Beautiful Books

I’ve reached the stage when I have as many books in my virtual books (5000) as in my physical. Neagu Djuvara was a Romanian intellectual (he died at 97 years old) and produced a Brief Illustrated History of Romanians which immediately went into my short list of Beautiful Books. To qualify for this honour, a book has to fit standards none too easy to specify – such as

• paper type (thickish and rough),

• format,

• balance of text and illustrations,

• typeface,

• graphics

• textual content. 
  
  

In principle, art and cookery books should be beautiful – but their glossiness is usually offputting – Beaneaters and Bread Soup - portraits and recipes from Tuscany (2007) and Food from Plenty (2010) were exceptions. And travel books should be attractive eg the Pallas Athene books on Czechoslovakia (out of print) and Romania.

John Berger and Jean Mohr’s A Fortunate Man (Penguin 1969) is probably top of my list of beautiful books. Its perhaps significant that its pictures are in black and white – as, naturally, is Andre Kertesz’s On Reading (see also here)

A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel is also a treat - both for content and visual impact. Vincent van Gogh – ever yours is a marvellous mix of graphics and letters from and to Vincent and his brother Theo who gave him both moral and financial support. Another favourite is a Folio edition of Machiavelli’s The Prince (1970)

As someone who can spend a few hundred euros on a single painting, I should probably be willing to pay more then 20 euros for a book - and be more demanding in my requirements of books. Indeed, having (self-)published several little books, it is probably time again to venture down that path - this time perhaps producing a "beautiful book"!  

It was only a few years back that I realised that I had become a collector – not just of paintings but of various small objects which appealed to me in the various countries I worked in. Painted boxes; wooden spoons; ceramics; figurines and sculptures.... some of my favourite objects are (empty) unlined notebooks – products of those countries which craft superb specimens of such wood/paper products eg Italy, Latvia and Bulgaria.