Coffee-Table Books

Coffee-table books :: Bettie XL // Ina’s 1969 // No flashA snapshot of my most recent book purchases, from the top:

1. Unseen Vogue; bursting with images that didn’t, for various reasons, make the cut into the British edition
2. Lanvin, by Dean L. Merceron; an absolutely breathtaking monograph on the early twentieth century fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin – worth every penny!
3. The Handbag, An illustrated history, by Caroline Cox; a great reference
4. Seduction, A celebration of Sensual Style, by Caroline Cox; the 20s and 30s photographs are particularly lovely
5. A Century of Hats, by Susie Hopkins; another great reference book catering to my obsession (hats, of course, although collecting books is fun too)
6. The Artful Storybook, by Terry Taylor; a book about one of a kind artist-created books in a myriad of formats, which also explains the creation process
7. Russian Textiles, Printed Cloth for the bazaars of Central Asia, by Susan Meller; beautiful images to inspire anyone interested in textiles or pattern design
8. Édouard Boubat, the Monograph; Boubat’s career spanned 50 years, his elegant, poetic black and white photographs sweep one from the everyday life of Paris on a trip to Africa, India, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Japan 
9. The Snippy World of New Yorker Fashion Artist Michael Roberts; with a short foreword by Tim Blanks, this large format book is chock-a-block with Roberts’ wonderful cut-paper collages and drawings

All these books – with the exception of The Artful Storbyook, bought in Vietnam – were purchased either through Abebooks.com, or in remainders bookstores at very good prices. It goes to prove one can confound the Australian Government’s heavy tax on imported books!