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BibliOdyssey: Amazing Archival Images from the Internet
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by PK, Dinos Chapman, Damon Murray, and Stephen Sorrell
Sales Rank: 19632
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Discount: 34 %
List Price: $34.95
$23.07
At Amazon
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Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Fuel Publishing October 1, 2007
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0955006163
ISBN-13: 978-0955006166
Product Dimensions:
10 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Book Description
With just a few select books to date, the British publisher (and design company) Fuel has already made a splash with its beautifully produced books on such ephemeral or popular arts as tattooing (Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Volumes I and II), soccer programs (Match Day) and improvised domestic implements (Home-Made). Fuel's latest publication extends this visual anthropology to the Internet, specifically the blog BibliOdyssey. Across the world, libraries and institutions are only recently starting to make their collections available online, and the bulk of this amazing material goes unnoted by the casual surfer. BibliOdyssey's mission over the past two years has been to diligently trawl the dustier corners of the Internet and retrieve these materials for our attention. Thanks to the daily efforts of this singular blog, a myriad of long-forgotten imagery has now re-surfaced, from eighteenth-century anatomical and architectural drawing to occult and alchemical engravings and proto-Surrealist depictions of the horrors of industrialization (for example, the half-plant, half-people illustrations of J.J. Grandville). Each of the images is accompanied by commentary from "PK," author and curator of the BibliOdyssey blog. The book also provides details for each image and links to the source website. With a foreword by artist Dinos Chapman, BibliOdyssey is a true cabinet of curiosities and a journey in discovery and delight.
Customer Reviews & Comments
Here's a stunning phrase: visual materia obscura. As in, all the beautiful, eccentric, frightening and illuminating images you can find -- if you know how to look for them -- in the Web's dustiest, most erudite archives. Nobody knows how to look better than PK, creator of BibliOdyssey, the blog -- a showcase for 1000 years of works on paper, many related to the book arts, and, IMHO, the most optically seductive site on the Web, keeping its fans up till dawn with the wonder of it all. It's only natural that BibliOdyssey should morph into a book -- and a gorgeous one at that. Brought out by swank FUEL Design in London, the book is the perfect companion to the blog, but only if you like medieval herbals, meticulous 18th century drawings of microscopic critters, cloud maps, comet anatomy, mysterious geared machines from the Baghdad Caliphate, Renaissance prosthetics, outrageous costumes, ornate nakedness, heart-stopping calligraphy, antiquarian cookbooks and anything to do with Fr. Athanasius Kircher. PK, an Australian mystery blogger, has a marvelous, totally unpretentious way of introducing you to his favorite finds. If it sounds like he just discovered them himself -- well, he did. And I wish a lot of culture vultures would imitate his tone when they write or teach or even leave the house. Not to be sneezed at is the Foreword by famous British artist Dinos Chapman. And the binding itself is worth the price. Heavens! Buy this fabulous book for the holiday (or for upcoming Valentine's Day) -- it's the same price publishers of absolute dogmeat are asking for material that won't hold your attention for half an hour. If you don't love it, someone you know will love YOU for giving it to them.
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BibliOdyssey: Amazing Archival Images from the Internet
List Price: $34.95
Discount: 34 %
Available from Amazon
Price: $23.07
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