Pages & Proofs

So there’s now a book about the best photographs on Instagram. Life on Instagram features images selected by Jim Stoddart, art director at Penguin. The photo-sharing network was launched in 2010 and now has more than 500 million users. For many users, Instagram is their essential app on their smartphones. Almost 100 million pictures and […]

The wildest man in the Wild West, Billy the Kid, played croquet, it has been revealed after the remarkable discovery of only the second photograph of the outlaw. The Guardian reports: The faded image was among a pile of photos inside a cardboard box at a junk shop in Fresno, California, unearthed by a collector […]

My colleague Charlotte Lacroix visited the ILAB pop-up rare book fair in Munich earlier today. The event took place in Kaufmanns-Casino and I particularly adore the idea of books appearing in a place of gambling. Kaufmanns-Casino is a famous cocktail venue where Munich’s movers and shakers like to drink after work and it’s been that […]

Today, we have published our annual list of the most expensive sales of the year. The list for 2014 is remarkable for many reasons. A copy of Das Kapital sold for a staggering sum. There were appearances from legendary books like Dune, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hobbit, Ulysses, and A Farewell to Arms. A […]

If you are a nudist, or a naturist in some circles, then you will know Health and Efficiency Magazine, which is now called H&E naturist magazine. This is no ordinary niche journal serving a very particular group of people – Health and Efficiency began publishing in 1900, so it has a long history. It has […]

I was at a dinner last night when someone, a customer of AbeBooks actually, told me about this book. I thought he was joking. How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb by Peter Kuran was published in 2007.  It’s a serious book about photography and the technical aspects of photographing an atomic bomb while exploding. Author […]

I love this signed photo of Arthur Conan Doyle. The Sherlock Holmes author has a phenomenal handlebar moustache and must have preened it prior to having the photo taken. While we’re talking about the great man, here is a video of Conan Doyle from 1928 discussing his famous detective with an appearance from Doyle’s dog. […]

The Daily Telegraph writes about Jane Hilton’s latest book of photography, Precious, which details brothels in Nevada. Most of the nude portraits are taken in the rooms used for sex. The brothels have names like the Playmate Ranch and Sharon’s Bar and Brothel, and they seem to be in remote locations. Nevada is only state in […]