BibliOdyssey: Amazing Archival Images from the Dusty Corners of the Internet!

by P.K., Dinos Chapman (Foreword)

With just a few select books to date, the British publisher (and design company) Fuel has already made a splash with its beautifully produced books on such ephemeral or popular arts as tattooing (Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Volumes I and II), soccer programs (Match Day) and improvised domestic implements (Home-Made). Fuel's latest publication extends this visual anthropology to the Internet, specifically the blog BibliOdyssey. Across the world, libraries and institutions are only recently starting to make their collections available online, and the bulk of this amazing material goes unnoted by the casual surfer. BibliOdyssey's mission over the past two years has been to diligently trawl the dustier corners of the Internet and retrieve these materials for our attention. Thanks to the daily efforts of this singular blog, a myriad of long-forgotten imagery has now re-surfaced, from eighteenth-century anatomical and architectural drawing to occult and alchemical engravings and proto-Surrealist depictions of the horrors of industrialization (for example, the half-plant, half-people illustrations of J.J. Grandville). Each of the images is accompanied by commentary from "PK," author and curator of the BibliOdyssey blog. The book also provides details for each image and links to the source website. With a foreword by artist Dinos Chapman, BibliOdyssey is a true cabinet of curiosities and a journey in discovery and delight.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Bickety Bam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a pleasure to peruse these antique images. If you like old books or are interested in art or graphic design, you might enjoyed these carefully curated selections.

[Mary Stephanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered BibliOdyssey the blog quite by accident about two years ago, and I've been a devoted reader ever since. This book culls together a nice selection of images that have been featured on the site, as well as additional pieces that the blog's readership probably hasn't yet seen. The result is an essential volume not only for fans of the blog but also for anyone interested in the history of illustration. PK has an eye for the incredible (and also the incredibly grotesque), and his selections and commentary are unmatched in the blogosphere. Admittedly the book suffers from a few errors--both grammatical and substantive--but overall I found it worthwhile to spend an afternoon studying the images and wondering at the talent and imagination that produced them. Recommended for historians, artists, and anyone who lives a little off-center.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bibliodyssey is a collection of images and descriptions from the blog of the same name (at http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/). Most of the images are European, from roughly the 15th century to the present day. There are woodcuts, drawings, and engravings. Many are fanciful depictions of nature and of distant lands; others are whimsical, eccentric, simply insane, or just odd.

It's a fascinating collection, but the sheer breadth of the collection precluded any depth of description. Fortunately, there are links to the original source material, so the interested reader can pursue his or her own researches.

[Ed Marszewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. Totally awesome curated image exhibition in a book. Based on the weblog of the mysterious PK it contains images of very rare prints, etchings, posters and other printed ephemera that are unique, startling, weird and just plain beautiful. PK cooperated with librarians that managed to put up images of rare manuscripts and other works back in the early days of the interweb. He took the images from the web (with permission) and printed them in this book. And they look great. great coffee table book for everyone.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

The choices are excellent, the notes amusing and relevant. My only complaint is that these indeed do look like pages printed off the internet. Very high quality to be use (not a resolution issue) but, I think, the digital printing process makes them just seem a bit muddy compared to say, a standard book of art prints.

Nevertheless, PK's vetting, as usual, is superb and the book, in general, is a treasure.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

archival images from various cultural institutions/sources made public via the internet. this collection is amazing - so varied, but cohesive in its utter wackyness. a wackyness that predominantly consists of 'old-timey-style illustrations,' to put it simply/crudely. think - an orgy of dover clip art books - in full color, on the best opiates of the 1800s available.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like it, lots of great inspiration. I kind of wanted more images. I'm not sure I like it any better than browsing the blog (http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/) or Flickr feed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliody...), but it is a beautiful book filled with wonderful things. Enough said.

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been waiting to buy this book for awhile...thank you barnes and noble gift cards.

[Inge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The future of the book is here! Images from special collections' archives gleaned from the web and REpresented and Recontextualized back into book form again. The book will never die!

[Kathee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find quirky book of images.