Brattlecast #74 - Vernacular Photos

While we’re all cooped up at home, it’s a great time to take a look through some old photo albums, if you have them around. In recent years, collectors have begun to take more of an interest in vernacular photography: casual snapshots taken by amateur, usually anonymous photographers of everyday subjects which can inadvertently capture a wealth of fascinating historical detail. Vernacular photographs are a great entry point into collecting because they’re widely available, generally affordable, and, although they may have been taken without a specific artistic intention, can be aesthetically striking and affectingly poignant.

Brattlecast #73 - Books in the Age of Zoom

There are many problems raised by the Covid-19 crisis, but only one that the Brattle is uniquely poised to help you solve: everyone on the Zoom call can see your bookshelves, and they look like trash, I’m sorry. Why not impress your colleagues with some nice new volumes curated by the Brattle team? Real books, not screen of VR shelves either. We’ve got years of experience helping clients build decorative, custom libraries that highlight the best of their personalities and interests, and, frankly, not much else to do at the moment. So give us a call or an email, and move your dog-eared copies of the Twilight series down to the shame-shelf (below eye level).

Brattlecast #72 - Small Pleasures

We’re talking little, tiny, miniature books: books so small you could fit many of them into a single regularly sized book. Books that could go onto the bookshelves of a dollhouse. A Bible the size of your thumbnail. Books so diminutive and light that the booksellers who specialize in them are the envy of the rest of the rare book world; those who have to deal with heavy, normal sized books. Books that you would read as you curled up on a ball of yarn with a spool of thread as a table and a thimble full of tea. If this isn’t delightful to you then I don’t even know anymore!

Brattlecast #71 - Anne Frank Collections

It’s a story of hardship and optimism that has never ceased to move us, but which has taken on a particular resonance in these difficult times: The Diary of Anne Frank. We’ll talk about the story of its original publication, take a look at some early editions, and think about the lessons this book can impart to us in our own moment of crisis and isolation. Plus, do you have a fascinating item at home that you’d like to hear virtually appraised on the podcast? We’re welcoming submissions from listeners; please contact the shop at info@brattlebookshop.com.

 

Brattlecast #70 - Fashion Collections

A collection of French fashion magazines from the 1920’s sends us off into an exploration of fashion magazines in general. They contain a lot of good outfit ideas, sure, and some have gorgeous illustrations, but they’re also a fascinating record of everyday life. The history of hemlines and purses can also be read as a history of women’s freedom and independence. Echos of the most outlandish haute couture design eventually percolate down through the culture into the clothing pages of the Sears & Roebuck catalog. All men wear hats everyday, until one day they don’t. Join us for a stroll down the runway and into history in this very snappy #brattlecast.