Browsing: Books

Exploring why alphabets look like they do, what has happened to them since printing was invented, why they won’t ever change, and how it might have been.

John Lithgow reads Mark Twain’s success predictor, live-illustrated by Flash Rosenberg.

Portraits of the world’s most powerful leaders by iconic photographer Platon.

A fantastic chronicle of the bike’s story, from its cultural history to its technical innovation to the fascinating, colorful stories of people who ride it.

Yoko Ono, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Debbie Harry and other cultural icons write retrospective letters of wisdom to their 16-year-old selves.

Artist Lauren Redniss tells the remarkable story of Marie Curie using an early-20th-century cameraless photographic technique and vintage typography from the NYPL archive.

Photographer Jason Eskenazi sets out to explore the age-old East/West divide in a fascinating series.

Celebrating iconic poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 208th birthday with a free documentary and a fantastic new edition of his seminal essay, Self-Reliance.

A fascinating look how Shakespeare’s influence permeated everything from Hollywood to Freudian psychology to North American wildlife.

The work of French scientist and chronophotography pioneer Etienne-Jules Marey, which shaped the course of modern visual literacy.