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. 

PLL Open Again + New Acquisitions

The Canadian Rockies were amazing (and many thanks to The Banff Centre and everyone involved with Always Lift Inking Rollers) but I am very happy to be back at the Library.

Here are the latest acquisitions that were waiting for me upon my return:
Concepts of Space: The History of the Theories of Space in Physics by Max Jammer, and
Masked Gods: Navaho and Pueblo Ceremonialism by Frank Waters,
both from the Robert Smithson Collection.

And from the Italo Calvino Collection:
Pensieri by Giacomo Leopardi

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

Light Summer Hiatus!

The Personal Libraries Library is taking a summer hiatus, so that the Librarian can spend some time up in the Canadian Rockies! That said, you can still contact the Librarian at personallibraries{at}gmail{dot}com.

Have a great summer!

JUNE 2013 PRINTED MATTER!

FINALLY! The Spring/Summer 2013 edition of printed matter is ready to be shipped!  Members and Friends of the Library can look forward to finding some or all of the printed matter in their mailbox.

Included in the packet is the first-ever PLL screenprinted work, featuring books from the collections, including Italo Calvino's t zero, The Moon by Isaac Asimov and Robert Heizer's Man's Discovery of His Past: Literary Landmarks in Archaeology:

 Also included is this letterpress print, SALT, using a paratextual illustration from L.W. Marrison's Crystals, Diamonds and Transistors (also seen above in the screenprint):

Lastly, is the fourth poster in the Entering the Robert Smithson Library series, Mazes & Labyrinths, by William Henry Matthews:

If you are interested in joining the Personal Libraries Library please contact the Librarian at personallibraries{at}gmail{dot}com. Every member of the PLL receives bi-annual packets of printed matter.

WORD RAIN to THE AMBIDEXTROUS UNIVERSE

ASTRONOMY, GEOLOGY, and DINOSAURS make up the bulk of this spring's acquisitions.
Seen above are Stars: A Guide to the Constellations, Sun, Moon, Planets, and Other Features of the Heavens by Herbert Zim & Robert Baker and The Sun by K.O. Kiepenheuer, both from the Smithson collection.

Below are two spreads from these beautiful books:

Also from the Robert Smithson Collection, you will now be able to check out the cleverly designed The Ambidextrous Universe: Left, Right, and the Fall of Parity by Martin Gardner, and

The World of the Dinosaurs by David Dunkle,
Introducing Astronomy by J.B. Sidgwick,
CRYPTOZOIC! by Brian Aldiss,
¿Aguila o Sol? / Eagle or Sun? by Octavio Paz.

The Geology of New York City and Environs by Christopher J. Schuberth is exhaustive in detailing the geological history and current state of New York.

It also contains a fold-out poster, The Physiographic Diagram of the New York Region, pictured below.

And, finally, I am so excited to be accessioning WORD RAIN, or A Discursive Introduction to the Philosophical Investigations of G,R,E,T,A, G,A,R,B,O, It Says by Madeline Gins.

Within this piece of fiction (and concrete poetry,) Gins lays bare the production of texts and books by explicity marking sentences to be deleted and referring to the materiality of the book itself.  As the dust jacket states: 

In WORD RAIN, an unnamed narrator sits at a desk in a friend's apartment reading a manuscript. Surrounding the undefined character is a birthday party taking place in the next room, a glass of pineapple-grapefruit juice that is supposed to be pure grapefruit juice, the loose leaves of the manuscript, and the variable weather conditions.

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