Wednesday Wonder Number 9

The book we are showing you today is one hundred and forty five years old. It was one of two, the second being published just two years later in 1870. We sent the books to artist Suzi Tibbetts who wrote;


" I am a collector of old books, especially those with inscriptions; I revel in the unknown histories - of the people who have both read the book and those embedded within it. I believe books tell stories far beyond those in the text. "

Classische Theater Bibliothek (Classical Theatre Library)

German translations of classic plays and poetry, volumes 5 and 6 of the same series. The books were bound in Birmingham by James Patrick Ltd of New Coventry Road, Sheldon in 1942 and added to the Library that year.

Suzi's work graphically evokes the long history of lost and demolished libraries; from the books burnt in ancient Alexandria, those destroyed throughout the long and conflicted history of humanity, up to today's tragic losses from the burning of libraries in Iraq and Mali.

Duplicate by Suzi Tibbets

photographs by Kayliegh Bestwick