Monday, September 23, 2013

Late September Acquisitions / From Discover the Circle to Astrology


The newest batch of acquisitions all belong to the Robert Smithson Personal Library. The latest books to join the Library are (clockwise from the top):

Discovery of the Circle by Bruno Munari
The Hopi Indians by Ruth DeEtte Simpson
The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America by Leo Marx
Principles of Geomorphology by Don J. Easterbrook
The Erasers by Alain Robbe-Grillet
Astrology by Louis MacNeice


The beautifully designed and printed Astrology's contents page hints the treasures inside, from (Chapter 1) The art of the stars to (Chapter 6) The loss of respectability and (Chapter 9) Predictions and Pronouncements. The above spread shows a woodcut from a 1527 edition of The Kalendar of Shepherds and the heliocentric universe from Copernicus' De Revolutionibus.


Copernicus' revolutionary idea of a heliocentric universe leads us perfectly to the lovely Discovery of the Circle by Bruno Munari. The above spread is discussing optical effects of circles, while the spread below is centered on rings.



Below is a spread from Easterbrook's Principles of Geomorphology, with topographical maps and photographs.


Last is a highlighted spread from The Machine in the Garden. Highlighted on the left-hand page:

(What perplexes us here is) Emerson's ability to join enthusiasm for technological progress with a "romantic" love of nature and contempt for cities.


For any questions about the Library, Collections or books, please contact the Librarian at personallibraries{at}gmail{dot}com. 

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