gestalten Temples of Books: Magnificent Libraries Around the World

This is a large, chunky book, but worth every square centimetre. It has beautiful photograph of libraries across the world, from St Catherine's Monastery Library in the Sinai Desert, almost 2000 years old, to the Hunters Point Library in New York, built in 2019 with amazing views of Manhattan. The words are subordinate to the images, but the images are gorgeous and fascinating.

New bucket list comprises of libraries featured in this book

A very good coffee book

The sight of any collection of books inspires in its own way. In the 300 pages of this book, the inspiration is multiplied beyond count because the quality of the photographs is just breath-taking, and Strauss’ brief but informative introduction to each library enhances our appreciation of the library. By page 30, she would have taken us to two of the most awe-inspiring libraries – the Strahov Monastery Library, and the Jesuit Library at Maria Laach Abbey. Not all libraries are as grand as these, but even the small, basic ones such as the Library of Muyinga, are, as she describes, ‘a feast for the senses’. If anyone were to ask, ‘What has happened to the famed “Library of Alexandria”?’, the answer begins at page 224 of this book. And of modern libraries, one might wonder, can they compare to the Strahovs and the Maria Laachs? Strauss gives us much food for though with her presentation of the Tianjin Binhai Library. Would this rank as one of the top 10 books on libraries and books? No, it ranks easily in the top 3 – if not an out right number 1 (as I would have ranked, at least from among my collection of more than 30 books on libraries).

Maravilloso ejemplar para los amantes de los libros y las bibliotecas. La edición está muy cuidada y las fotografías son estupendas. Pese a que también cuenta brevemente la historia de las bibliotecas que se muestran, es un libro más para admirar y detenerse en los detalles de las imágenes que para leer, lo que lo hace bueno para las personas que no entienden inglés, ya que no cuenta con traducción al español.