Saturday 27 August 2011

bibliomancy

Bibliomancy is divination from books, opening a book to a random page, like the Sibylline leaves but usually the book was the Bible, and trying to interpret the chance passage as advice for the present or the future. I rediscovered recently the veteran blog BibliOdyssey, which has been finding and sharing antique and vintage prints and illustrations for years. The site covers all disciplines and all ages and one can find amazing artwork just browsing through the archive of entries or find random inspiration, and I am really enjoying the collection of unusual and striking Oriental graphic art, like from this recent post and an earlier one on Japanese toy designs. Not only is it visually stunning and surprising, I also appreciate the ease of navigation and sorting of ideas and styles, as well as the scholarly treatment of each source and the information about the history and setting of each book and canvas.