Why does a book look and feel the way it does? What can it tell us about the circumstances of its creation? This is a fascinating exploration of the development of book design through some of the most treasured volumes in the British Library collections. Carefully selected by the Library’s curatorial teams and beautifully illustrated with striking new studio photography alongside images from specially digitised collections, The Book by Design includes: The Lindisfarne Gospels • The Diamond Sutra of 868 The Arnstein Bible • The Golden Haggadah The Queen Mary Psalter • The Mainz Psalter of 1457 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili • Akbar’s Khamsah of Nizami The Shakespeare First Folio • Tale of Genji • A Qur’an from Aceh • The Grammar of Ornament • The Buddha’s Last Birth Tale • Audubon’s The Birds of America • The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer Flowing between these major chapters are features covering unusual book formats, interesting bindings and materials, as well as particular design elements and trends from different periods and cultures. This structure brings together works of historical importance and modern innovation to create a volume that will delight bibliophiles and anyone passionate about book design and production.

Exploring the value of photography and video as legitimate forms of social enquiry, An Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction constitutes a guidebook for conducting applied visual sociology within health related or social science research projects, providing a full account of the visual research journey and presenting a tested template for conducting theoretically-driven, sociologically-informed research. Against the background of the growing popularity of visual methods, this book goes beyond using photographs for illustrative and descriptive purposes, to emphasise the importance of sociological, epistemological and analytical theory, together with methods of data collection and the presentation of images for applied purposes. As such, An Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction offers a template for considering visual data as applied research, providing a full account of the manner in which visual methods can inform research and specific interventions, together with opportunities for students and practitioners to consider applied visual sociology in a series of practical or self-study tasks . It will therefore appeal not only to students and researchers involved in social and health-related qualitative research, or those seeking to conduct innovative visual projects within the social sciences, but also to scholars interested in research methods, visual ethnography and harm reduction approaches to drug use.

Exploring the value of photography and video as legitimate forms of social enquiry, An Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction constitutes a guidebook for conducting applied visual sociology within health related or social science research projects, providing a full account of the visual research journey and presenting a tested template for conducting theoretically-driven, sociologically-informed research. Against the background of the growing popularity of visual methods, this book goes beyond using photographs for illustrative and descriptive purposes, to emphasise the importance of sociological, epistemological and analytical theory, together with methods of data collection and the presentation of images for applied purposes. As such, An Applied Visual Sociology: Picturing Harm Reduction offers a template for considering visual data as applied research, providing a full account of the manner in which visual methods can inform research and specific interventions, together with opportunities for students and practitioners to consider applied visual sociology in a series of practical or self-study tasks . It will therefore appeal not only to students and researchers involved in social and health-related qualitative research, or those seeking to conduct innovative visual projects within the social sciences, but also to scholars interested in research methods, visual ethnography and harm reduction approaches to drug use.

This book shows how England's conquest of Mediterranean trade proved to be the first step in building its future economic and commercial hegemony, and how Italy lay at the heart of that process. In the seventeenth century the Mediterranean was the largest market for the colonial products which were exported by English merchants, as well as being a source of raw materials which were indispensable for the growing and increasingly aggressive domestic textile industry. The new free port of Livorno became the linchpin of English trade with the Mediterranean and, together with ports in southern Italy, formed part of a system which enabled the English merchant fleet to take control of the region's trade from the Italians. In her extensive use of English and Italian archival sources, the author looks well beyond Braudel's influential picture of a Spanish-dominated Mediterranean world. In doing so she demonstrates some of the causes of Italy's decline and its subsequent relegation as a dominant force in world trade.

The story of a naughty wooden puppet who has a penchant for lying and dreams of becoming a real boy, The Adventures of Pinocchio has entered our collective imagination and fascinated generations of young and adult readers since its first publication in 1883. Part fable, part coming-of-age novel, part cautionary tale, Pinocchio’s rollicking exploits through an unforgiving and often incomprehensible world – populated by unforgettable characters such as the Talking Cricket, Candlewick, Mangiafuoco and the Fairy with Turquoise Hair – have had a profound impact on our culture and attained universal significance as a mirror of the human condition. Here presented in a brand-new and lively translation by Stephen Parkin and illustrated beautifully by Peter Bailey, this edition of The Adventures of Pinocchio brings extra sparkle to one of the greatest and most celebrated works of children’s literature.

The first English translation, presented with pictures and a piece by De Amicis's contemporary Louis Laurent Simonin

As a first-time visitor to London, De Amicis was awestruck by the bustle and magnificence of the Victorian metropolis and wrote a number of sketches in his trademark witty, observational style, which made him one of the bestselling travel writers of his age. Originally conceived as a series of newspaper articles and later published in volume form, "Memories of London" brings back to life all the bygone charm of the capital of the British Empire. De Amicis's impressions are paired here with a piece written by the French writer Louis Laurent Simonin, which leaves the city's opulence and grandeur behind and offers an uncompromising look at the poverty and squalor of its most deprived areas.

A remarkable nineteenth-century account of Istanbul - which begins with a dazzling description of the city gradually appearing through the fog as the author's ship approaches the harbour - Constantinople expertly combines personal anecdote, breathtaking visual observation and entertaining historical information. An invaluable record of the metropolis as it used to be - a fascinating crossroads between Eastern and Western civilization and one of the most cosmopolitan cities of its time - as well as a vivid example of a European tourist's reaction to it - part delight, part incomprehension - this book will provide an enriching read for lovers of history or those planning to visit Istanbul themselves.

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the author of one of the most poignant and enduringly popular novels of the twentieth century, left only a few other pieces of fiction when he died prematurely at the age of sixty. Childhood Memories and Other Stories, here presented in a new translation by Stephen Parkin and including previously deleted passages and the unpublished fragment 'Torretta', collects all of Lampedusa's extant shorter fiction and provides a revealing glimpse into the writer's workshop and the background to the composition of his masterpiece. From the atmospheric recollections of the Palazzo Lampedusa and the Palazzo Filangeri Cuto at the turn of the twentieth century in 'Childhood Memories' to the delightful fable 'The Siren', from the gently humorous, bitter sweet tones of 'Joy and the Law' to 'The Blind Kittens' - the first chapter of what was intended to be a sequel to The Leopard - this volume showcases Lampedusa's unparalleled ob ser vational powers and narrative skills.