posted on 31 Jul 2015

The Art of the Bookstore : The bookstore paintings of Gibbs M. Smith

There are very few things that make me happier than a book about bookshops. When they come produced like this - limited, signed and in a slipcase - I'm pretty much in heaven.

This is a book featuring 68 paintings of bookshops from across the States which have been done by the publisher Gibbs Smith. The paintings, done in oils, are affectionate and used on his publishing company catalogues which were issued each season. Alongside the paintings are short written pieces that describe the shop and the experience of shopping there.

Not only is this a great book to curl up with and imagine the journey you could make, it is also an increasingly important social document that captures the world of small independent book shops before they all disappear. Many that are featured here have already closed so we can only now visit them in our dreams.

Gibbs Smith 2009   Signed edition produced to celebrate 40th anniversary of the publishing house.