Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Libraries Are Getting Play

A week or so ago E.B. over at The Reader's Quill did a post about a fantabulous library of a mogul and it was a fascinating look inside the beauty of an amazing personal library. Below is the photograph that was featured over there:



Well, the Books on the Nightstand blog had a post today about some of the most famous and beautiful book stores around the world. They link to this website, so cleverly titled, "Most Interesting Bookstores of the World," and I've given you a sample of the photos below.


These photos [above] are from Selexyz Bookstore in Maastricht, Holland, which was built inside an old Dominican church. Note that the book store's coffee shop is housed in what used to be the altar of the church.


This photograph [above] is of The Academic Bookstore (Akateeminen Kirjakauppa) in Helsinki, Finland. It was built by famed architect Alvar Aalto, the father of modernism, and is the largest book store in Scandanavia.


That photograph [above] is of Lello Book Store in Porto, Portugal. This book store is considered to be the most beautiful in the whole world.


The above photograph is of the book store El Ateneo in Buenos Aires, Brazil, which used to be a theater before conversion to its current functionality.


The above photographs are of Shakespeare & Company Antiquarian Books in Paris, France, which some believe to be the most photographed book shop in the world.

I could seriously lose myself in any of these book stores... I'm thinking I'd like to do a touring vacation of each of these shops. Head on over to the "Most Interesting Bookstores of the World" website and check out the others and the tons of gorgeous photos they have.

2 comments:

The Reader's Quill said...

I've been fortunate enough to go to some of these shops/ libraries. The lello shop in Porto is by far my favorite. It is amazing in both structure and abundance. The Shakespeare & Company shop in Paris is amazing, but PACKED. Like crazy packed. I will say that if you ever need a very specific book, they probably have it! Those are probably in my top 10 favorite book shops in the world. They are truly worthy of going to.

-E.B

P.S. Thanks for the shout out!

Marg said...

They are beautiful images aren't they, and I would love to while away some time there.