Arts & Culture

The Circus 1870 – 1950 by Noel Daniel : Taschen Press

The word Brobdingnagian came to mind when this book recently arrived at the Performing Arts Department. Weighing in at a hefty 15.5 pounds and standing 20 inches tall, 13 inches wide and 3 inches thick it's an impressive and visually delightful survey of circus history, posters, photography and art.  Taschen Press have outdone themselves with their in depth trilingual text (English, German and French) and high quality paper and lush images in this book.  A real tour de force and must read for circus lovers.   There are copies to use in library only at the Toronto Reference Library and also at the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books.

Taschen Press has also produced the impressive  Magic 1400s-1950. At almost 17 pounds and over 600 pages long it too is a massive and visually stunning example of research, illustration and book publishing. With text in German, French and English there is something here to please the most discerning and skeptical minds. It is full of photographs, etchings, posters, etc done is extremely high quality color and black and white printing.   It is hard to exaggerate the impact of this book.   A treat for the eyes and the mind although I  don't suggest reading it on your lap.

The Toronto Public Library also recently did a beautiful  Circus Comes to Town exhibition featuring artwork, ephemera, posters, photographs and books from several of library's special collections.