What are you reading? 2023

I'm starting the year off with the Sylvain Sauvage-illustrated Romeo and Juliet. My favorite picture is the one on page 83, where the young lovers are on the balcony and Juliet doesn't want Romeo to leave yet.

Ramsey Campbell's The Decorations from Alpenhouse Apparitions (printed at Sutton Hoo Press).

I begin the year in the midst of The Pickwick Papers and volume 3 of the Pepys diary, and I just finished Pinocchio today.

>3 AMindForeverVoyaging: All P’s!

At the moment I am reading a paperback copy of Farthest North by Fridtjof Nansen. He won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his Fram (name of a ship) expedition of 1893–1896. The book was written about the expedition by Nansen himself. Very appropriate read during cold winter (though yesterday the 14 Celsius high temperature reached a whole time record here in Lithuania - it was the warmest January day of all time!). BTW, Nansen was latter awarded the Nobel peace price for other achievements. A true polymath! The translation is a bit too archaic for me and I feel that sometimes a word or few are missing in the sentences, but oh well... It will probably take a lot of time for me to finish the book. The last book I read - Herodotus' histories - took me about two years to finish. I read a Soviet Lithuanian translation and also checked the extensive notes in an English version of Rawlinson.

The next book I'll tackle will be Erasmus' Praise of Folly. I have both HP and LEC versions and a Lithuanian language biography of Erasmus by the historian Huizinga. Will be fun!

I've been dipping into Benvenuto Cellini (HP). What a lively writing style!

It was enlightening to read the parts about Cellini being imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo and how he broke a leg jumping over the rampart (?) in his attempt to escape. This was of particular interest to me, as I was reading about Tosca (title character of Puccini's opera and Sardou's play) at the same time. She, too, makes a leap from the same location.

Question for those who own the LEC: is the paper nice and thick, similar to that used for The Georgics? From photos, it seems like the paper is thin-ish.

>6 maisiedotes: I don’t have the Georgics, but to me the paper used in the LEC Cellini is a very nice paper, plenty thick, with a nice deckle and excellent feel. According to the ML for Cellini it is an an Italian monomacchina paper made entirely of linen rags. To me, the Cellini paper feels thicker than the other Bodoni LECs I have.

>7 jsg1976: Oh my, now I have to buy the LEC, even though the HP is just fine.

Thanks for the information.

I started the year reading the Les Mis LEC, and am now working my way through Madame Bovary LEC.

Anna Karenina is up for later this year, but I’m not sure whether to get one of the LEC versions, (Garnett), which all seem to be very pricey, or stick with the Franklin Library one I have (Maude), or read the Penguin Classics (P&V), which I have on Kindle. With Les Mis I read the LEC mainly, but used the Penguin version as a reference for the endnotes, or to read if I was out and about. I think I’d like to do the same here, although I don’t know whether Anna Karenina demands endnotes in the same way that Les Mis did, with all of Hugo’s historical references. Anyone have thoughts on which LEC (and/or which translation) is preferable?

>6 maisiedotes: The paper is by bo means thin but not too thick either. It has a watermark (Maslianico?) and I’d say is on the high end quality-wise compared to other LECs I have. Unfortunately I don’t own the Georgics to compare. It’s a beautiful book - the slipcase however chips easy and low quality. Opt for one with the dust jacket.

>8 maisiedotes: Do it!

I decided to go for Cellini's autobiography, published by Doubleday. It is illustrated and SIGNED by Salvador Dali (the signature makes it very expensive but the reproduction of illustrations is terrible...).

Here's some photos:
https://www.downtownbrown.com/pages/books/307405/salvador-dali-benvenuto-cellini...

>9 jsg1976: I recently read Madame Bovary LEC while traveling in France hah and thought the imagery and writing style were beautiful. The 1938 LEC edition is also very portable and Böhmer's watercolor illustrations embellish the story well. Hope you're enjoying it!

>9 jsg1976: FWIW, I have a strong preference for the Maude translation of Anna, the P&V gives me a headache. :-) Though of course each has their fans. Folio Society just re-released the Maude translation which I think is very well done.

>10 bacchus.: Thanks for the advice and feedback. It sounds like the kind of paper I'd enjoy reading and handling.

>11 Lukas1990: Your Dali intimidates me!

Reading EAP's "Tales of Mystery & Imagination" while balancing it with "Don Quixote" (1933).

On a trip to Portland, Oregon last week, I made my first ever jaunt to Powell's. WOWWWW!

I bought Paragraphs on Printing and am reading a few pages each evening. I'll admit that much of what Bruce Rogers writes is going over my head, but something will sink in.

Lucky for me, the Rare Book Room was open during the week because of Spring Break, so I had the opportunity to browse. The whole experience made me kind of nervous (I didn't know you had to get a tag to enter, the room was dark and hushed, you were supposed to put books on a cradle to look through them). There's so much to learn!

Since finishing Bruce Rogers' Paragraphs on Printing, I was inspired to look again at the Quarto-Millenary. I had bought that during the pandemic out of curiosity. I had just been introduced to Heritage Press and never seen an LEC (and libraries were closed).

At the time of purchase, 95% of the essays were Greek to me; I didn't know any of the people, publishers, technical terminology. I'm reading with greater understanding now!

Just finished reading my LEC copy of Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. Easy to read and very good! The illustrations are a bit repetitive but still very nice

Started reading the LEC 1935 “House of the Seven Gables”. Somehow never got around to reading this in the past 50 years - very enjoyable so far, and the edition is a pleasure to hold and read.

Just finished LEC "A Lost Lady" by Willa Cather--quite immersive descriptions of the 19th century Wild West with really memorable characters. Also reading "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" which is less enjoyable but the illustrations and binding quality make it worthwhile.

>19 kermaier: I liked the first half better than the second. The LEC is a very handsome edition!

I'm reading parts of Beowulf (HP). William Ellery Leonard's vocabulary is difficult to digest, but the periodic short summaries are helpful, as are the questions that stimulate active reading.

My favorite parts about this book? The binding with the gorgeous blue labels and the paper.

Currently reading Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (LEC, 1971). A very pretty, and heavy, volume: luxurious esparto paper, with a tan quarter leather binding and wood veneer sides. (I am using a reading pillow.) The drawings by Fritz Kredel are engrossing and sometimes genuinely illustrative of the claims Darwin makes. According to the monthly letter, Kredel's son had a degree in zoology and advised his father about the drawings.

I admire the wood veneer sides, which remain mostly pristine in the copy I own. Does anyone know how often LEC (or other presses) used this material?

I read Origin of Species about eighteen months ago, and The Descent of Man is rather different. In the Descent, Darwin emphasizes much more heavily what he takes to be the hierarchy among species, "lower" and "higher" forms. He carries this language into his discussion of human races, some of whom he believes to be closer to our primate ancestors. Of course, Darwin is working with nineteenth-century ethnography, but I still find his sentiments rather startling in places. I can see how readers were tempted to misinterpret his work and derive from it ideas about social Darwinism or eugenics.

>23 Eumnestes: I admire the wood veneer sides, which remain mostly pristine in the copy I own. Does anyone know how often LEC (or other presses) used this material?

I am also a fan of the beautiful wood veneer covers used by the LEC. In my collection, Uncle Remus is a standout for using wood veneer on the slipcase and the illustrations were from wood blocks that were carefully made so that the wood grain makes-up a part of the image.

William Tell is another gorgeous binding in the surprisingly durable wood veneer.

The wood veneer was used in several LEC offerings, including The Book of the Dead where it was used on the slipcase and hasn't fared well. The LEC wood veneer items I have (Uncle Remus, Book of the Dead and one or two more) have not, as I recall, fared well over time as the veneer is easily damaged in my experience. I haven't seen the William Tell, so have no opinion on that one.

>23 Eumnestes: " Of course, Darwin is working with nineteenth-century ethnography, but I still find his sentiments rather startling in places. I can see how readers were tempted to misinterpret his work and derive from it ideas about social Darwinism or eugenics."

Yes--for a fascinating discussion of this aspect, as well as a wonderfully cranky rebuttal, be sure to read G.B. Shaw's preface to Back to Methuselah. (Hopefully in the Limited Editions Club edition with John Farleigh's wood engravings.)

>25 Glacierman: Interesting. I feel lucky that mine has remained in good shape.

>26 Django6924: I have long wanted to read that (preface and plays); your comment encourages me to place it higher on my reading list.

In preparation for a visit to France later this year, I've just completed the 1955 Lamotte illustrated Notre Dame de Paris and am now reading Mont Saint Michelle and Chartres with photographs by Samuel Chamberlain. These books read extremely well back-to-back with the two authors, Victor Hugo and Henry Adams, employing different genres to pay homage to the profound beauty and cultural influence of medieval French Gothic architecture. Adams spends a chapter drawing connections between the architectural attributes of Mont St. Michelle and the Christian and militaristic themes of the Song of Roland which may need to be the next LEC I dive into! There certainly is no shortage of French literature published by LEC that could get one excited for a journey through France.

I am otherwise making my way through the Great Books of the Western World series and I am actively seeking LEC editions whenever available as I don't own nor desire to read from the Britannica set. In some cases I have gone for the Franklin Library editions which is a nice option if you desire something like the complete works of Aristotle. This will likely be a multi decade endeavor with many detours such as the one detailed above based on my passing interests.

After reading a number of Lord Byron’s plays and poems in the Penguin paperback, I’ve now started in on the HP version of his Don Juan, which I believe is an HP exclusive. I’m finding it rather amusing so far (a good thing for a book-length satiric epic poem), and I like the HP’s illustrations.

Does anyone have the Sandglass for it by any chance? I didn’t see it in the drive.

>29 cartographer144: Who needs Lonely Planet, when you have Victor Hugo! Sounds like a great trip. What parts of France are you visiting?

>31 PartTimeBookAddict: We'll be going around Paris, Normandy, Loire Valley, and Reims

>30 jsg1976:

I will scan the Sandglass this weekend and send it to one of the Devotees to upload.

This book is Byron's masterpiece and one of the treasures among HP exclusives.

I apologize for the double post--the result of carpal tunnel issues.

>32 cartographer144: I was in Paris, Nice and Lyon this time last year. Have an excellent trip!

>33 Django6924: thanks!