Now, coming upon this post as you are, unawares, I feel I ought to clarify the title (which was alternately going to be sex libris) straight away by telling you what this post is not, in fact, about. By “library smut” I am in no way referring to the photo books on native peoples, or the illustrated health manuals, or any of the other volumes which, in your childhood, you lurked about the library aisle to find with the sole purpose of sneaking guilty glances at naked bodies. Nor am I referring to the “risqué” novels by Miller, Cleland, Réage, or Lawrence you leafed impatiently through as a teenager. No. What I’m talking about here is the full-frontal objectification of the library itself. Oh yeah.
Red-Hot and Filthy Library Smut
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Wonderful, thanks.
I’ve always wanted to visit the 8th century St Gallen Abbey. They also have a recently expanded and formidable collection of manuscripts online.
I agree with the read ‘n dance feel of the variational spellings. Olé!
If you think the book is great, you should have seen the full size pictures. The Frye Art Museum (one of Seattle’s BEST treasures) had an exhibit earlier this year (January 21 – April 16, 2006) with many of these images from Candida Höfer. (http://www.fryeart.org/pages/candidahofer.htm)
These were LARGE, lucious photographic prints, 6 feet across some of them. It was almost unbearably magnificent. The British Library! The French Bibliothèque Nationale, books, books, oh such glorious books and other, amazing library spaces!
I spent an entire day in the Frye viewing these pictures, first with my 12 year old son, and then leaving to get my wife and bring her back too.
I found this entry via a commenter on my blog and my gods! I will be useless for anything else for the rest of the day. Of course, I’m surfing to find a copy for myself now…
Now I feel so dirty…
“New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman writes, “Ms. Höfer is a straight photographer whose humanity and improvisatory spirit come across if we are patient enough to appreciate the serendipity of her light, the subtlety of her color and the quiet, melancholy pleasure she seems to take in finding, as if almost by chance, poetry in institutional form.”
Indeed. Thanks for the link Duncan. I am jealous of course. When I first saw her shots I was reminded of Gursky, whose work I’ve enjoyed for a while. When I took a few minutes to think about it, however, I decided Ms. Höfer is if anything an even more impressive photographer because she achieves that sumptuous otherworldly level of detail and weird emotional resonance without any of the digital manipulation. Very impressive.
i love the comments ALMOST as much as i love the post and pictures.
a friend sent me the link to here, and knowing the open-office environment i work in, assured me that despite the words “hot” and “smut” in the hyperlink, “this is indeed work safe. Unless you work in a place where you are afraid that people will think you are a giant nerd.”
sardonic, of course, since Giant Nerd is my middle name. kind of.
but i didn’t find myself salivating and bulgy of eye; my spirit sang and my lips trembled with reverence at such sights as i found herein.
thank you for this gorgeousness. i feel truly uplifted ... but i also can’t forget how i felt when learning about all the libraries throughout the ages that have been razed because of the conquering of empires, one by the other.
cheers,
love from leila
libraries in america just can’t compete with these ones! i loved the trinity library when i was there. i wish there were huge, cathedral-like libraries here.
You know, the library of congress in Washington DC is pretty amazing, as are libraries in schools like Notre Dam and Harvard. Worth checking out :]
The library at Trinity College certainly is great; my favorite of all the libraries I visted in the UK, aesthetically speaking. It feels just how dreams of college libraries should: marble busts of luminaries, dark wood panelling all around, low light, original copies of world-changing manuscripts… it’s excellent.
Also, you might want to relax your URL blacklist; it’s currently prohibiting me from including my homepage (censored to avoid blacklisting: emogla$$es.org), I think because you can’t spell “glasses” without “ass”.
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Thought you’d be interested in knowing that the photo of the British Library is actually the British Museum Reading Room. It was the main reading room of the British Library from the establishment of the British Library in the 1970s until 1997, when the St. Pancras building opened. Prior to the founding of the British Library, the British Museum was the UK’s national library, and its collection became the core of the British Library’s collection. The current location, where I’m spending the summer researching, is a stunning space in its own right but much more modern in its style.
@nate: It’s probably the $$ signs in the url actually…
@james: Thanks for the info. Think you’d better sneak a digital camera into the current local and offer us all a “special report.” Don’tcha think?
I found your link via the Bibliobibuli site (http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com). Thank you for post. It’s time for my country to seriously upgrade its public libraries!
No, see, there’s no $$ signs in the real url. Those are standing in for “S"s. Even when I typed the url in normally in the body text, it blocked my comment as blacklisted. :(
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Oh, that is so totally droolworthy, though (alas) not quite hi-res enough for desktop wallpaper.
If you want more of the same, these folks make a gorgeous pinup calendar…
libraries in america just can’t compete ... i wish there were huge, cathedral-like libraries here.
If you’re anywhere near Boston, try to get a tour of the Boston Athenaeum.
Here’s a small picture, though that’s just one wing of one floor…
This is the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a while. Thank you for posting.
*swoon*
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For another non-european example, there’s the Canadian Library of Parliament in Ottawa.
Temples! that’s what she’s photographing.
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And tomorrow I get to go back to my library and see the books strewn about on bolted together metal that looks like it was ripped off some navy battle cruiser. America will realize someday that to have historic buildings means the building you make need to last.
Love the photos.
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Absolutely gorgeous pics. I. Want. This. Book. Now.
But when are they bringing out the edition focussing on crap libraries of the world?
So delicious that I just had to blog with a link to this post. ;D
So, I saw this post and pointed my sweetie, the Harvard Librarian at it. She went Ooh and Ah and went to the catalog. She discovered that the Fine Arts library had a copy and put a request in for it.
When she got the book from Fine Arts, she took it back to show her co-workes. They Ooh-ed and Ah-ed and went “Pretty!” and then got to the pictures claiming to be “WIdener Library”.
They’re not. They’re pictures of Lamont Library - also Harvard, only a hundred yards away or so, but not the same library.
They were understandably annoyed. :)
(Then she brought the book home and I got to see it. Yay! Though really, I think it should’ve been a larger format work. But really, oh, the sexy!)
oh yeah. oh oh. oh. ohohohohoh.
Man. wow.
Seriously, those are some amazing shots. the one in Amsterdam is my favorite by far—of those, I do need to see the others now however.
Have you ever seen the reading room in the Suzzalo Library at the University of Washington in Seattle? Pretty amazing too. I tried finding a good represetnative image of the inside, but can’t locate anything quickly (and I really should be looking). This will give you an idea of what lays in store for those who visit:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20021001/226universityclo_insiderea.jpg
Those are such beautiful photos! Libraries and books are sexy, so “library smut” was a very appropriate title. Now I need to buy the book. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful. Such beauty.
//JJ
luscious.
The TRINITY COLLEGE LIBRARY DUBLIN photo (last in series) looks exactly like a map on the video game, STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II. In the game, you can ruthlessly knock over the bookshelves.
Wow! Dublin has won my heart. Great post. So glad I found your bloggy.
Smooch,
The Tart
Ps. I have always loved libraries. ; )
While the pictures are stunning, what I liked best was the way you called us all out in your words. I’d heard rumors, but it’s good to know I’m not alone.
Libraries are, as the kids say, “hott!”
This is the best post I think I’ve ever seen!
Amazing, AND HOT.
It makes me mourn the digital age.
I saw that exhibition in Amsterdam a couple of years ago. I went in to the gallery to look at Höfer’s work, not knowing that they were library photographs; I have always liked her work. This happened while I was waiting to hear if I had been accepted in to library school, so I figure that it was a sign. I think it was; I will soon become a librarian, hopefully an art librarian.
But I had a question… copyright? Did you just photograph or scanned the images from the book?
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Beautiful. I can imagine my kids, running up and down the spiral staircases, squealing, and making a general nuisance of themselves.
Oh dear, I believe something just moved in my pants.
Seriously, thank you so very much for bringing this to our attention. I don’t know why they won’t just let us live in libraries. These places are so beautiful. It is possible that libraries of extravagant architecture and decoration are the only spaces deserving of such space and motif.
‘scuse a stranger’s wibbling…I just found this mooching on another journal and i think I may have just wet myself…
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i think I may have just wet myself…
That would seem to be the proper response.
Thank you for bringing these great photographs to my attention. I didn’t realize that I was such a biblioporn buff.
However, I must insist that you go with you titling instincts from now on! ‘Sex Libris’ is genius!
‘Sex Libris’ is genius!
Is it odd that my twisted mind reads that and then proceeds to morph it until it reads, ‘sexy lemurs’?
Oh my heavens! I’m perspiring! I had no idea it could be as good as that!
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I thought I was the only sick one, I take this back. We are not infirmed; the rest of the world is, right? I am glad there are others who find such beautiful places erotic. As I looked at the amazing samples on this page, I could hardly regain composure, and I tried to imagine what I odours would please my acute sense of smell, especially at the look of those aging books. It is a depressing thought to think I can only enjoy this vicariously, for traveling is way too costly for me. ::sniff:: Thanks Stumble Upon for letting me fall onto this page. Love. neofatima
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Oh GODPLZYES! perhaps it’s wrong to be this turned on by photos of libraries. But whatever.
What beautiful pictures! You made my day man. I love old books and stuff like that. I will be comming back. Have a great day!
OMG. *pant* *pant*
(I am such a library geek)
There are also some great library photos on Flickr but you gotta dig around for the best ones…
I wish I could afford that book but thanks for the samples here!
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A couple of other great books on this topic:
The Great Libraries: From Antiquity to the Renaissance (3000 B.C. to A.D.1600) by Konstantinos Staikos
The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World by Guillaume de Laubier
Enjoy! And thanks for the bibliopr0n.
The Prunksaal (State Hall) of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library) is considered one of the most beautiful libraries on Earth (arguably the most!) for its magnificent imperial grandeur.
You can check here for some great pictures
http://141.20.126.79/gallery_neu/view_album.php?set_albumName=WienNationalbibliothek
(scroll down for the “hot” pics!)
and to truly get a grasp of its incredible layout, you can have a 3D tour of it (don’t forget to check the amazing painting above too!!!)
http://www.onb.ac.at/siteseeing/prunksaal/index.htm (German only, but easy too navigate)
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Glorious! My husband (who sent me your link) always claims I should be locked up in Academia, but I think he’d even come visit if I were ensconced in one of these temples. Thanks for giving us twisted bibliophages a chance to come out of the closet.
I think my brain just melted.
My god, those pictures are teh hawt!!!111!!! What glorious places for our books to reside in - thank you.
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Shwing! Wow, absolutely gorgeous. Thanks :-)
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amazing shots. very sexy too. libraries museums and galleries are the sexiest places on earth.
thanks
YYY
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I am a total bibliophile, and I was thinking, seeing the first few pictures how blown away I was by the Trinity College library when I saw it for the first time last spring, and sure enough- there it was at the end in all it’s glory. I should collect pictures of the free Library in Philadelphia, Some of the great libraries at the University of Pennsykvania, and even the Library of Congress for you….
Whitney Hoffman
The LD Podcast
Hi. I’d like to show you a link to the library of the Palacio Nacional de Mafra, Portugal. http://www.ippar.pt/monumentos/imagens_monumentos/palacio_mafra2.jpg
I hope you add this one to the post.
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Wow, this was jsut really amazing. rock on on collecting these for us.
If there’s an example in the book, the Stack Room in the Peabody Library at Johns Hopkins University deserves to be added to this (ahem, ahem) portfolio. Its style reminds me strongly of the Rijksmuseum and the Handelingenkamer.
Oh my. Is it warm in here or is it just me?
Must. Organize. Shelves.
Thanks for the inspiration!
No Library of Congress? :-(
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See and I thought I was the only one with book porn on my blog. Yours is much raunchier though.
I was also going to say that the Peabody Library in Baltimore would be a good American addition to this collection. Link is here, if I managed to get my html right for once.
If I still smoked, I’d need a cigarette right about now.
(pointed here by a link on another blog)
My sister-in-law sent me here ... I just about pee’d myself. Like Mickey D’s… I’m lovin’ it.
Thank you so much for pointing out this wonderful book! There are not enough words to describe how I feel, here are but a few that pale in comparison: stunning, beautiful, moving, awe inspiring, sizzling hot and they brought a tear to my eye. I’m not a religious person at all, but I think actually being in some of these libraries would shake my soul and turn me on. I wish I had seen the Höfer exhibit with the huge, luscious prints. I would have stayed for days.
Prime examples of why people tend to have sex in the back aisle of libraries. Planes have the ‘Mile High Club’ so what would libraries have?
I loved reading the comments and thank you all for additional great links and information. It’s great to know I’m not the only one moved. I’ve always enjoyed visiting museums and beautiful architecture in every city I have been to, now I will hunt out their libraries as well.
Ah, the post that will never die! Somehow, this is the magic formula.
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Nate: Trinity College Dublin is in Ireland, not the UK.
amazing! exhausted but so fulfilled!
amazing and beautiful libraries.
The photo of the BNF reading room is beautiful. It is, however, to my knowledge no longer the principal reading room site, and more a museum.
Alas, the new BNF, named for its creator, Mitterand, is distinctly lacking in such charms or taste.
It is a vast and not particularly attractive exemplar of 1980’s bureaucratic architecture.
While it has its charms, it reminds me more of a corporate office park than a library.
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Oh YEAH baby, you know how I like it!
Seriously, I want to visit these libraries—and get thrown out at closing time.
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Trinity college’s library is just beautiful. I was stunned when I visited.
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Well, alright, the libraries were seductive…but, it didn’t do anything for my bibliophilia…the books seem to be on the shelves for the purpose of filling them… and where were the modern books with their worlds of color and new knowledge? Isn’t that what inspired the post in the first place? Snooping into a new friend’s bookshelf does a lot more for my love of books than these shots did, but, were I an architect I’d be swooning…
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Awesome place and Photos!
Found you via stumble.
The one with the moving people and pic Nr. 3 are my favorites.
Thank you so much for posting these beautiful images. I have seen a few of them before, and they never fail to make my jaw drop, my eyes glaze over and tears to fall. The architecture of these sanctuaries is indeed stunning, but for me the love of the library is in the books and quiet solitude that are found there. Every time I go into a library I feel an almost instant calming in my spirit and an overwhelming eagerness to absorb every bit of knowledge committed to print therein. I myself have over 4000 books, many of which are antique and I could only hope to have a place so lavish as these to share them in. Hopefully I will get to visit these places someday, although my family will miss me for a long while if I do!
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I think that Suzzalo library on the University of Washington - Seattle campus should be a part of this list. Here are a few images:
Exterior
Exterior
Graduate Reading Room (you can’t see the volumes of books lining the walls in this picture)
Graduate Reading Room
Largest Book in the World (although you can only see its case here)
Bhutan
One of the Twin Grand Staircases
Stairs
Random Interior
Interior
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Wow, thank you for sharing! Those libraries are gorgeous! As a native Dubliner, I’m quite proud Trinity College Dublin made it onto you list! I really want to visit the Rijksmuseum one and the one in the Hague!
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Wow, this was jsut really amazing.
I feel like spontaneously ejaculating! (Verbally, of course). All jest aside, those are some seriously beautiful libraries (the STIFTSBIBLIOTHEK ST. GALLEN looks like a photographed dream more than an actual building; oh, and it’s all caps because I cut-and-pasted it, hokay? The one in the Hague is even harder to spell and they probably just gave it that name to keep the tourists out!)
Although I have no beef with the word ‘library’ I think the Romance versions of the word are lovelier to read and speak; biblioteca, or bibliotheque which sounds like a place to both read and dance).