Back from the Congo

A few days ago I attended a conference on manuscript research, 'Writing and re-Writing the Bible' at Lambeth Palace, where I arrived rather early.

Told to make my way round to the main entrance, I did just that and waited at the top of the stairs leading to the Palace proper- as opposed to the entrance to Library where I should have been. After a few minutes a car drew up, and the Archbishop himself got out, back, as I later discovered, from a trip to the Congo. I smiled in what I hoped was a natural way, which may have seemed a surprising welcome home.

He smiled and nodded at me and proceeded past suitcase in hand.

Oh, yes, and in case anybody is wondering, the conference was excellent.

A Prize Book

As regular readers will know, one of my research interests is 'reward' books given around the turn of the 19th/20th century. Politically motivated to keep boys 'up to the mark' and girls in their place we can only imagine the damage they did.

Anyway, here is a nice example of a book no boy would have been ashamed to win:

A bit of colour

Spring is on the way, but it is not quite here yet.

At Libre Livre we think there are days when you need a bit of extra colour.

Our handmade books provide a unique way to add a bit of colour to your grey days





of course, you could buy a parrot instead.

Libre Livre on Facebook

Libre Livre is now on Facebook.

Click this link to check out Libre Livre on Facebook and while you're there, why not click Like so that your friends can share our webpage.

Blocks

At Libre Livre we have a lare collection of historic print blocks. Here is an example of three, which make ideal decorations on cards and letterheads for people who want to stand out from the crowd - unless, of course, you would rather just download some free clipart and use that instead.

Back to the future

One of Libre Livre's customers recently asked us to produce some change of address cards. Rather than a mass-produced announcement of her new home she wanted something hand crafted and individual.

We looked through our collection of blocks and found one that seemed suitable - a Georgian door.

A notice of the house warming was printed separately, to be tucked inside each card, helping our customer give a stylish and unique introduction to her new home.

Libre Livre welcomes inquiries about our letterpress printing and bookbinding both of which can be personalized to our customer's individual needs.

The LLL display cabinet in the Star Brewery, Lewes, provides a showcase for some of our products.

To see more why not visit our website

A BBC program to cherish

A day or two ago the BBC broadcast a great program about the history of the Bible, focusing on two early and hugely important tomes; the Codex Sinaticus and the Winchester Bible. If you want to see the program click: BBC: History of the Book but don't hang around the iPlayer only holds items for a few days

We have a Winner - just

I am delighted to announce the winner of our New Year competition. The standard of entries was even higher than in previous months. Choosing a winner was not simple, but after much thought we decided that BS of the Valleys had squeaked home with this entry:

Togetherweareverycross

Well done, BS. Your prize is on its way.

Details of our next competition will be announced shortly.

Happy New Year

Today is Chinese New Year - the year of the Rabbit

Here is a picture of some of our cards in our display cabinet outside our workshop in Lewes.

As you can see, Libre Livre wishes all our customers a Happy Chinese New Year, and a Happy Valentine's Day to follow

The Museum of Writing

London University has recently acquired the artifacts of the Museum of Writing. Last night I attended a reception to mark the occasion. The intention is to make them publicly available via a 'virtual' museum, though as there are 15,000 items that may take a little time.

The museum covers the entire history of written communication, from ancient cuneiform clay tablets onwards. And what an astonishing history that has been, ranging through papyrus, parchment (animal skin), wax tablets, birch bark, paper and more recently electronic media. Writing implements have included wooden wedges, metal styli, pencils, dip pens, fountain pens, and biros to name a few. Browsing through that lot should be a treat.

The Libre Livre blog will give details of how to access the museum once it is up and running.

Saint Valentine's Day

St Valentine's Day is not far away.

Libre Livre stocks a small range of exclusive hand- made Valentine's cards and other items calculated to make your heart pound, without emptying your purse..

The picture to the left (well, it was left when I typed it in, now it's above) shows some of our Valentine booklets - blank for your own thoughts, verses and desires. Contact us via our website for more details.

All Souls

A few days ago I attended a talk in All Souls College, Oxford. What a splendid location and what an excellent talk. Dr Paul Nash, a letterpress printer, and resident printing expert at the Bodleian.

He explained how type is cast - and anybody interested may enjoy some brilliant videos on this subject. One on typecasting, produced by Stanley Nelson of the Nelson Atelier, can be found here , and another, showing Stan assembling a mould can be found here

In an interesting question session after the talk, the use of 5 point (yes, 5 point) type was discussed: and it was agreed that composing must have been a nightmare - Dr Nash suggested that tweezers provide the only practical method; and it seems, the value of the the paper being saved must have justified such agonising work.

Somebody raised the issue of hwo the early type-founders knew how many of each letter to cast into a fount: and made a comparison to the skills of a cryptographer in terms of analysing the frequency with which each letter is used. Of course, the numbers could just have been arrived at by trial and error.

Tea break

At Libre Livre we work hard, play hard and enjoy our tea-breaks. One of our minor pleasures is the lunch time edition of the Archers, except now they've gone and ruined it.

Here's a blog that will tell you more about what's going on: Archers

Get weaving folks

Just a quick reminder that our Seasonal competition, click Challenge if you need a reminder, is open until the end of January. We've had one or two brilliant entries already, but the prize is still anybody's, as yet.

Happy New Year

Here we go: first blog entry of 2011.

Professor Michelle Brown is a paleographer and an expert in ancient manuscripts of the British Isles (called 'Insular' to those in the know). As such she is not necessarily somebody you would expect to find gracing the Economist magazine.

And how wrong you'd be: in the Christmas issue is a fascinating article discussing research by Michelle and others into the links between Celtic and Middle Eastern cultures in the early years of Christianity. The article discusses the wonderful library of St Catherine's monastery on mount Sinai, which houses a vast horde of ancient documents. Scientific advances mean that work can now be done on investigating the 'lost' documents that lie beneath later - it seems, it's not only computers that keep hidden records of what went before.

To my mind one of the most astonishing links between ancient cultures, is traces of papyrus that were found in an ancient psalter which had lain in an Irish bog for over 1,000 years.

Libre Livre Blog tries to keep our customers appraised (whoops, we appraise our staff and apprise our customers: drat that Titivillus) of news, views and clues from the world of books. It is updated regularly, so keep visiting to see the latest entries. And don't forget our current competition runs until the end of January, but be warned; it ain't as easy as it looks.

That's it for now, but best wishes for the New Year to all our customers, past present and future.