""Why do we feel so passionately about books, and why do we accumulate them in a seemingly uncontrollable fashion throughout our lives?" ask the authors of At Home with Books. "Because our libraries express something more than learning--they link us with the past, the present, and the future in a way that is portable, affordable, and aesthetically pleasurable." At Home with Books shines a spotlight on this revealing room and shows how a place filled with books can delight and intrigue according to the person who created it. At Home with Books is about booklovers--forty of them--and the very personal, diverse libraries created for the passion they share. And they show that reading rooms and creative ideas for housing volumes can turn any room in the house into a library. Here we see the literary lairs of Frances FitzGerald, Jean Stein, and John Richardson; the beautifully designed libraries of Robert A.M. Stern, Michael Graves, and Jack Lenor Larsen; the warmth and originality of book rooms arranged by Keith Richards, Richard Howard, and Charles Ryskamp, to name just a few. Interviews with these bibliophiles reveal not only an early love for books, but such practical information as how they store books, how they move from one space to another, how their book walls were built, how they integrate new books into old collections, how they arrange comfortable places to read, how they deal with additions, and more. Their styles range from Joan Vas's airy, light-filled loft to a cozy library in a restored barn with old beams; from the grand old English library of the Duke of Devonshire to Laurie Mallet's all-white trompe l'oeil living room. You'll find here: bookshelves swathed in toile, book walls which move to conceal and reveal books; Niall Smith's free-standing Biedermier book wall; Bill Blass's rare period library furniture; an idiosyncratic collection of Concrete and Visual poetry; black floor-to-ceiling bookshelves set off by white Corinthian columns; bookshelves in a bathroom and in a kitchen. Special sections include professional advice on organizing, categorizing, and editing your library; caring for your collection; preserving, restoring, and storing rare books; finding out-of-print books; with information on furniture, lighting, and shelving. The directory contains addresses for well-known book shops and dealers, book binders, conservations, and public libraries, as well as shopping information on ladders, reading lamps, and ephemera. At Home with Books is a visual delight, a helpful resource, and a glorious celebration of reading and the written word"--Dust jacket.
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