hot library smut

June 21, 2007 8:17 AM

Sure, reading is great, but books are fun to look at, too
posted by nuclear_soup (37 comments total)

Wow, nicely done. That second link was worth the price of admission alone. Too bad the book is out of print.
posted by bullitt 5 at 8:34 AM on June 21, 2007

Ooh nifty set'o'links!
posted by gomichild at 8:39 AM on June 21, 2007

The 'fun' link is wonderful. Nice post.
posted by iconomy at 8:42 AM on June 21, 2007

Nice post!
posted by OmieWise at 8:43 AM on June 21, 2007

Wow, I really want this book now, but I'd like to buy it from somewhere in the US if possible. Anyone have suggestions? I tried Amazon, but the used ones there are heavily marked up (over $200, while it retails for $90).
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:45 AM on June 21, 2007

Oh, I didn't notice that Bibliodyssey link. That guy's a pain in the butt.
posted by OmieWise at 8:45 AM on June 21, 2007

I just read it for the articles.
posted by caddis at 8:47 AM on June 21, 2007

Whats wrong with Bibliodyssey?
posted by shothotbot at 8:55 AM on June 21, 2007

So what does that last link have to do with books? I just got a page full of a flash interface for different world instruments.

oh, and that page of library photos was amazing.
posted by shmegegge at 8:58 AM on June 21, 2007

I am addicted to buying books just to look at them. Anyone who's been to my house pretty much knows this. 'Cuz I couldn't possibly read that much.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:59 AM on June 21, 2007

The fun link is indeed fantastic. Thanks for the post!

Been recently interested in little magazines of the 50s and 60s and came across The Bibliographic Bunker authored by a collector of Beat rarities. He's got scans of covers of magazines like Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka's Yugen, Diane DiPrima's mimeoed Floating Bear, Lita Hornick's Kulchur (I especially like this one; Burroughs and Kerouac were identified on the title page as "Inspector Maigret and Sam Spade"), and Fuck You, a Magazine of the Arts. And lots of other good, bibliophilic stuff.
posted by otio at 9:00 AM on June 21, 2007

Great post! I could move into any of those libraries in your "fun" link this instant. The Paris one especially. And after viewing your "to" link, I know I'll be rearranging my books tonight.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 9:03 AM on June 21, 2007

Whats wrong with Bibliodyssey?
posted by shothotbot at 10:55 AM on June 21

Nothing. The guy who runs it is actually one of the most interesting and coolest guys on the WWW.
posted by dios at 9:09 AM on June 21, 2007

Whats wrong with Bibliodyssey?

Nothing that wouldn't be fixed if the guy who runs the site, what's his name, QueL?, wasn't such an uptight, highstrung, poseur of a guy. If he were more like MetaFilter's own peacay the site might be worth something. But as it is now? Forget about it.

If you want my real opinion of that link farm, here it is.
posted by OmieWise at 9:15 AM on June 21, 2007

I wouldn't bet my life on it, but I am nearly positive that this library was the basis for a level in a video game.
posted by quin at 9:18 AM on June 21, 2007

jeffamaphone: How about Google Product Search? Looks like the cheapest hit there is about $60.
posted by danb at 9:21 AM on June 21, 2007

previously
posted by null terminated at 9:26 AM on June 21, 2007

So what does that last link have to do with books? I just got a page full of a flash interface for different world instruments.

Check the navigation on the left for magazines/books.
posted by nuclear_soup at 9:32 AM on June 21, 2007

er, on the right.
posted by nuclear_soup at 9:32 AM on June 21, 2007

The bibliodyssey guy posts here and he's peacay? damn, the things I never connect up.

When the Real Gabinete image came up in the second link I actually went "Ooooh, it's beautiful" out loud. A little embarrassing, that. More images here (words too, if you happen to read Potuguese)(I don't).
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:40 AM on June 21, 2007

In a similar vein: the paintings of Xiaoze Xie.
posted by misteraitch at 9:41 AM on June 21, 2007

Must. Have. Spiral. Staircase.

Also, can someone please build me a big round room with domed ceilings and bookshelves inset all along the walls? KTHXBAI
posted by misha at 9:42 AM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't bet my life on it, but I am nearly positive that this library was the basis for a level in a video game.

I can't remember, but I'll check my copy tonight, but this looks like the library where Mina Murray was picked up by the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Or another member was.

Or it could be the library in the crappy crappy film version where they found her and her name wasn't Mina. Or maybe that's where they found Dorian Gray. Who wasn't even a character in the comics. Infuriating. Blocked it out. Probably why my memory is foggy but that staircase is so cool. . .
posted by Esoquo at 9:43 AM on June 21, 2007

I'm an unabashed, inveterate book addict. 'Too many books, never enough shelves.'

I like this Reading Stack Flickr Group.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 9:57 AM on June 21, 2007

As others said, the "fun" link is amazing. I think I drooled a bit on my keyboard.
posted by JoshTeeters at 9:58 AM on June 21, 2007

Oo, oo! You can buy the Candida Hofer prints here (big bucks, though).
posted by shothotbot at 10:26 AM on June 21, 2007

Those Dutch libraries kick ass very, very hard. I mean, the rest do, too, but spiral staircases...hoo.
posted by everichon at 10:41 AM on June 21, 2007

Those library photos are great, although I have to say, the books are the absolutely least interesting part of the photographs to me.
posted by mckenney at 10:59 AM on June 21, 2007

Another fan of the fun link here (long-time library luster!). But where's the NYPL Reading Room?
posted by languagehat at 11:16 AM on June 21, 2007

Books, books books books. What is it with books? A primitive, inconvenient data stream compared with radio, tv, movies, video, DVD et al but we are still addicted. Even the internet can't kill them off.

Something to do with giving us just enough data and our own mind supplying the rest maybe?
posted by surfdad at 11:32 AM on June 21, 2007

This is not your Makita Tool calendar (from BibliOdyssey and yes, safe for work)
posted by caddis at 11:35 AM on June 21, 2007

Heaven looks like something from that "fun" link, right? If it doesn't, I'm not sure I want to go...
posted by rtha at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2007

I'm a life long library nerd and I want that Candida Höfer book so damn badly. Those are some of the most stunning pictures I've ever seen. It reminds me of some of those books about the old-time movie palaces - only cooler.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 3:09 PM on June 21, 2007

As a kid, I was partial to the library from Beauty and the Beast
posted by nuclear_soup at 3:26 PM on June 21, 2007

One of the largest libraries devoted to rare books is the fantastic Beinecke at Yale. Designed by Gordon Bunshaft, it opened in 1963:

The white, gray-veined marble panes of the exterior are one and one-quarter inches thick and are framed by shaped light gray Vermont Woodbury granite. These marble panels filter light so that rare materials [here, a Gutenberg Bible] can be displayed without damage.

posted by rob511 at 6:03 PM on June 21, 2007

Hawt.

The biggest library I've ever been in is the Hayden Library at Arizona State University, which is supposed to be the largest library in the Southwestern United States.

I'm not denying its credentials there (though it seems odd to me that ASU would have a bigger library than, say, UCLA), but damn is that place fugly. Cheap metal shelves painted all sorts of horrible shades of green and orange and gray, and the aisles are so crowded together that two people can't walk past each other in them.
posted by Target Practice at 1:33 PM on June 22, 2007

Sorted Books
posted by caddis at 1:58 PM on June 22, 2007