The Stacks
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The Eclectic Abecedarium
So if you’re a regular patron of the Butterflies & Aliens Library, you probably know that I have a particular fondness for alphabet books and also miniature books.
Well imagine my delight at discovering that Bruce Peel Special Collections has as part of its collection a miniature edition of The Eclectic Abecedarium by Edward Gorey…
Time Travelling with Rare Print Materials
So back in January my fellow student staffer at Bruce Peel Special Collections, Michaela Morrow, and I had the privilege and delight to lead a Peel Workshop of our own design, titled Time Travelling with Rare Print Materials. Basically it was a chance for us to pull an absolute treasure trove of materials from the collection, share them with friends and patrons, and – perhaps the biggest bonus to me – spend some extra time studying them ourselves.
And what a trove it was…
Ready or not, here I come…
Ray Bradbury once said “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” As a book nerd, student librarian, and global citizen, I think about that quote almost daily.
And as a student librarian, I’m learning that there is yet another tactic – make the books unfindable…
A Book of Centuries
Hey there, Head Alien here, just casually walking around with an almost-600-year-old book for Fridays at the Peel…
Journal of a Voyage
This week for Fridays at the Peel we take a peek at the Journal of a Voyage to North America, written by Pierre de Charlevoix and published in 1761. But if you’ve been a patron of the Butterflies & Aliens Library for any amount of time, you know I’m much more interested in the voyage taken by the book itself than the voyage it recounts within its pages…
Arranging Furniture
Okay, yes I’m posting this on a Saturday, but the important point here is that Fridays at the Peel are back!
To share today, a book called Arranging Furniture, created by Jason Dewinetz at his fine press “small publishing concern” based in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada, Greenboathouse Press…
Puck's Arena
My introduction to artist’s books, and altered books in particular, started with an undergraduate field trip to the Bruce Peel Special Collections at the University of Alberta, and one work in particular.
At first glance, it seems innocuous enough, perhaps even a bit boring or common? But if there was ever a time to apply the broader advice to not judge a book by its cover, this would be it.
A giant dose of tiny books…
Today I had a chance to leave the Butterflies & Aliens Library and visit another beloved library, the Bruce Peel Special Collections at the University of Alberta, to attend a workshop on miniature books titled Teeny Wonders…
Video: An Introduction to Altered Books
Altered Books: When Your Finished Book Becomes Another Artist’s Raw Materials is the second of two session that I had the opportunity to present at this past weekend’s When Words Collide festival for readers and writers.
I think it is important to point out that the description in the conference program for this session starts with a trigger warning that I highlight again here:
Trigger Warning: This presentation may contain content disturbing to some readers, authors, and booklovers!
Happy Birthday, William Morris!
Born on this day in 1834, William Morris is perhaps best known as an artist and designer, and a major force behind the Arts & Crafts movement. But he was also a poet and novelist, connected to the Pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-1800s, and also the founder of the Kelmscott Press in 1891.
Eric Gill’s The Four Gospels
Have I mentioned before that my favourite place at the University of Alberta… one of my five favourite places in the world, in fact… is the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library?
