September 2009

Something Old, Something New

Pictorial Webster’s: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities is a beautifully designed new book featuring more than 1500 original engravings that illustrated the Webster's dictionaries of the 19th century. Fine-press bookmaker Johnny Carerra cleaned and restored these outstanding engravings and compiled them into a visual reference work that is itself a work of art.

Carerra, a printmaker and bookbinder, used many of the original printer’s blocks to make new impressions. The book is a treasure of serendipitous research on many levels: the art is direct and compelling; the images represent choices made by the editors of another era in order to illustrate nature and the technology of the day; and the witty and idiosyncratic organization of the images creates an intriguing dialogue among them. It’s a reference book that’s also a book of ideas, history, and art.