blogis librorum. A blog about books. Rare books.

Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez is undoubtedly Colombia’s best known and best loved literary export. His novels, often placed under the umbrella of Magical Realism, bring an unmatched blend of styles and ideas to the rendering of love, death, and loss in his native South America. Though his works—including One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), Love in the Time of Cholera (1985), and many other internationally acclaimed novels—are unmistakably his own, much of his success has come from the inimitable ways he draws on his literary influences.

Pat Conroy, best known for his novels The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, has died. Conroy's books are filled with memorable characters and compelling story-lines. His stormy childhood and strained relationship with numerous family members were often the inspiration for his relatable brand of Southern Literature. In 2009, Conroy was admitted to the South Carolina Hall of Fame.

 As a college student, I have once again found myself reacting to illustrations with the same partiality that I had as a child. In addition to cultivating strong academic habits and earning a degree, being at a University has challenged me in the lost art of doodling. Three-dimensional flowers curl their way around my history lecture notes, thriving on the lightly-shaded raindrops that pour down from the upper right hand corner of my loose–leaf paper. My work is mediocre at best, but it brings an element of zest to the notes that cling to the page in flat obedience.

If an unprofessional flower sketch can bring beauty to a History notebook, imagine the power of intricate illustrations tucked into well-written books: lifelike depictions of heroes and villains dancing across the pages of stories written throughout history, where words and pictures come together to create a different world in which readers can dwell for hours on end. One such uniquely talented illustrator is Howard Pyle.

As far as popular entertainment goes, we modern folk can have rather nineteenth century tastes. Our love of vampires can be traced to the vision of Bram Stoker. Our Christmas traditions are heavily indebted to the stories of Charles Dickens. Sherlock Holmes—kept alive by a menagerie of TV shows, films, memorabilia, and readers—is no different. But what is it about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character that endures so well?

We are rapidly approaching the 35th annual Florida Antiquarian Book Fair and it promises to be a good one! It's the oldest book fair in the Southeastern United States and can be relied upon for fascinating books and literary conversation. If you find yourself in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area between March 11-13, be sure to stop by. We'll even provide you with free tickets.

“Most authors will not disclose their source for fear that other, less successful authors will chisel in on their territory. However, I am willing to take that chance. I get all my ideas in Switzerland, near the Forka Pass” –Dr. Seuss, on where he got his ideas.

No one can question the influence of Dr. Seuss. But questioning minds have always wondered, what influenced the man himself? Today, we'd like to dive in and explore a couple of theories.

Ralph Ellison was born in 1914 in Oklahoma City. He was named after poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. His father was a voracious reader and often read to Ellison and his younger brother, Herbert. When Ellison was only three years old, his father was killed in a work-related accident after shards from a fallen ice block pierced his abdomen. Although his mother eventually remarried, Ellison grew up knowing how much his father loved him, and as an adult, he learned his father had wished for him to grow up to be a poet, like his namesake.

The earth does not share our same affection for round numbers or simple math. Instead, our blue planet travels around the sun at a rate of one revolution about every 365.25 days. It’s this extra sliver of a day, a length of nearly six hours, that has to be compensated for. And that’s why this year, 2016, will contain this extra day, February 29.

Those of us who love books tend to do so on many different levels. We love how they look and want to be surrounded by them—their spines neatly lined up on bookshelves or spiral stacked next to our favorite chair. We love how they feel—the leather-covered or dust-jacketed weight of them in our hands. We love how they sound—the crack of the binding and the rustling as we turn the first pages. But mostly, we love the experience of being transported by them.

Graphic novels haven’t always held an esteemed spot on collectors’ shelves. While earlier incarnations of the graphic novel (i.e., comic books) have indeed been objects heavily and preciously collected, the rise of the graphic novel is assumed to be, for many readers, a relatively new phenomenon. Yet many graphic novels (and other works by their authors) are quite collectible. If you’re thinking about starting a new type of collection, delving into the history of this genre might be for you.