Symphysis
Kinnari Thakker's Personal BlogArchive for Exploring Non-linear narratives of textual information
Inspiring Layouts from Ancient & Forgotten Books
The visual quality of the pages in the above pictures is so inspiring. But its these last three pictures that fascinate me the most, because they involve participation from the people who have read this particular copy of the book – and have left their comments/quotes/ideas/understanding about it in the margins. The book changes completely when that happens, because for the next person reading it, he is reading not only the printed set text but also the handwritten comments by another person, which changes the experience completely.
Image Source: http://kc-cieszyn.pl/index.php is the library website I got all the pictures from.
The last three photos in the post were shared by Professor Dan Boyarski at the CMU School of Design, who photographed them from a book in the Ksiaznica Cieszynska Library, in Cieszyn, Poland.
Annotated Bible
When Dan spoke about the design of books in the olden days with large margins, so that the owner/owners can comment on the text as well as on each others comments – I was so interested in this idea! Its a linear book design with the most fascinating integration of non linear information with a different time-line, different theme, different character… A quick search yielded the following result – more findings ensue in following posts…
Image Source: http://homepage.mac.com/rmansfield/thislamp/files/20060808_a_survey_of_wide_margin_bibles_by_version.html blog by Rick Mansfield
The Next Chapter
A book can be many things: an object, a source of knowledge, a cultural artifact or an idea. From each volume, layers of meaning and subtext can be mined, not only from the words and images inside, but from the subtle design elements, the materiality of its pages and spine, and its symbolic value as a recorder of human evolution. For 550 years, the printed page has been our primary means of communication, though it is steadily being overtaken in the digital age.
Will books survive the digital age? What will they need to become to survive it? Not surprisingly, the ideas which are expressed in this article, as possible solutions for the future of the book, portray the book as it should have been in the first place.
“The book has to be more and more of an object, more tactile and more of a connection between publisher, author and reader. It is like the pleasure we get from buying a locally grown tomato directly from the farmer”
Matvei Yankelevich, co-founder of Brooklyn-based Ugly Duckling Presse.
The Next Chapter (print magazine)
We have the Kindle, the iphone and of course, the web. But is the new technology really changing the way we read?
Collecting Books with interesting forms
above pieces photographed at: Paper Pressed Stained Slashed Folded Exhibit at MOMA,NY, April 2009.
