The hundred poorly revealed 2/5

 

It seems a contradiction that this title displays the hundred best-looking books of the last century in what I consider to be an incredibly dull-looking book. Remove the hundred title pages and what remains, from the frontis page, title, imprint, Contents, Foreword, Acknowledgements, notes, bibliography to the indices, is laid out and uses type in a completely unimaginative way. It's as if the book is in some time-warp and is still living in the Thirties.

In this digital age, why would anyone use Roman numerals for page numbers from I to LXII as they do in these pages and in the indices (or in 2012: the index) have to use both Roman and Arabic numbers. In the front of the book, there are two interesting essays and thirty-two pages of notes, full of fascinating detail, about the hundred titles. The essays are set in one big block of type per page, with numbers in the margin referring to the hundred. It all looks incredibly bland because it's just type. These front pages could easily have been set in two columns, which would have allowed for thumbnails of the relevant title pages from the hundred.

These top books are represented by one page from each tile, frequently the title page and strangely, I thought, many are reproduced smaller than the originals, though they would easily fit on the pages in this book. The selection is, of course, personal to the two authors and a huge number had to be left out (one I consider missing is Bradbury Thompson's 'Washburn College Bible', 1980).

The selection does vary enormously. Rather flat-looking title pages with everything centered could share a spread with a page from another book showing very creative typography. Some books, now over a hundred years old, show flair and imagination with just type: the 1903-1905 Doves Press 'Bible' and their 1908 'Men & Women' look remarkable. The title page of Typographica Practica by Max Caflisch, from 1988, with everything in caps and centred looks very boring, as does the title page from Charles Enschede's 1978 'Typefoundries in the Netherlands' again with all the setting in centered caps. I get the impression that a more conservatively designed page would win inclusion in the hundred rather than a really creative handling of headline and text setting. It should be said though that handset type from the case puts enormous limitations on creative typography.

The hundred best books of the century provide an interesting look back but I was disappointed in the very unimaginative way the editorial was presented.

Manhattan skyline unfolds before your eyes 5/5

After decades of publishers issuing photo titles about the capital of the world, along comes a fresh take by photographer Laurent Dequick. He had a lightbulb moment to shoot a panoramic view of the city from a boat sailing up (or down) the Hudson and East Rivers. I don't know if it was his idea to present the photos as one continuous strip in this accordion-paged book but it's certainly effective. The glued pages can be turned over one by one to make spreads sixty-four centimetres wide or, if you have the space, open it out fully to 125 feet.

The photos are taken head-on without any perspective of surrounding buildings, the only perspective is the streets disappearing into the distance. Owing to the height of some buildings, there are four lift-up spreads to reveal the complete structure. With a magnifying glass, it's possible to see people along the shore (the book is printed with a 175 screen on a matt art paper).  

Gorgeous though the book is, it unfortunately has some editorial flaws, a hundred structures are named and numbered (in the sky at the top of some pages) with interesting captions by Marie Burnel in the last two spreads of the book. For the reader's benefit, I think many more should have been named, though not necessarily with captions. A more serious omission is not naming all the streets, so the reader can see where they are on either side of Manhattan.

Despite the above, I think this is an amazing visual book and for those who live on the edge of the Hudson and East Rivers, an obvious buy for your coffee table.

Bombs away 5/5

This book was originally published in 2005 by the London Topographical Society, no doubt a rather limited run, which would explain the rather high prices, if you can find a copy. Fortunately, Thames & Hudson reprinted it in 2016 as a large, chunky title with the addition of fifty pages reproducing sixty-nine photos of bomb damage in London. 

The maps are very detailed, showing individual properties within the London County Council area (I did find it slightly annoying that the detail actually ends exactly at the LCC boundary line, I bought a house in the sixties where the back yard actually ended on the outside of the boundary and of course it isn't shown). The front cover inner flap has a tear-off piece that has a seven-color key to the maps, from total destruction (black) to blast damage (yellow) and clearance areas (green) two circles indicate the V-2 rocket and V-1 flying bomb. With the help of a good magnifying glass street names can easily be read and most of the other detail: railway stations; factories; churches; historical places etc.

The addition of the black and white photos of bomb damage in the City of London was a fascinating extra. They were taken by two City police officers Arthur Cross and Fred Tibbs, between 1940 and 1945. They are large on the page with captions.

I thought this was a remarkable book with its finely detailed maps, the photos and introduction full of statistics about London's wartime destruction.

Gorgeous Deco down under 5/5

Ask anyone who knows their art deco architecture about the style in New Zealand and they'll probably say Napier on the North Island. Very true, of course but it's not until you look through this fascinating book to discover that the style is evident in most cities and towns.

Author Terry Moyle has done a lot of research to make the subject come alive and the words are backed up with a selection of historical and contemporary color photos and ephemeral graphics. What I really liked about the book are fifty-two vector illustrations by Rosie Louise, they really give the pages a lift and perfectly capture the look of buildings and street scenes from past decades.

The book is complete with stylish maps, bibliography and index. Clearly, the definitive title about art deco in the southern hemisphere.

US

Art Deco New Zealand: Moyle, Terry: 9781869664824: Amazon.com: Books

UK

Art Deco New Zealand: Amazon.co.uk: Moyle, Terry: 9781869664824: Books