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Harvard University Library

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The Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University

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“ In the light, we read the inventions of others; in the darkness we invent our own stories.” — Alberto Manguel, THE LIBRARY AT NIGHT

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Bookmaven — Collectable genre Paperbacks, Hardcovers, Digests, & Pulps.

The Beautiful Book — Illustrated books; Art, Treasure, & Vintage bindings.

NEW! The Golden Afternoon — Vintage children’s books

ABookPlace — Libraries to drool over, Independent (physical) Bookstores, Book Plates…

Banned Library — Books that have been challenged/removed from libraries.

BendingLight — Surreal images to jump-start your imagination.

TelzeyLovesTigger — Some personal favorites from around the net.

A very small number of images on these blogs are copyrighted; for these I invoke Fair Usage claiming neither ownership nor rights, and intend their inclusion only for the promotion of the book/author/artist. Please check all artwork before re-using. If you want your copyrighted work removed, or if you find a mistake, please contact me. My blogs are for fun. Comments/Requests welcome. —Lydia Marano, Bookmaven

AlSO NEW! Having no life, I’ve begun the time-consuming project to restore/rework some public domain cover designs for inclusion in my Redbubble shop where they’re available on a variety of products from wall art to totes. New designs every week.

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Old books.....

They are degraded and release aromatic molecules such as benzaldehyde, which has an almond-like aroma and smells like vanilla, ethylbenzene and toluene, which give it a sweet touch, or 2-ethyl hexanol, which has a slightly floral aroma.

There is a molecule that increases its concentration in books the older they are. It is furfural, which also smells like almonds, and is more abundant in pages made of cotton or linen than in cellulose.

It is used to date the age of books.

The pages of old books turn yellow over time. It has to do with lignin, a typical molecule of wood, which breaks down into acids that degrade cellulose. The pages of current books contain less of this chemical compound precisely to prevent the deterioration of the volumes.

Each book not only offers a story, but also a unique and singular perfume. — Kyle Gerback [on FB]

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This library was found in the Sakya Monastery, Tibet, containing 84,000 secret manuscripts, including the history of mankind for over 1000 years. It was discovered behind a huge wall. It is 60m long & 10m high.

— Antoine Taveneaux

‘As to the great library of Sakya, it is on shelves along the walls of the great hall of the Lhakhang chen-po. There are preserved here many volumes written in gold letters; the pages are six feet long by eighteen inches in breadth. In the margin of each page are illuminations, and the first four volumes have in them pictures of the thousand Buddhas. These books are bound in iron. They were prepared under orders of the Emperor Kublai Khan, and presented to the Phagpa lama on his second visit to Beijing.’ — Wikipedia

‘Sakya Monastery houses a huge library of as many as 84,000 books on traditional stacks 60 metres (200 ft) long and 10 metres (33 ft) high. Most of them are Buddhist scriptures, although they also include works of literature, history, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, and art. One scripture weighs more than 500 kilograms (1,100 lb), the heaviest in the world. The collection also includes many volumes of palm-leaf manuscripts, which are well-preserved due to the region's arid climate.

— Richard Mortel

‘In 2003, the library was examined by the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences. The monastery started to digitize the library in 2011. As of 2022, all books have been indexed, and more than 20% have been fully digitized. Monks now maintain a digital library for all scanned books and documents.’ Wikipidia

source

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The Law Library in The New Town Hall in Munich, Germany

Photo by: Thomas - @journey.tom [IG]

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National Library of Paris, France 🇫🇷

Photo by: @antoine_never [IG]

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University Club of New York, USA 📚

Library at The University Club on Fifth Ave at 54th St. Designed by McKim, Meade and White (who were all members) and finished in 1899. Truly one of the most spectacular interiors I’ve ever seen in this city. Jacket and tie required and no jeans allowed.

Photo by: @evanjosephphoto [IG]

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Walk through

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Dog prints in medieval chained library

I made this image in the chained library “De Librije” in the Dutch city of Zutphen. Established in 1564, everything about this place is still precisely as it was, including the tiles on the floor. Remarkably, throughout the library there are tiles with a dog’s paw prints. These 450-year-old traces of a large dog come with a local legend. One night, a monk called Jaromir was reading in the library while enjoying a meal of chicken, delivered to him by some nuns. He was not supposed to do this: not only does one not eat in a library, but he was also going through a period of fasting. Then suddenly the devil appeared in the form of a dog, scaring the living daylights out of the monk. The devil ate the chicken and locked the monk inside as a punishment - as devils do. Knowing the story, it’s hard to ignore the prints when admiring the books. 

Pics (top my own): Zutphen, Librije Chained Library. More on the legend on the library’s website, also source for lower pic, here (in Dutch).

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A solution for corners and large books.

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✨Welcome to the SUZALLO LIBRARY in Seattle, USA

Located on the University of Washington's campus in Seattle, the Suzzallo Library is a magnificent example of Collegiate Gothic architecture. With its grand reading room often likened to the hall of Hogwarts, it's a place where scholars and dreamers alike can immerse themselves in academic pursuits and literary wonder.

📸: Cameron Stewart

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A woman examining giant books in the Prague Castle Archives. Czech Republic, 1940s.

#Books #PragueCastle #Castle #Library #CzechRepublic #history #historical #historic

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Artwork: Elizabeth Shippen Green