Product Description

All of the libraries in the world-whether small or large, public or private-serve the same purpose: to preserve, cherish, or show off the riches of human knowledge. Now, for the first time, an internationally renowned photographer takes the reader on a journey to more than 20 of the most historic of these magical places, all architectural treasures. From the dramatic, baroque Library of the Institut de France in Paris, to the splendid Vatican Library in Rome; from the majestic Royal Library in El Escorial, Spain, to the famed New York Public Library, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece-here are some of the most exquisite libraries of the Western world.

Included are national, scholarly, and religious libraries from 12 countries, which have in common a distinguished heritage and an architectural setting that emphasizes art and culture. The accompanying text traces the history of libraries to the present day, and describes how they came to serve famous personalities and men of letters. Libraries must be counted among civilization's crowning achievements; this elegant book is a fitting tribute to that accomplishment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137637 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 248 pages

About the Author
Guillaume de Laubier is one of France's foremost photographers of interior design. He has undertaken projects all over the world for magazines such as Elle Décoration, Architectural Digest, and Madame Figaro. Jacques Bosser, journalist and translator, has written for Architectural Digest and Connaissance des Arts as well as contributing to Le Dictionnaire international des arts appliqués et du design and Le Dictionnaire international du bijou. James H. Billington has been the Librarian of Congress for more than 15 years.

Customer Reviews

A Treasure for Bibliophiles and Architecture Lovers
This beautifully photographed book might appear, at first glance, as another "coffee-table book": that is, a book someone gives you as a gift, which thereafter sits on your coffee table unread. That hasn't been my experience. Since receiving it as a Christmas present from my wife, I find myself picking it up every few weeks, reading about how famous book collections were formed, and gazing at the stunning architecture of libraries built as temples to literature (rather than on the how-many-shelves-can-we-cram-into-this-square-footage principle).
There are university libraries (e.g., Oxford, Trinity College Dublin), royal libraries (Vienna, Prague), religious libraries (The Vatican, and several monasteries), and more democratic ones (The New York Public Library). Most of the libraries are European, except for three: New York, The Library of Congress (which is featured on the cover), and the Boston Athenaeum.
There could be more in the text about the contents of these libraries; the emphasis is more on the sheer physical beauty of these places. And beautiful they are, some of them decorated by leading artists.
Some of these libraries are easy to visit; some are accessible only to scholars with appropriate references. Some, like the library of the French Senate (a serene retreat overlooking the Jardin du Luxembourg), are available to a select few. This delightful volume lets us in, for a while. Enjoy.

Happy books with homes like these!
Speaking as a professional librarian for more than three decades -- someone who upon visiting a city for the first time usually seeks out the main library for a look around -- there are libraries and then there are libraries. Even those in major U.S. cities tend to be utilitarian first (sometimes utilitarian only). Those dating from the 1950s and `60s are generally pretty ugly, as well. For richness and beauty, you have to go overseas to find libraries constructed in an earlier time, when architecture and ornamentation was an end in itself. Except for the small collections kept by monasteries, the library is pretty much an invention of the Renaissance and the Age of Reason. The National Library of Austria, in Vienna, is gorgeously Baroque, with allegorical paintings on the ceilings and narrow staircases concealed behind hidden doors in the stacks. The ever-suspicious Vatican Library still locks its bookcases, filled with bibliographical relics of incalculable value. The Senate Library in Paris is a blend of Neoclassical and Italianate, but it's very much a working library and the old card catalogue has been replaced by computers. I was privileged many years ago to visit the breathtaking library at the Abbey of Saint Gall, home of probably the world's most important collection of surviving incunabula. The curving bookshelves of inlaid wood, the hundreds of carved portraits, arms, and both religious and secular symbols are just incredible. And there's the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the first-ever university collection. And there are more than a dozen others in this beautifully produced volume, of which only three in the United States were deemed worthy of inclusion: the Library of Congress, the New York Public, and the Boston Athenaeum. All of which are practically new buildings compared to the others, but the same principal is at work -- to house knowledge in artistically serene surroundings. Remember the overhead shot of the LC's main Reading Room in *All the President's Men*? That says it all.

Very tastful and satisfying.
When I saw this book in a store I was absolutely thrilled, and I decided that I must have it...yet, I paid about $55 for it. For me, it was a worthy price to pay, but when I found this book on Amazon for so much less, I felt that I had to urge others to take this great offer. It is fair enough to say that everyone would like to have high quality things, yet at times we are unable to do so for one or more reasons. Yet this book is so affordable and it maintains a very high quality. It has thick pages and the pictures inside are dark and rich. Overall, this book has brought me much joy, and I hope it will do the same for you.