Koh has built up a large private collection of 19th century photographs of dogs. The collection of dog photography is being donated to the Bodleian’s early photography holdings.
Memories of Distant Mountains by Orhan Pamuk
The illustrated journals of the Turkish Nobel Prize–winning author featuring his own paintings. Pamuk kept a daily record of his thoughts in small notebooks which are here brought together in one volume. Subjects include his writing proces, travels, and observations on Turkey. From Knopf.
Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey: Rare Drawings, Scripts, and Stories by Carol Verburg
From Gorey’s close friend and collaborator Carol Verburg, this highly illustrated volumed contains annotated scripts, archival photos and previously unpublished artwork, and is the first book to concentrate on his life in theater from community theater to major productions . Published by Chronicle Books
Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Biography by Joseph Luzzi
A history of Dante’s masterpiece and its influence on the writers and artists of his day right up to the present, including its impact on John Milton, Mary Shelley, James Joyce, and Primo Levi. From Princeton University Press
Readers for Life: How Reading and Listening in Childhood Shapes Us edited by Sander L. Gilman and Heta Pyrhönen
A collection of original essays by writers and literary scholars about the significant effects reading has on us all from childhood and into adulthood. With pieces by Salman Rushdie, Natalya Bekhta, Peter Brooks, Philip Davis, Linda and Michael Hutcheon, Sander L. Gilman, Daniel Mendelsohn, Laura Otis, Laura Oulanne, Heta Pyrhönen, Cristina Sandu, Pajtim Statovci, and Maria Tatar, plus an interview with Michael Rosen. Published by University of Chicago Press.
Revisionaries: What we can learn from the lost, unfinished, and just plain bad work of great writers by Kristopher Jansma
From Quirk Books, a look at the things which 20 major writers decided was better filed in the bin or the back of the drawer. Jansma looks at forgotten drafts and abandoned ideas of Kafka, Octavia Butler, Ralph Ellison, Louisa May Alcott and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
An Atlas of Endangered Alphabets by Tim Brookes
Writing systems are in as much danger of extinction as languages around the world, around 85% of the total number according to Brookes who examines those in particular peril, what we will lose if they finally disappear, and the people trying desperately to save them. From Mobius, formerly known as Quercus.
Didion and Babitz by Lili Anolik
A dual biography of two literary titans, Joan Didion and Eve Babitz. Anolik pays especial attention to Babitz’s intimate, diary-like letters found in sealed boxes after her death. Published by Scribner.
Stranger Than Fiction: Lives of the Twentieth-Century Novel by Edwin Frank
The editor, poet and the founder/editorial director of the New York Review of Books’ Classics series analyses how novelists in the last century attempted to adapt the novel form to modern times and answer questions about how to live better lives. The roll call of authors under his international microscope include Dostoevsky, H.G. Wells, Colette, Chinua Achebe, Vasily Grossman, Gabriel García Marquez and W.G. Sebald. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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