“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.”
Anna Quindlen, “Enough Bookshelves,” New York Times, August 7, 1991
Oh so true. I think making sure one has enough bookshelves is an important part of working out how to decorate a home. Where the bookshelves should be? What sorts of books will be held in each area?
As we go about living in our home, we regularly re-assess whether we need another book shelf; whether the coffee table is still OK to use as a place for holding books; if the bookshelves in the office are not beginning to overflow just a wee bit; and whether the art inspiration books should be in the house or in the studio.
So many decisions! Laugh.
It really is one of those indelicate things but don't you love checking out other people's bookshelves when you visit? Having books around a house makes it feel like a home to me; gives me comfort in the knowledge that I can pick up one of anything and have a look, a read, a flick through…learn something, discover something or just escape.
Studiolo from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio 1478-82.
This magnificent room is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The room is made of stunning wood inlay, representing cupboards and book shelves, all around. It is so clever in the way that it makes things appear three-dimensional even tho they are flat. One of my favourites from our day at the Met recently!
Anna Quindlen, “Enough Bookshelves,” New York Times, August 7, 1991
Oh so true. I think making sure one has enough bookshelves is an important part of working out how to decorate a home. Where the bookshelves should be? What sorts of books will be held in each area?
As we go about living in our home, we regularly re-assess whether we need another book shelf; whether the coffee table is still OK to use as a place for holding books; if the bookshelves in the office are not beginning to overflow just a wee bit; and whether the art inspiration books should be in the house or in the studio.
So many decisions! Laugh.
It really is one of those indelicate things but don't you love checking out other people's bookshelves when you visit? Having books around a house makes it feel like a home to me; gives me comfort in the knowledge that I can pick up one of anything and have a look, a read, a flick through…learn something, discover something or just escape.
Studiolo from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio 1478-82.
This magnificent room is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The room is made of stunning wood inlay, representing cupboards and book shelves, all around. It is so clever in the way that it makes things appear three-dimensional even tho they are flat. One of my favourites from our day at the Met recently!
Oh so true indeed! It is impossible to have too many bookshelves and too many books (given the space).
ReplyDeleteWe define ourselves by the books we read (or don't read) and have about us. The having about us is an essential comfort, a challenge for the future, and a reminder of who we are. There is also the indefinable pleasure of the individual book itself, with its cover, its typed or decorated pages, its texture, colour and smell. I read a wonderful quote recently (don't know where, I'm afraid) - As we take a book into our hands, 'it is as though we are holding and cherishing an invaluable and exquisite piece of art'.
Will we feel the same way in the future about our collection of e-books on our e-readers? Somehow, I don't think so.
I love all your thoughts about books Charlton - can you hear me nodding and saying hear hear!??? Books do all of that and more I feel, and I do feel a reverence when I hold a book in my hand - that it is special and what we will share together and the time we will spend together is special. E books are good for what they do - but they will never do all those other things that real books do.
DeleteI have that same issue - my studio being a short walk across the yard - which books need to live in the studio, and which in the house? They are often in the wrong place when I need them. Great piece from the Met!!
ReplyDeleteLuckily our studios are only short walks from the house Valerianna - I'd be in a pickle if it was in town or a drive away! Like you I am often where the book is not; but maybe I just need to think about it as part of a fitness program... Go well.
DeleteI loved this comment so much I forwarded it to Pip ..... think I created one of those children :-)
ReplyDeletePerfect!
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