June 26, 2007
Free Book Giveaway #10
Too many books! Not enough room! What better reason could there be to stage the tenth of the Giornale Nuovo’s free book giveaways? Peruse the odd assortment of books below. If you’d like one of them, check the comments to see whether your choice has already been claimed: and, if it hasn’t, then leave a comment of your own stating which of the books it is that you want. Once you have laid claim to the volume of your choice, send me an e-mail (to mr.h@spamula.net) which contains your snail-mail address. I’ll sort through the requests to decide who gets what: in most cases, it’ll simply happen that the first person to claim a book will be the one who receives it. I’ll mail out the books within a week or so (I will pay all postage costs). I’m limiting the offer to one book per recipient.
1. Lequeu: an Architectural Enigma, by Phillipe Duboy, translated from the French by Francis Scarfe, with a foreword by Robin Middleton. The book contains 420 illustrations, of which only 8, alas, are in colour. I disparaged this book in my post about Lequeu: ‘while Duboy does not omit […] what little is known about Lequeu’s life, he does this confusingly, and uses his discussion of Lequeu’s work as a pretext for a tiresome & pretentious farrago about Marcel Duchamp, Raymond Roussel & Le Corbusier, among others.’ This is a dustjacketed hardback: ISBN: 0-500-34095-1; 368pp.
2. Ceramica de Picasso, by Georges Ramié. Most of Picasso’s paintings fall into an aesthetic blind-spot of mine, but I do admire some of his sculptures, and, as documented in this volume, which I picked up at the bookshop of the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, his ceramics. The catalogue is illustrated in colour throughout; the text is in Spanish. My copy is a hardcover issued by Ediciones Polígrafa in 1995. ISBN: 84-343-0399-X; 128pp.
3. Jean Pierre Velly: L’Oeuvre Gravé collects the etchings and engravings of this Breton artist, in a catalogue raisonné compiled by Didier Bodart, with a preface by Mario Praz. I confess I never took to these works like I did to Velly’s paintings (previously mentioned here & here), although Velly was, for much of his career, best known as a graphic artist. This catalogue was issued in 1980 by the Galleria Don Chisciotte in Rome, in conjunction with Sigfrido Amadeo and Vanni Scheiwiller in Milan. It is also available for download in PDF format from this page. The text is in French and Italian. There is no ISBN, & the book is not paginated, but runs to approx. 164pp.
4. The Philosophical Writings of Henry More presents us with excerpts from three of the Cambridge Platonist’s works, namely ‘The Antidote Against Atheism,’ ‘The Immortality of the Soul,’ and ‘Enchiridion Metaphysicum.’ with a long introduction and extensive commentary & notes by Flora Isabel MacKinnon. Personally, I would have preferred much longer extracts & less commentary. This volume is a 1970s reprint of an edition first issued in 1925. ISBN 0-404-04409-3; ca. 312pp.
5. Volume XIX of the Warburg Institute’s Surveys and Texts is Philosophical Fictions and the French Renaissance, a collection of eight essays, edited, and with an introduction by Neil Kenny, and with an afterword by Terence Cave. Three of the scholarly texts therein are in French, the others in English. The subjects include Bartélemy Aneau’s Alector; ‘Neoplatonic Fictions in the Hymnes of Ronsard;’ ‘The Philosophical Phoenix’ and ‘Fictions cosmographiques à la Renaissance.’ ISBN: 0-85481-079-X; 138pp (paperback).
6. Mélancolies: Livre d'Images, was my main source for this post. It’s a ‘book of images,’ published to coincide with the exhibition Mélancolie: Génie et folie en Occident staged in Paris in ’05-’06, and was compiled by Maxime Préaud, a knowledgeable authority on graphic art. The book’s historical scope extends from Dürer, in particular his famous 1514 print Melencolia I, to Goya. The text is in French. The illustrations (all in black-and-white) are well-chosen and well-reproduced, although, presumably owing to the book’s small size and square format, several of them appear to be more-or-less cropped. Paperback; ISBN: 2-252-03535-8; 224pp.
7. Barocke Architektur in Böhmen, is the ninth volume in the excellent Instrumentaria Artium series issued by the Austrian publishers Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA for short). It reproduces in facsimile an architectural treatise by a master-builder named Abraham Leüthner, which was first published in Prague in 1677. Leüthner’s book begins with a short, illustrated text, and is thereafter wholly pictorial: a jumble of groundplans, façades, decorative elements, fountains, grotesques, diagrams, etc. (I used a few of these images in this post). It is followed by an illustrated 40pp+ essay (in German) by H.G. Franz. Paperback; ISBN: 3-201-01577-6; 140pp.
8. Francisek Starowieyski: Plakaty. Retrospekywa / Posters. Retrospective. This slim volume collects the striking poster designs of Starowieyski (some of which I mentioned here). The images are drawn 'from the collection of Piotra Dabrowskiego & Agnieski Kulon.' There is a brief foreword by Starowieyski, and a note by Piotr Dabrowski (both given in Polish and English), followed by reproductions of sixty or so of his designs, followed by a more comprehensive catalogue, with tiny thumbnail illustrations (all in colour). Paperback; ISBN: 83-915298-5-1; approx. 96pp.
9. Eisbergfreistadt: A House of Cards, by by Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick. As recently mentioned here, this booklet contains designs for ‘a hand-coloured etched playing card deck’ with ‘four suits: birds, smokestacks, icebergs,’ which, together ‘form a continuous panorama.’ I’m letting this go as I now have some decks of the actual cards that Kahn & Selesnick have since produced. Paperback; 57pp; published by lulu.com; no ISBN.
10. Die Entdeckung Amerikas, (‘The Discovery of America’) by Saul Steinberg. This is the German-language edition, published by Diogenes Verlag, Zürich, of a collection of Steiberg’s drawings published in 1992. I wrote about this book here: while I enjoyed making these works’ acquaintance, I have seldom looked at them since. There is a brief introduction by Arthur C. Danto (given in German), but after that the pictures are presented without commentary. Hardback; ISBN: 3-257-02042-2; 210pp.
Posted by misteraitch at June 26, 2007 11:33 AMHey!
Nice idea!
Has somebody else asked for the Lequeu´s?
Thank you, in the name of everyone, I guess. :)
Could I please have the "Francisek Starowieyski: Plakaty. Retrospekywa / Posters. Retrospective." book, if it's still available?
I'd like the Steinberg, Mr H!
Posted by: C. Rancio on June 26, 2007 12:50 PMI'd like the Barocke Architektur in Böhmen, if at all possible
many thanks
Lawrence in Prague
"Cerámicas de Picasso", with texts in spanish, my mother language, would be an excellent gift to me (unlike you I love all Picasso's work, including his paintings), but I live in Argentina. I suppose that's so far from you and the postage costs will be excesive, right?
Posted by: carlos on June 26, 2007 01:05 PMI'd gladly take the Henry More if nobody else is interested and will even be able to pick it up sometime around the end of July ...
Cheers
Mike
Posted by: M ike Nicholson on June 26, 2007 01:33 PMI'd like to have Mélancolies: Livre d'Images. Thanks!
Wei
Posted by: Wei on June 26, 2007 01:43 PMOscar—you’re the first to ask for the Lequeu.
Gabor—yes, of course.
Señor Rancio—no problem!
Carlos—I’m perfectly happy to mail the book to Argentina.
Lawrence—it’ll be fitting to send the book to Prague.
Mike—I’ll put it aside for you.
Wei—it’s yours: don’t forget to send me your address.
That leaves the Velly catalogue, the Philosophical Fictions book and Eisbergfreistadt Any takers for these?
Posted by: misteraitch on June 26, 2007 01:54 PMI'd like the Eisbergfreistadt: A House of Cards. If available this would be fantastic, thanks.
Posted by: Mark on June 26, 2007 02:57 PMGreat list, and again it's very kind you do it misteraitch, But I'm afraid I'm too late this time. I'm adding "Mélancolies: Livre d'Images" to my French wish list.
Posted by: Bibi on June 26, 2007 03:49 PMI think Velly's paintings are fantastic as well. I'll give the etchings and engravings a try.
Thank you for the blog and of course these giveaways.
Please post more.
Posted by: Zeke on June 26, 2007 04:00 PMHi Mr. Stuart!
If you dont mind, i´m very interested in one of these:
Philosophical Fictions and the French Renaissance
The Philosophical Writings of Henry More
Are these books claimed yet?
Well, again, a great initiative!
best regards,
That was quick. All the books are now claimed, as follows: Oscar—Lequeu; Gabor—Starowieyski; C. Rancio—Steinberg; Carlos—Picasso; Lawrence—Barocke Architektur; Mike—Henry More; Wei—Mélancolies; Mark—Eisbergfreistadt; Zeke—Velly; Catatau—Philosophical Fictions.
Please send me your addresses if you haven’t done so already.
Posted by: misteraitch on June 26, 2007 04:15 PMOh! You're so very generous, but I'm sad that those of us in my time zone don't stand a chance. All your books are always claimed before I wake up. (Should those who claimed Mélancolies: Livre d'Images or the Eisbergfreistadt disappear and fail to send you their snail mail addresses, please drop me a line).
I always enjoy your blog.
Posted by: Ele on June 26, 2007 05:05 PMI know it's already been requested, but is there any chance i could get my hands on the Barocke Architektur in Böhmen?
I'm doing a series of my own grotesque style drawings (and later stencils) based on those masks that you posted from Leuthner, and having an actual copy of it instead of simlpy looking at the pictures from your post would be invaluable.
I would like.....*sigh*...to check bloglines more regularly.
Is this a difficult/painful process at all I wonder? Are you under instructions to limit to under 20% of your accomodations the area devoted to books? Have you ever had regrets about any previous giveaways?
Posted by: peacay on June 27, 2007 11:59 AMEle—my apologies to everyone in your timezone & those adjacent: I have posted my giveaways at various times of day, but cannot guarantee equal chances of success to all.
Andrew—apologies to you too, you weren’t quite in time to claim the book.
Peacay—it’s more a self-imposed constraint, based on having filled up all my bookshelves, and being disinclined to just head to IKEA & buy another; I’ve always been one to prune my library like a fussy topiarist. I’ve not regretted giving away any of the items mentioned on this site. On the other hand, previous offline giveaways (& sellaways) prompted by changes of address & shortages of money: some of those I do occasionally regret.
Posted by: misteraitch on June 27, 2007 12:21 PMThis thing you do just blows my mind, Mr. H.
Such a great and generous celebration of books! And what books! Who could choose? At the end of the day, if there are any left, I'd love to be included...as per your choice.
Thanks for doing this, it has restored my faith in humanity.
Cheers!
~Ib
Posted by: Indigobusiness on June 28, 2007 04:03 AMHello!
Does anybody asked or take More's Philosophical Writings?. If its still available i would like to. Is there any problem if i live in Mexico? Well, anyway if i didnt take it this time your labour its very kind.
Regards
Martín
All good. Thank you anyway, I'll probably end up buying it. Many thanks for providing the ISBN and amazon link too (now I just need to learn German...)
Posted by: Andrew on June 28, 2007 02:54 PMHas anyone asked for the Jean Pierre Valley? Thanks so much for doing this, I only wished I came here on time.
Posted by: larky on June 29, 2007 10:44 AMMartin & larky: sorry, those books, and all of the others have already been mailed out.
Besides these occasional giveaways, I’ve also been offloading some books via bookmooch. My username there is ‘misteraitch.’
Posted by: misteraitch on July 2, 2007 11:34 AMI see I am far too late for a book. (I had hoped for Ceramica de Picasso, or Mélancolies: Livre d'Images).
But, looking at your post I became curious about the image on the cover of Lequeu: an Architectural Enigma. Could you possibly say a few words about it, e.g. is it from a Lequeu illustration or an actual building or what? Many thanks.
Posted by: JB on July 3, 2007 07:37 PMJB—if you have the time, you should be able to find that image somewhere here at the BNF’s on-line Lequeu collection. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the title of that particular image, and now I no longer have the book…
Posted by: misteraitch on July 4, 2007 09:41 AMI've recently done a small giveaway on my blog (in fact its still open). I leavethe comments open for a certainl period of time and then put the names in a hat - is that a way of being fairer to people in different time zones?
Posted by: Crafty Green Poet on July 6, 2007 11:41 AMThat sounds like it might be a fairer approach, yes, although there comes a point when adding more fairness just means doing more work! My main concern is that the books go to people who want them; if there’s a slight bias which favours claimants in time-zones near mine, I can, with apologies to those disadvantaged, live with that.
Posted by: misteraitch on July 6, 2007 01:22 PMMisteraitch, I'm glad you mentioned BookMooch, I wasn't aware of it. Terrific idea!
Posted by: Indigobusiness on July 7, 2007 09:59 PMStill more books to give away?
May I send you my mailing address?
Thank you.
Dear sir,
can you send me this rellted book .
kuldip chinchkhede
kulchinchkhede@yahoo.co.in
prabudha nagar wadali camp amravati maharastra india 444602.
Hello, greetings from Brazil. Please, is "Philosophical Fictions and the French Renaissance" still available? If so, I would love to have it. I know it's been three months since your post, but I've got faith...
Posted by: Carlos Santos on September 20, 2007 01:23 PMJudy, Kuldip & Carlos: I am sorry, but all of these books were given away months ago. See my comment above about the ‘bookmooch’ site, where I currently have a couple of volumes on offer.
Posted by: misteraitch on September 23, 2007 01:11 PM