The Dresden Codex @ BibliOdyssey!

left: original right: 1933 attempt at re-mastering

As I've written many times before, one of my favorite blogs is BibliOdyssey. Yet again, here is a really good example of why I am so fond of Pecay's site.

The Dresden Codex seems to have a claim as the oldest existing book in the Americas.

"The seventy four pages are sewn together producing an eleven foot document which was originally folded up between protective wooden covers bearing engraved jaguars"

"The basic colors used from vegetable dyes for the codex were red, black and the so-called Mayan blue."

It's in less than mint condition, the fig bark paper pages are flaking, the color is faded, (if it had staples they'd be all rusty) but just like a crummy ol' reader copy of a classic comic, you can still perceive the aura of power and glory radiating from its pages. (I am incapable of looking at stuff like this and not thinking of Jack Kirby. )

I know I'm going to be studying the visuals today, soaking up what I can!
The Mayans sure did know how to make comics, didn't they?

Vintage Dutch Advertising Graphics!

Once again, Peacay @ BibliOdyssey has posted some striking advertising materials that I recommend taking a moment for a look-see. The post is "Dutch Advertising Graphics" and quite a few of the pieces on display reflect my taste in typography, iconography and vintage graphic design in general--like the Ranja en Rojo example up above.

I also like Pope Globes and Jago Shawls but all of the pieces are excellent and worth checking out.

Vintage Japanese Toy Illustrations!

The Grandmaster of BibliOdyssey, Peacay, has done it again! This amazing post features illustrations of Japanese toy designs from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the twentieth.
As someone who has spent an inordinate amount of time over the last few years contemplating the philosophy of toy making--I found these drawings to be quite informative. As Peacay observes, there seems to be a minimum amount of western influence evident in these toys. But I can certainly see how the tide of inspiration began to flow from east to west as the century progressed.

The BibliOdyssey Book!

Larry Marder's "Lizard Brain" is shrieking today. I just read about the publication of "BibliOdyssey Book" by Fuel.

Larry must have this book.
Larry must have it immediately!

BibliOdyssey is consistently one of my favorite sites as I've written on several occasions. The brainchild of a brilliant Australian curator/researcher named PK (aka peacay) BibliOdyssey is described like this on Amazon:

"BibliOdyssey's mission over the past two years has been to diligently trawl the dustier corners of the Internet and retrieve these materials for our attention. Thanks to the daily efforts of this singular blog, a myriad of long-forgotten imagery has now re-surfaced, from eighteenth-century anatomical and architectural drawing to occult and alchemical engravings and proto-Surrealist depictions of the horrors of industrialization."

The blog is highly recommended and I'm pretty darn certain the book will merit the same!