[gallery] biblipeacay:
Engraved frontispiece from 2nd Edition of John Bulwer’s:‘Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d, or the Artificial Changeling. Historically presented, in the mad and cruel Gallantry, foolish Bravery, ridiculous Beauty, filthy Fineness, and loathesome Loveliness of most Nations, fashioning & altering their Bodies from the Mould intended by Nature. With a Vindication of the Regular Beauty and Honesty of Nature, and an Appendix of the Pedigree of the English Gallant’Sangbleu: “Anthropometamorphosis literally means ‘humanity-changing’ and this exceptional book is thought to be one of the first studies in comparative cultural anthropology. Published in 1653 the book heavy emphasises on looking at how humans around the world were modifying their bodies in the then present and past. [..]The author John Bulwer^ is best known for pioneering and practicing the importance of educating deaf people following the outbreak of the English Civil War but he also wrote this fascinating book thought to be one of the first books ever dedicated to body modification.”
Image source - above image spliced together from screenshots.
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Not many publishers these days are doing interesting things with the design and presentation of Bibles, but one that is — and doing really interesting things — is Crossway Books and Bibles. They have worked hard to create a great variety of ways for people to encounter the Bible translation they commissioned, the very fine English Standard Version [ESV].
Above you’ll see images of two new releases: first, an absolutely lovely volume of the Psalms, on thick cream paper with beautiful typography and design; and second, a “Reader’s Bible,” also designed with great skill, that omits verse numbers and lays out the text for extended undistracted reading.
Sure, the Psalter is larger than you’re used to — that’s the price you pay (and for many readers, including me, it’s a price worth paying) for that beautiful thick paper. Conversely, the paper of the Reader’s Bible is rather thin — but that’s the price you pay for getting the whole Bible in a package the size of a fairly large but not enormous novel.
Congratulations to Crossway for raising the bar for Bible design. And by the way, if you’re interested in this kind of thing, check out The Bible Design Blog.
[gallery] austinkleon:
thenearsightedmonkey:Dear Students,Regard the notebooks of Paul Klee
Sincerely,
Professor Chewbacca
Paul Klee, Beiträge zur bildnerischen Formlehre, 1922. Bauhaus Weimar.
More PDFs of his notebooks over at Monoskop.
Filed under: Paul Klee
acting and theory
To “act” is to go through the motions of behaviour without really feeling it, lacking the appropriate experiences…. Amateur actors, like political revolutionaries, are those who find the conventions hard to grasp and perform them badly, having never recovered from their childhood puzzlement.
Such puzzlement is perhaps what we call “theory.” The child is an incorrigible theoretician, forever urging the most impossibly fundamental questions. The form of a philosophical question, Wittgenstein remarks, is “I don’t know my way around”; and since this is literally true of the child, it is driven to pose questions which are not answerable simply in rhetorical terms (“The meaning of this action is this”) but which press perversely on to interrogate the whole form of social life which might generate such particular meanings in the first place. Theory is in this sense the logical refuge of those puzzled or naïve enough not to find simply rhetorical answers adequate, or who want to widen the boundaries of what mature minds take to be adequate rhetorical explanations.
…Theory begins to take hold once one realizes that the adults don’t know their way around either, even if they act as though they do. They act as well as they do precisely because they can no longer see, and so question, the conventions by which they behave. The task of theory is to breed bad actors.
It follows also that this new vision of ‘natural theology’ is equally concerned, let me also state at the start here, to be flexible in a variety of ways for use in different contexts and genres, for different audiences, and by means of varying forms of communication. The term ‘apologetics’, unfortunately, tends to come with as much bag and baggage from the era of brash modernity as does its cousin 'natural theology’; but its history of association with rationalistic brow-beating is one we need to live down. The art of giving a reasoned, philosophically- and scientifically-related, account of the 'hope that is in us’ in a public space is a Christian duty, and it may take a great variety of forms. As discussed last time in relation to Nicholas Wolterstorff’s analysis of Thomas Aquinas’s own variety of uses for his own Five Ways, 'natural theology’ must indeed at times be used apologetically and even polemically, when the occasion demands it: that is, if one is called to public debate in the university, in public political contestation, or in the press. There is a huge cultural interest in seeing theologians and philosophers of religion perform this undertaking in discussion with secular science, and we undermine our own credibility if we fail to take on this task with grace, clarity and humour.But more often, I find, I am called to this task as a believer, as an academic, or as a priest, in quieter, less overt, but no less significant public contexts: in being asked intrigued questions about evolution and theology by the seeker who wanders into Ely cathedral looking for something, she knows not what; by the half-believer who wonders if science does indeed render Christianity invalid; by the generation of my children’s age for whom in so many cases the church has seemingly lost all intellectual and moral credibility; for those hoping to deepen their faith spiritually or make it more intellectually mature; and for the doubting amongst the faithful. The disposition, attentive prayerfulness and bodily grace with which these conversations must go on is especially crucial: this task is not about the soap-box, but it‟s not for the faint-hearted or defensive either. It has to be as philosophically and scientifically sophisticated as it is spiritually and theologically cogent; in short, it must not merely dazzle; it must more truly invite and allure.
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London Transport Type
Last week I had the chance to visit the London Transport Museum in the old Flower Market building in Covent Garden Piazza.I’d been meaning to go for a while, particularly after the 100th anniversary of Johnston’s pervading typeface last year, and to see the history of the iconic roundel logotype which first appeared in 1908.
With a rich visual heritage spanning 200 years there’s plenty of graphic design and typography to see. There’s a decent sized display dedicated to graphic design and signage of the transport system with lots of printed ephemera. However type and lettering examples cover everything: vintage buses, underground carriages, posters, wayfinding.
Above, you can see some print examples together with hand–painted signage, ceramics, metalwork, and even some beautiful Pouchée type in use.
[gallery] 60ansdevadrouille:
Roms. Plongée sur le Geirangerfjord, ses cascades, et, depuis leNid d’Aigle, sur le Djupvatnet dans l’intérieur.
