Wouldn’t it be Murder?

We recently acquired a copy of the Cheshire Cat Press’ Wouldn’t it be Murder, a wonderful letterpress book illustrated with engravings by George Walker and printed at the Poole Hall Press.  The book contains the talk Alice scholar and enthusiast Joseph Brabant presented to the Lewis Carroll Society of North America at its first meeting in Canada, on May 12, 1990.  The talked explored the question, from a humorous legal view of the situation, as to whether or not it would be murder if Alice left the Duchess’ child behind after the Duchess tossed it to her.

This fine copy is one of a limited 177 copies (as with all Cheshire Cat Press editions).  But unlike other copies I’ve seen, it is signed by the artist George Walker and has an additional Alice engraving tipped onto the blank opposite the title page.

 

 

25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore

While many of the items on the struck a close cord with many of my observations when we had the open store, unfortunately I can’t lay claim to this humorously honest list of 25 Things Learned From Opening a Bookstore.   I can however confirm that while I’ve encountered pretty much everything on the list, numbers 16, 18 and 21 are definitely 100% accurate!

Letterpress Gazette #9 – January 2012

The first Letterpress Gazette of 2012 is out and it is a stellar issue as always complete with articles on the Chappel, Setting Type, and the 2012 Ottawa Press Gang collective project. This issue also comes with a little ephemera packet filled with bookmarks, engravings and other goodies.

Hand-set and printed at the Weathervane Press, the Letterpress Gazette is a limited edition (usually around 50-60 copies) quarterly publication of the Ottawa Press Gang.  If you are interested in specific issues (current and past), or an annual subscription, please contact me at info@bytownbookshop.ca for pricing.

 

Five Fabulous Workshops!

Mixed media and book artist Holly Dean will be hosting a series of weekend workshops starting the second Saturday in February at her studio in Merrickville.  Workshops range from how to incorporate text into your artwork to creating hand-bound muse journals, all with the goal to help you learn new techniques and approaches to your artwork.  Details and registration for the Workshops can be found on Holly’s website here: http://www.hollydean.com/the_rest/holly_dean_workshops.html

Human Library Day at the Ottawa Public Library

Saturday, January 28, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m at various libraries throughout Ottawa

The concept

  • An individual accepts to take part in the event as a Book
  • Book reservations for specific time slots will be available the day of the event, at each site
  • Books get “checked out” for 20 minutes by a Reader
  • Talk to the person one-on-one about their diverse experiences.

Participants that can be “checked out” range from OC Transpo drivers and CBC journalists, to spiritual advisors and sex workers.  There will also be a special set of participants at the War Museum also participating in the event.  Details can on the Human Library Day can be found here.

Unique Hemingway First up for Auction

The February 8th Heritage Signature Book Auction is offering up as one of the major highlights of the sale a signed presentation copy of Hemingway’s first book, Three Stories and Ten Poems.  The book is signed by Hemingway to Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, editors of “The Little Review”, and first to publish some of Hemingway’s prose.  What is doubly great about this lot is the write up they did detailing the history of Anderson and Heap, and their relationship with Hemingway.  The lot starts at $37,500 with an estimate around $75,000, but I feel that the book will easily find its way into the six digit range.

The sale also features a first edition of Moby Dick, signed Ian Fleming firsts, and a first edition of Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque.  Should be a fun auction to watch.

Ducks in a Row Press

Ducks in a Row Press is the new letterpress imprint in town.  Book artist and calligrapher Nancy Trottier moved to Deep River (about 2.5hrs northwest of Ottawa) about a year ago, but has just recently acquired a beautiful 8×12 Challenge Gordon Press playfully dubbed “Ned”.  Check out the great books she’s been making on her website, and her post on the reception of “Ned” into their home is wonderful (and well illustrated!).

Nancy has also become a member of the Ottawa Press Gang, and has already been busy sharing great news articles and resources.   Very much looking forward to meeting her at a future Press Gang meeting.

Random House now the Sole Owner of McClelland & Stewart

After over a hundred years of publishing history and launching the careers of Canadian literary icons such as Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Farley Mowat, Leonard Cohen, Mordechai Richler, Margaret Laurence, Michael Ondaatje and Rohinton Mistry (just to name a few), McClelland & Stewart is no longer Canadian.

As of Tuesday, Random House has now become the sole owner of McClelland & Stewart.

The Joy of Books

This great little stop-motion film, The Joy of Books, was done at the Type Bookstore in Toronto.

When the owner is away, the books shall play!

Canada Reads

It’s that time of year again when five great Canadian books (backed by 5 renown Canadians) do battle debate style for the Canada Reads title.  This year’s twist, the books are all non-fiction:

The Game
by: Ken Dryden
Defended by: Alan Thicke

On a Cold Road
by: Dave Bidini
Defended by: Stacey McKenzie

Prisoner of Tehran
by: Marina Nemat
Defended by: Arlene Dickinson

Something Fierce
by: Carmen Aguirre
Defended By: Shad

The Tiger
by: John Vaillant
Defended by: Anne-France Goldwater

The first round of chats with the debaters are being posted with the debates themselves to air February 6-9 at 11:00 a.m. on CBC Radio One and live-streamed on CBC Books at 10:00 a.m. EST.  Also, you can follow the debates and discussion here (www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads) or download the podcasts if you missed the live debates.