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Art, Style & Culture: Paris Between the Wars

Filed under: Art, Books

Paris Between the Wars: A Cultural Crucible
A brilliant new book, Paris Between the Wars, 1919-1939: Art, Life & Culture by Vincent Bouvet and Gérard Durozoi from The Vendome Press explores the myriad cultural forces which collided in the City of Light during the two decades between World Wars I and II. Over those 20 years artists and intellectuals flocked to Paris from around the world, resulting in a crucible of creativity that wrought great achievements in fashion, graphic design, architecture, literature, fine arts, theater and more. Illustrated with hundreds of paintings, drawings, archival photographs, advertising posters, film stills, and plans, the book travels between the bohemian charms of Montparnasse, which attracted artists such as Picasso, Chagall, and Giacometti, and the vibrant café culture which provided a forum and hunting ground for Dadaists, Surrealists and expatriate writers like Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

J.D. Salinger's Toilet Offered for $1 Million on eBay

Filed under: Auctions


The new owner of late reclusive author J.D. Salinger's compound in Cornish, New Hampshire is apparently selling off some of the house's fixtures with an eye towards cashing on on his literary reputation. The Vault of Forsythe, Inc., a collectibles dealer based in North Carolina, is handling the items and has just listed the toilet from Salinger's home on eBay with a "buy it now" price of $1 million, though other offers are being accepted and five have apparently already been made. This could well be a hoax aimed at those who are overly worshipful of the Catcher in the Rye author, but as the vendor seems legit we doubt it. We won't speculate on the process of authentication however. The full listing for the curious commode reads as follows:

Milkweed Editions Inc., Charity of the Day

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day


Milkweed Editions Inc. was founded in 1979 in Minnesota with the intention of "making a humane impact on society." The independent non-profit publishing house puts out 12 - 20 new books each year and strives to use literature's unique ability to reach people and change their thinking to make the world a better place. They support writing creations of all kinds (fiction, nonfiction, children's, poetry) as long as it conveys a message in keeping with their mission of the essence of the human heart and spirit.

Rowling Book Sells For Nearly $4 Million

Filed under: Auctions, Charity


J.K. Rowling's latest book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, just went up for auction and ended up making nowhere near the amount expected. The last of 7 handwritten editions of the book (which will not be published) was expected to go for around $100,000, so I'm sure there were some pleasantly surprised faces when bidding closed just shy of $4 million dollars.

The money will be donated to The Children's Voice, a charity that campaigns for the rights of children in Europe and was co-founded by Rowling and Baroness Nicholson back in 2005. In response to the auction's end Rowling was "ecstatic" and was quoted as saying "It means Christmas has come early to me this year."

Rare Hemingway Proof Up For Auction

Filed under: Auctions


The book shown here may not look like much bit it is a rare treasure, the only known inscribed and signed advance of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls. ever to surface will be offered at Swann Galleries' auction of 19th & 20th Century Literature on Thursday, November 29.The proof contains Hemingway's handwritten corrections including a dedication to Martha Gellhorn, and is signed and inscribed to Hemingway's longtime friend and employee Toby Otto Bruce. The inscription reads, "To Otto, with much affection and deep appreciation for all he did to make this book." The proof comes with a handmade suede cover that Hemingway used to protect the book while copyreading and it is also signed. The book comes from Bruce's family and has a pre-auction estimate of $75,000 to $125,000.

Eat Off The Great Works

Filed under: Decor

The British Library has created an interesting new literary twist on tableware. The Great Works brand was created for the British Library by Miller & Co. and the each product in the range is decorated with an excerpt from a handwritten manuscript derived exclusively from the British Library's manuscript collection. Charlotte Bronte, Oscar Wilde, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are among the authors featured. Shown here is the Lewis Carroll collection for children, a bowl, mug and plate which comes a presentation gift box and sells for £34.95.

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