Fun Friday Resources

Just a couple of design/collage resources today: It’s the Solstice and I have to prep the labyrinth for an evening of quiet gratitude.

Yes, it’s this lovely.

First up, the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature at the University of Florida, with over 10,000 titles in its collection. All kinds of stuff here, but mostly I’d be interested in the illustrated children’s books (as opposed to what we would now call ‘young adult literature’), such as Aunt Mavor’s Picture Story Book.

We all know the first verse of “Old Mother Hubbard,” right?

But how many of the other verses do you know?

This frontispiece from Andrew Lang’s The Green Fairy Book amused me:

Obviously published before we all became cosmopolitan internationalists with access to such exotica as gorgonzola in our local Kroger.

Over at archive.org, Strong’s Book of Design offers a end-of-Nouveau collection of designs for ads, bookplates, frames, alphabets, etc. Pro tip: To make viewing easier, click on the ‘thumbnail view’ icon in the lower right corner.

Finally, Floating, a soothing soundscape to keep you mellow as you examine 10,000 books for stuff you can steal. If you’re not familiar with mynoise.net, you’re in for a treat: Scores of soundscapes of all descriptions and purposes. I like to click on the ‘slide animation’ button so that the different channels adjust themselves over time, altering the soundscape ever so slightly. (It’s also fun to play with the individual sliders to see exactly how the soundscape was created.)