When Book Labels Become … Books

Ironically, a typical rare book on display — say, that Gutenberg Bible of yours — can’t be read. It’s beige, dimly lit, filled with text in a dead language, and behind glass at an angle.

Even if it were none of that, it shows two random pages. And even it were an English-language romance thriller about Taylor Swift that visitors can browse for free, no one came to read.

To bridge these barriers, we augment our rare books with written interpretive labels.

The labels usually end up about the size of a book.

And they are beige, dimly lit, filled with text in technical language, and behind glass at an angle.

Here’s the thing:
Don’t make book labels into books.

Warmly,
Jonathan

P.S. Easy ways to avoid this ironic trend, coming soon.