House of Beauty & Culture Book of...

"DISPENSARY TO THE SOUL"

Library Inscription in Trajan's Forum

bust from the estate of YSL

Recently a favorite blogger- House of Beauty and Culture- stopped curating his almost daily postings. A favorite, an inspiration. It seems much like a favorite book- reading through and when finished- You don't want it to end- You don't- but it does. You remember it, quote it- it leaves a lasting impression.
now playing





What Books are on your Summer reading list?

Downcast Eyes: The Denigration of Vision in Twentieth-Century French Thought
by Martin Jay

Bright Young People: The Rise and Fall of a Generation 1918-1940 by D.J. Taylor

Rougues' Gallery by Michael Gross

Iris Origo by Caroline Moorehead

Maeve Brennan: Homesick at the New Yorker by Angela Bourke

Little Me by Patrick Dennis

Diary of a Drag Queen by Daniel Harris

Madeleine Castaing by Jean-Noel Liaut

Geoffrey Beene by Kim Hastreiter

Is there one book you honestly don’t expect to get to? Why?

Don't think I will finish the Castaing book. Only because it is in French and requires a greater degree of attention.


Where do you read and When? Does the genre you are reading dictate the place you read- in other words, Do you take just any old book to bed?


I read on the sofa, better known here as the raft of the Medusa, in the living room. The book and time depends entirely on the mood. Which works well as there are usually three on the go.



What is you all time Favorite Book for its sense of place?

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin




What is your favorite Genre?

Biography and art/fashion monographs.

What is your most recent purchase in this category?

why?

I find creative people interesting.

What is your Security Blanket Book?



What about Books you are reading for a second or third time? Why? Any disappointments on second reading?

Don't reread per say, I dip back into for favourite passages.

Latest Obsession Author, Designer, Photographer?


Going out on a limb here –define LIBRARY in the nontraditional sense?

Anything (whether it be fabric samples, images, or music) that is referenced and serves as an inspiration.



...this answer I adore. It says what I could not quite put into words. Indeed, that is what the Blog -House of Beauty of Culture was for Me- and likely other of its readers,

An inspiration.

A constant source of joy, humour, of learning-

A Library.

photograph from HOBAC's latest obession

*all grotesque letters from Bibliodyssey.

How do you define A Library? a beautiful book waits for your answer-What does a Library look like at your house? music, textiles, children's books, photo albums? I'd love to hear about it-the book HOME awaits you- HOME by STAFFORD CLIFF (pb) "5o Tastemakers describe what it is, Where it is, What it means."

on books: House of Beauty and Culture: Tomorrow

taken from Ulla at Model's Own here.

Teamuncool fashion: " classic campaigns 2"

source

Ancient Industries and My Book Covers- Judging Her Books

,

"Golden the light on the locks of Myfanwy,

Golden the light on the book on her knee,
Finger marked pages of Rackham's Hans Anderson,
Time for the children to come down to tea."
John Betjeman

My Book Covers! I absolutely Love, Megan Wilson's blog- because of course I love books! I am mad about them- I am such a visual person-a good thing- because I am a horror at names, dates and math! I do judge books by covers- they can sell a book quicker than a good review. When I go book shopping for specific titles and have options- the cover art on a book will put IT over the top- the other left on the dusty shelf-figuratively speaking. Megan designs and selects book covers! Her Book Picks will fill you in.

(One of My recent Megan Wilson designed Book Cover acquisitions, how could I resist Twiggy & Cecil Beaton?)

Some of My Favorite Vintage Book Covers from My Library

Megan's other blog is Ancient Industries- equally alluring and all Visual. You must go see it.


Megan~
What Books are on your Summer reading list?

Because I design book covers, a lot of my summer reading has been decided for me. Actually not strictly true: it was my suggestion that we publish the first 4 Fitzgerald books which are freshly out of copyright.

the Fitzgerald Covers

Vintage Classics.

Painting by J. C. Leyendecker

Vintage Classics.

Painting from the Illustrated London News

So I'll be obliged to re-read The Beautiful and Damned and Tales of the Jazz Age, boo Hoo. For pleasure I want to immerse myself in John Betjeman, with whom I am carrying on a posthumous love affair. Is there one book you honestly don¹t expect to get to? Why?

I honestly don't expect to get to any bestsellers this summer because I cannot read something that everybody else is reading.

Book Stacks (Megan's Library)

Where do you read and When? Does the genre you are reading dictate the place you read- in other words, Do you take just any old book to bed?

I wish I could say that I only read Trollop in the conservatory and Austen in a hammock slung across the corner of the ballroom, but I read in bed, almost always. The most indulgent time for me to read in bed is after breakfast, with more fortifying tea.


What does your nightstand look like? or your side of the bed, floor, chair!

Megan says "I did not choose these books by their colour--just a coincidence. I've started all of them; finished none."

What is your all time Favorite Book for its sense of place?

It might have to be Brideshead--whether in Venice or Oxford or Charles' father's house in London or Brideshead, or the war later on--it's all so deeply THERE.

another Brideshead pick, (see Mrs. Blandings book picks)

What is your Security Blanket Book?

Anything by PG Wodehouse or any given Mitford sister.

Vintage Books. Photograph by Cecil Beaton

one of My favorites of Megan's Book Covers

Here have Nancy Mitford and Cecil Beaton- Another irresistible cover- I have this copy. Again- the Mitfords, a Mrs. Blandings obsession and one of my own Summer Books- The Letters of the Mitford Sisters.

What is your favorite Genre and Why?

Fiction written between the wars, because it was a very ripe time on both sides of the Atlantic.

What is your most recent purchase in this category?

I'm afraid I can't remember the last book I bought because of my job, and because I live with a book maniac, who does all the purchasing. This enables me to just nip into the library at home and pick up something I fancy, usually in an a lovely old edition.

What about Books you are reading for a second or third time?Any disappointments on second reading?

I just re-read the whole of JD Salinger, which of course made a tremendous impact during adolescence. I was a bit disappointed I'm afraid--his obsession with the Glass family is maniacal and dull. The non-Glass stories are still tremendous though. I would love to re-read The New Confessions by William Boyd, one of our greatest living authors. It is a perfect epic novel from start to finish; I enjoy knowing that it it there waiting for me.

What is the seminal book in your field or your passion that you would recommend to young would be(s) of the same?

A Designer's Art, by Paul Rand.


Latest Obsession Author, Designer, Photographer?

In order: John Betjeman, David Gentleman (an illustrator with a strong sense of design), the photographs from Lady Ottoline Morrell's photo albums at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Ottoline Obsession
go Here to see the photo albums

Lady Ottoline Morrell

I don't have to tell you, Book covers can be art- Do you have a favorite cover in your stacks?

I am very fond of artists as book cover designers, when the type and image are hand rendered by the artist. For example: Vanessa Bell, William Nicholson , Edward Gorey, the young Andy Warhol, Ben Shahn, Christopher Silas Neal (contemporary).

the Very Thing- Books Covers Megan loves from Her Library

What is on Your Book List? Your favorite Genre? Security Blanket Book? Your latest Obsession? Or what do you like from MW's list?
I'd love to hear from you-and I will pick a winner from the comments and you will have YOUR PICK from The Summer Reading BOOK LIST posted on the 16th-june YOUR PICK!


* megan's interview with a bloomsbury life

sun screen by SARGENT

Onitsuka Tiger Heaven

If you havent got a pair or know about them then you must've been living in a hole for the last 10 years. Onitsuka Tigers are super super. Visited the flagship store in Amsterdam's 9 street district and took some shots.

C

Don't Be a Pig!

in a pig's eye

it is serious...in my little town-so, Don't Be A Pig.

"to the editor
On the weekend of June 13, you ordered a pig to cook for your birthday celebration. You needed a grill to cook the pig on. My husband was nice enough to let you borrow his BBQ grill.
He also got two tanks of gas filled. You paid for one of them and he let you take the other one in case you needed it. He did not charge you anything to use the grill. He did expect you to be honest and return his grill before now.
He worked hard to make that grill and has enjoyed using it many times. It has also been used by a lot of other folks. They have always been good to return it within a couple of days.
It has been almost two weeks and you have not returned it or even called That does not show that you even appreciated him letting you use the grill.
Would you like for somebody to do you this way? He tried to be nice and help you out. We need the grill back to cook some BBQ for ourselves. Please, please return our BBQ grill and gas tanks.
You know what you have done and the Lord knows, too. Please return the grill as soon as possible."

high on the hog or hog heaven

the QUOTABLE BOAR

“The Pig, if I am not mistaken, Gives us ham and pork and Bacon. Let others think his heart is big, I think it stupid of the Pig.”

ogden nash

"Why, this fellow don't know any more about politics than a pig knows about Sunday."

harry Truman

“These are bagpipes. I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equalled the purity of song achieved by the pig."

alfred hitchcock



brando in pig skin

"I have eyes like those of a dead pig."

marlon brando

PULLED vs CHOPPED ?

a wonderful blog entry here Eating High of the Hog.

DON'T BUY a Pig in a Poke!

discussion here Perils of the BBQ grill.

travel the BBQ TRAIN here on Southern Roads with Sandy Lang Garden and Gun- HOG HIGHWAY


ORDER SMITHFIELD'S BBQ OnLine here.

God is great God is good. Good God, please protect the pig.

my darling Winston, about the carpets

What all husbands should know.



April 27 1909 Blenheim Palace

My darling one

" I had a long afternoon with Baxter and the carpets-The green carpet is lovely and will do beautifully for the library. In your room Nathan Laski's carpet, in mine, blue bedroom carpet from Bolton Street (just enough). I tried hard to make the red carpet do for the dining room, but it is really too shabby- The edges of stairs have made ridges along it- & there are awful stains (not my dog this time!)... Green sickly looking carpet out of Jack's bedroom in Bolton Street does Puppy Kitten* rooms- Another bit does the Cook's room- A big rug from dining room in Bolton Street? does my little sitting room, the edges done with blue polished linoleum continued out of hall. The whole house is now carpeted except one big servant's room (which can be done with cheap linoleum for about 2 pounds) and the Dining Room for which will have to be got- I have written to the people making the blue stair carpet to ask what it will cost to cover dining room with the blue..."

Clemmie Kat

(quote from Winston and Clementine) This letter was written 1 year after their marriage.

* the baby to be

Clementine Churchill 1915 (7 years after her marriage)

The house- 33 Eccleston Square, London

Baxter- Mr. Baxter from Maples of London, an upscale retailer. Lady Randolph dispatched Mr. Baxter to select the front door color, Winston's wallpaper , along with other details. Clementine's own bedroom decoration -of her own selection- was done up in oranges and green, and the walls were appliqued with a design of an orange tree.

Winston added a new Dining Room and the old one became his Library. A passion for books, Churchill was building his library of English literature and History at this time- books and bills were constantly flowing into the residence.

The Entrance Hall was relaid in black and white marble.

Winston Churchill 1904 (4 years before his marriage)

post materials from
Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills ,edited by their daughter Mary Soames Churchill and Chartwell by Stefan Buczacki

Clementine Churchill (see more on wikipedia) All images from Wikipedia.

Teamuncool fashion: "classic campaigns"

Mrs Blandings Builds a Book List

The novel Eric Hodgins wrote "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," was published in 1946 and quickly became a huge bestseller.

I've been reading Mrs. Blandings for some time now- and I honestly can't quite imagine anyone else building that house! Our Mrs B. built the house- decorates it, faux finishes it- and then writes about it. You name it. Mrs. Blandings can do it. How could she possibly have time to read?

But, of course She does.

As a reader, and since this is a Summer Reading List-what better time to say:

I Love Reading this Blog, & amazed by all the talents of the blogger.

mrs blandings.

A Scene from the Book

"a soft green, not as blue-green as a robin's egg but not as yellow-green as daffodils...", "if you'll send one of your workmen to the grocer for a pound of their best butter, and match that yellow exactly...", "as you can see, it's practically an apple red, somewhere between a healthy winesap and an unripened Johnny..."
~mrs Blandings
(as applied to the painting of the perfect yellow for her house)

What Books are on your Summer reading list?

William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury

Ian McEwan, Enduring Love

Amsterdam, James Ellroy I am anticipating the fall release of Blood’s a River by going back to some of his earlier books. I’ve read the Black Dahlia and loved it. There is a Kansas City connection as Ellroy lived here for a short time a few years ago. Chances are good I will get to most of them read.

The Sound and the Fury may take more fortitude, but I’m determined to read it. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never read Faulkner .

in the stacks at Mrs. Blandings' house

Where do you read and When? Does the genre you are reading dictate the place you read- in other words, Do you take just any old book to bed?

I read in bed, in the office, in the carpool line and I’ll read anything from magazines to books old or new nearly anywhere.

Mrs. Blanding's Rosie resting

What is you all time Favorite Book for its sense of place?

Both Brideshead Revisited and Tender is the Night






What is your Security Blanket Book?

Both the aforementioned. I also have a weakness for Winnie-the-Pooh.

I think I actually see a correlation here-golden honey colors, honey, bears, Boys ?

What is your favorite Genre? Why? What is your most recent purchase in this category?

I really don’t have a most favorite, but I definitely have a least favorite. I loathe historical fiction.

What about Books you are reading for a second or third time? Why? Any disappointments on second reading?

There are several books I’ve gone back to re-read. I’m seldom disappointed as it’s usually the language that draws me back in.

Latest Obsession Author, Designer, Photographer?

I do think I’ve nearly exhausted my Mitford sisters obsession, but it had a long run.

I will pick up your Mitford mantle, I have their letters to read- It's on my list.


Are you building a Summer Reading List? or even a Library- the books? the shelves?- or the house to put the Library in? Tell Mrs. Blandings all about it- after you do, You will feel so much better and for something for the shelves- HOW TO HEPBURN: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great- KATHERINE HEPBURN by Karen Karbo- a Mrs. Blandings sort of gal.