Illuminated addresses were at their most popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They are books, scrolls or certificates presented to individuals, often in celebration of a distinguished service or event.Typically they are written in fine calligraphy and embellished with skilled artwork and lustrous design and are a celebration of an important event, perhaps an honour, particular achievement or a retirement. Each illuminated address is unique. This book tells of these stories and shows the beauty created by the skills of the illuminators.
Winner of the 2006 Orange Prize for fiction, another bestselling masterwork from the celebrated author of Swing Time and White Teeth "In this sharp, engaging satire, beauty's only skin-deep, but funny cuts to the bone." —Kirkus Reviews Having hit bestseller lists from the New York Times to the San Francisco Chronicle, this wise, hilarious novel reminds us why Zadie Smith has rocketed to literary stardom. On Beauty is the story of an interracial family living in the university town of Wellington, Massachusetts, whose misadventures in the culture wars—on both sides of the Atlantic—serve to skewer everything from family life to political correctness to the combustive collision between the personal and the political. Full of dead-on wit and relentlessly funny, this tour de force confirms Zadie Smith's reputation as a major literary talent.
Never before translated into English, Rainer Maria Rilke’s fascinating Letters to a Young Painter, written toward the end of his life between 1920 and 1926, is a surprising companion to his infamous Letters to a Young Poet, earlier correspondence from 1902 to 1908. While the latter has become a global phenomenon, with millions of copies sold in many different languages, the present volume has been largely overlooked. In these eight intimate letters written to a teenage Balthus—who would go on to become one of the leading artists of his generation—Rilke describes the challenges he faced, while opening the door for the young painter to take himself and his work seriously. Rilke’s constant warmth, his ability to sense in advance his correspondent’s difficulties and propose solutions to them, and his sensitivity as a person and an artist come across in these charming and honest letters. Writing during his aged years, this volume paints a picture of the venerable poet as he faced his mortality, through the perspective of hindsight, and continued to embrace his openness towards other creative individuals. With an introduction by Rachel Corbett, author of You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin (2016), this book is a must-have for Rilke’s admirers, young and old, and all aspiring artists.
Gems of literature in a luxurious and unique design by Marjolein Bastin. The Marjolein Bastin Classics Series is a chance to rediscover classic literature in collectible, luxuriously illustrated volumes. For the first time ever, the internationally celebrated artwork of Marjolein Bastin graces the pages of a timeless classic, Pride and Prejudice, the enduring story of the Bennet sisters and their quest for suitable marriages. Beyond bringing these stories to life, Bastin’s series adds elaborately designed ephemera, such as four-color maps, letters, family trees, and sheet music. Whether an ideal gift for an Austen or Brontë devotee or a treat for yourself, The Marjolein Bastin Classics Series, as a set or individually purchased, is perfect for anyone who feels a connection to these enduring literary gems.
One Million Lovely Letters is one woman's inspirational journey to recovery. A witty and uplifting testament to the power of words to heal the heart and mind. As featured on 'Jodi's Lovely Letters', part of the popular BBC One series 'Our Lives'. In the summer of 2011, aged only 22, Jodi Ann Bickley contracted a serious brain infection that would change her life forever. Jodi had been performing at Camp Bestival on the Isle of Wight. Returning with pockets full of glitter, she thought the happy memories would last forever. A week later, writhing in pain on the doctor's surgery floor, Jodi found out that she had been bitten by a tick and contracted a serious brain infection. Learning to write and walk again was just the start of the battle. In the months that followed Jodi struggled with the ups and downs of her health and the impact it had on her loved ones. Some days Jodi found herself wondering whether she could go on. She had two choices: either to give up now or do something meaningful with the time she had been given. Jodi chose the latter. This is the story how she turned her life around. 'An extraordinary woman.' Stephen Fry 'There is so much emotion in these pages that we challenge you not to cry.' Cosmopolitan 'It's a fantastic book, from a fantastic wordsmith, and I'm so proud of how much Jodi has achieved since I've known her. Proper chuffed. Ed x' Ed Sheeran www.onemillionlovelyletters.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXxglvEMUQc
"A loving testament to the work and reward of the best friendships, the kind where your arms can’t distinguish burden from embrace.” — People New York Times Bestselling author Ann Patchett’s first work of nonfiction chronicling her decades-long friendship with the critically acclaimed and recently deceased author, Lucy Grealy. Ann Patchett and the late Lucy Grealy met in college in 1981, and, after enrolling in the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, began a friendship that would be as defining to both of their lives as their work. In Gealy's critically acclaimed and hugely successful memoir, Autobiography of a Face, she wrote about losing part of her jaw to childhood cancer, years of chemotherapy and radiation, and endless reconstructive surgeries. In Truth & Beauty, the story isn't Lucy's life or Ann's life, but the parts of their lives they shared together. This is a portrait of unwavering commitment that spans twenty years, from the long cold winters of the Midwest, to surgical wards, to book parties in New York. Through love, fame, drugs, and despair, this is what it means to be part of two lives that are intertwined...and what happens when one is left behind. This is a tender, brutal book about loving the person we cannot save. It is about loyalty and being uplifted by the sheer effervescence of someone who knew how to live life to the fullest.
An intimate portrait of the first "first family" from the vantage of Washington's adopted daughter Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (1779-1852) was in many ways the quintessential southern lady, but as Martha Washington's granddaughter by her first marriage and George Washington's adopted daughter, she was also something of an American celebrity. Her lifelong correspondence with childhood friend Elizabeth Bordley Gibson records the experiences of the first family, the social and political gossip of the new republic's elite circle, and the difficulties of motherhood and marriage. Edited by Patricia Brady, the voluminous and unguarded letters also reveals the complex cast of family and friends associated with the Washington household, the details of plantation life, and the social limitations placed on even the most privileged eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women. This edition features an updated introduction from Brady.
