Sometimes books spring into my hands because they have a beautiful title, like The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts (Island Press) or The Intellligence of Flowers by Maurice Maeterlinck (SUNY Press). Sometimes the title is weird, but the book is beautifully designed, like Angle of Yaw by Ben Lerner (Copper Canyon.) And other times the stars align and the whole book -- its shape, color, paper, title, subject, text, illustrations -- are impossible to resist. This has happened twice in the last couple of weeks.
The first one is Ashen Sky (Getty Publications.)
Ashen Sky: The Letters of Pliny The Younger on the Eruption of Vesuvius
Striking from the cover to the end pages to the title page -- even the content page is unusual and dramatic. The subject of the book is the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, although the introductory pages cover all known history. Two letters from Pliny the Younger to Tacitus describing the event that he witnessed, and in which his uncle and mentor Pliny the Elder died, make up the body of the book. Attention to detail is precise and elegant, from the shape of the outstanding illustrations by Barry Moser to the black tinting on the edges of the pages. This remarkable book would make an amazing gift for a student or a traveller.
The second book -- and this one fell into my hands today -- is Fifty Uncommon Birds of the Midwest (University of Iowa Press).
Fifty Uncommon Birds of the Upper Midwest (Bur Oak Book)
There are not enough superlatives to use in talking about this fantastic book. The design, the use of color, the subtle tinting on the illustrated pages, the page numbers and titles, the font choices ... it's all completely delightful. Then, there are the illustrations. Sure, we've seen a million of them -- Peterson, Audubon -- but Dana Gardner has made the images fresh and surprising. The text is by Nancy Overcott, a lifetime birdwatcher, and she provides highly crafted descriptions sprinkled with personal anecdotes, history and ecology. This is a book to give to everyone you know who loves the outdoors -- and don't forget to keep one for yourself.
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