Yangzhou Zhongshuge: this Chinese library’s interior is designed to look like an infinite tunnel of books
We are in Yangzhou. The Chinese city is known for its graceful arched bridges, proximity to the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Architects kept these local features in […]
The ambitious Google plan to digitize 100,000 historic texts in Belgium
In September, a fleet of secure vehicles will come to a 17th-century building in Antwerp, Belgium, to receive a heavily protected cargo, and then escape with the goods to a […]
Thai funeral cookbooks: to preserve recipes and memories~
If recently you’ve been to a wedding, probably you’ve been handed a wedding program upon your arrival, featuring photographs of the happy couple, tidbits about how they met, details about […]
8 + 1 wonderful libraries you can visit also from your home
Regular visitors to libraries may be missing the the welcoming atmosphere, the smell of old books, and wandering around quiet shelves. Many of these public, private, and academic spaces have […]
Malleus Maleficarum: the sacred text used to identify witches
Between 1227 and 1235, the Inquisition against witches and heretics was established with a series of papal decrees: Pope Innocent’s bull Ad Extirpanda of 1252 authorized the use of torture […]
#February 24, 1825: Thomas Bowdler, the man who Re-wrote the “Offensive” Shakespeare
Thomas Bowdler, a doctor and philanthropist, popular to be the man who took all the naughty bits out of Shakespeare, died on this day, February 24, 1825, even if he […]
Libreria Acqua Alta: one of the most interesting bookshop in the world.
Perched on a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea, the beautiful city of Venice evokes countless quaint aquatic images, from gondolas and vaporetti lumbering down the canals to tiny bridges arching […]
Point Nemo: the most remote place on Earth, and Space Vehicles cemetery
People often vaguely refer to “the middle of nowhere,” but as it turns out, scientists have actually figured out precisely where that point is. Point Nemo, the most remote location […]
Beatrix Potter: from scientific studies to beloved children’s books
No children’s books has captured hearts quite like of these of Beatrix Potter, the beloved author inspired by flora and fauna found in the pictoresqua English countryside. She wrote and […]
The Codex Gigas: the Devil’s Bible.
The Middle Ages is certainly not an era devoid of mysteries and strange symbolism, but the Codex Gigas is a real puzzle for the experts of ancient writings. The book […]
Protect your library with terrible medieval Book Curses!
In the middle ages, creating a book wasn’t easy, and could take years: a scribe would bend over his copy table, illuminated only by natural light, because candles were too […]
Chinguetti: the incredible libraries of a country lost in the desert.
Today it’s only a village hidden in the desert of Mauritania, which with its sands inexorably advances to the south, swallowing what remains of an ancient culture. Chinguetti is almost […]
Livraria Lello of Porto, the bookshop inspired Harry Potter’s Hogwarts.
The Livraria Lello of Porto, opened in 1906, is one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, and hides an Neo-Gothic interior behind a Art-Nouveau façade. The first impression […]
Becherel, France. The medieval burg with 700 inhabitants and 15 bookshops.
Bécherel is an ancient medieval village famous in the world for the average bookshops per capita, which reaches the incredible number of a one bookshops for every 44 inhabitants. It […]
The magnificent baroque library of Prague: a paradise for all books lovers of all the world.
The Prague National Library was opened in 1722, and still today is one of the most beautiful libraries of all the world. With over 20,000 volumes, it is almost a […]