Cage 33

"Nice book"... not really what you think when you see an image of Angela Lorenz's "Cage." But that is because it is not a book. Obviously, it is a serial: volume three of her Light Verse Magazines.  This homage to John Cage's 4 Notes in 33 Variations is housed in a vanilla tin with the other four volumes of Magazines. The pins (33, naturally) spell out C A G E (4 letters, naturally).  Turn the handle and it sings out a discordant variation for your aural pleasure.

Each volume of Light Verse Magazines is its own elaborate homage to some event or artifact that caught the artist's attention. There is a fan that emerges from a fake cigar imprinted with the titles of books read in cigar factories; a poem written on paper folded to look like fossils; another poem printed on paper to form a ginkgo tree leaf in a test tube; and a paper construction of a "Sunday Stone."

We currently have a small exhibit of some of Angela Lorenz's work (including Binding Ties) to accompany the installation of her Victorious Secret in the Brickway Gallery in Baker-Berry Library. Both will be on display through Fall term.  After that, you can see "Cage" and Light Verse Magazines by asking for Presses L867lolig.

Palladio's Progress

Andrea Palladio is best known for his 1570 I qvattro libri dell'archiettvra, or Four Books of Architecture. It brought the theories of the Roman architect Vitruvius into the modern world, reshaped Renaissance architecture and profoundly influenced neo-classicism.

We recently acquired an important precursor, Palladio’s L’antichita di Roma (Venice, 1565). It is essentially a guidebook. It tells the history of Roman buildings and guides the readers to notice certain features. The act of writing it surely helped Palladio define his views of architecture and develop his architectural principles that would come to dominate the era.

Bound with the Palladio is an Italian translation of Mirabilia Romae also printed in 1565. But the fly leaves are also interesting. The binder used some scrap paper from the shop: left over printed indulgences. The indulgence was issued by Bernhardino Cirillo, the Archibishop of Loreto, to raise money for additions to the hospital at Santo Spirito in Saxia. The book as a package nicely wraps up the pilgrim's experience of Rome. It  contains the standard guide to historical sights, with the contemporary commentary by Palladio, but also an example of one of the indulgences which many pilgrims would have purchased during their visit.

Webster Hall, with its soaring Palladio-inspired interior and windows, is the perfect setting to enjoy these books.  Ask for Rare DG805.I63 1565 and Rare NA2515.P25 1570.