Bytown Bookshop

Book launch for Von Allan’s “the road to god knows…”

Richard — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:13:31 +0000

Von Allan will be launching his graphic novel “the road to god knows…” at Perfect Books (258A Elgin Street) this Sunday, March 14th, starting around 4:00pm.

iPhone Apps for Book Lovers

Richard — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:59:32 +0000

Having recently upgrade my cell to an iPhone, I’ve been scouring the app store for biblio-related applications to load and keep me busy. Bookride’s 12 Must-Have iPhone Apps for Book Lovers article does a great job summing up the essentials. There are plenty of other goodies to be found in the app store as well from nicely illustrated collected works of authors (the Shakespeare one I have is great) to Comiczeal (the best comic reader available) with plenty of fun little apps like Typo Junkies and The Coach House Press’ Coffee Room to add into the mix. Unfortunately I’ve yet to come across any letterpress related apps so far, but will be certain to post any fun and interesting apps that I may come across in the future.

E-catalogue from a New Dealer in BC

Richard — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:55:01 +0000

Our friend Natasha Herman of the Redbone Bindery passed along this great e-catalogue from a former colleague of hers who has just started his own venture after 10 years employment in the trade. Bob Gaba’s inaugural Canadiana catalogue has a great little selection of scarce (and many unique) early Canadian manuscripts, laws, acts and other bits of ephemera dating back to the 17th century. Definitely worth looking at for collectors of Canadian history and I look forward to future catalogues.

Lock’s Letterpress Course

Richard — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:57:22 +0000

Once again Margaret Lock will be running one of her excellent two-day courses on typesetting and letterpress printing the second weekend in April. Two of the three spots have already been filled, so if you are interested, be sure to contact her quickly to nab the final spot. Details of the course are below:

Introduction to Typesetting and Letterpress Printing
taught by Margaret Lock on 10-11 April, 2010 at 231 Johnson Street, Kingston, ON.

Participants will learn basic typographic design concepts, and how to set lead type by hand and print on a Vandercook proof press. The two-day workshop will cover setting type, letter-spacing capitals, distributing type, imposition, proofing, registration, and printing on handmade paper. As an exercise, participants will design and print a broadside up to 11 x 14 inches in size. Participants should bring a short, favourite piece of poetry or prose (fewer than 20 lines of poetry, and fewer than 160 words for a piece of prose).

The cost for each participant is $185. The workshop hours are 9:30am-5:30pm, Saturday and Sunday.

If interested, please contact Margaret Lock by email lockfp@queensu.ca or telephone 613-544-3505.

We’re back…sort of…

Richard — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:52:33 +0000

Well, the move into our new home went quite well with only a few minor hiccups here and there. Although, we can’t really complain as we got lucky with two beautiful days in which we did the majority of of our move (seriously, who moves in the middle of a Canadian February?) A big thanks to all those who helped us move, paint, unpack and generally settle in, we couldn’t have done it without you.

While we have personally settled in for the most part and just await a few final pieces of furniture to finish everything off, the basement still remains a mass of shelving and boxes waiting to be assembled into some semblence of order. Hence, we will not likely have our online stock up for another week or two, but have been able to restock our booth at the Ottawa Antique Market with some fresh finds and stuff tucked away before the move.

Will try to get some pictures of my new office set-up soon and will being posting regularly again shortly.

On the Move Pt.2

Richard — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:12:13 +0000

Well we’ve got ourselves nicely set up and running at the Ottawa Antique Market, which is working out marvelously I might add, and have been busily packing our personal possessions for our big move into our new home this Thursday. With plenty of work to be done over the next week or two to get settled in, the post here will few are far between. So, I thought I would leave you with a few videos from Youtube to entertainment during the hiatus:

A very well produced Letterpress Video of a guy making custom coasters.

A nice collection of short clips of books with fore-edge paintings held by the Boston Public Library.

And of course one of my all time favourite video bios, Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man, of George Whitman, eccentric owner of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris. Gotta tip your hat to a guy that still cuts his hair with a candle.

Canada Reads 2010

Richard — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:47:12 +0000

It’s getting close to that time of year again when five books are defended by five panelists to determine which book should be the one Canadians read in 2010. The book selections this year are great with some choice panelists to back them up. The debates will run March 8-12 on CBC Radio One until only one book remains. The books, panelists, podcasts and a host of information on Canada Reads 2010 can be found on the CBC Canada Reads website.

Prime Crime to Close

Richard — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:44:52 +0000

I found out about a month ago that Ottawa’s best stop for mysteries and crime fiction would we closing its doors Friday March 13th, but remained hopeful (hence no post at the time) that current owner Linda Wiken would be able to find a buyer. Unfortunately it looks as though there have been no takers for Prime Crime and the little 300-square-foot will be closing its doors for good after being a mystery lovers haven for nearly 25 years. Be sure to head down there to enjoy one of Ottawa’s finest independent bookstores before the aptly chosen last day on Friday 13th next month.

Lawrence Hill Reading

Richard — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:06:12 +0000

Lawrence Hill will be reading from his The Book of Negroes at the Museum of Civilization this coming Wednesday (Feb 10th) as part of Black History Month at the museum. Details below and on the Museum of Civilization website.

Devil’s Artisan 65

Richard — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:49:00 +0000

The new issue of the Devil’s Artisan is out and packed with great articles. In particular there is an excellent article on Frank Newfield (award winning designer of more than 650 books) followed by an article written by Newfield on the use and responsibilities of book illustrations. There are also three in-depth reviews of last falls published books written by Jim Rimmer, Wesley Bates and Robert Bringhurst. You can find copies of this great journal at a local magazine speciality shop (i.e. Mags & Fags) or subscribe here.