The Blog

National Libraries Day: 4th February

2012-01-31T20:25:00.000-08:00

The Literary Gift Company is delighted to be launching a new range of bags which celebrate our passion for libraries. We are donating 50p to the National Libraries Day campaign for every bag sold. The bags feature original hand-lettered designs by our artist Geoff Sawers who says:

“It probably helps that my mum is a librarian, but I have always thought of libraries as magical places. I remember childhood days when I had to go into work with my mum; I’d wander around, pulling out big picture books to look through and make drawings from (it was a medical library), always imagining that there would be more unknown treasures down the next aisle. So, I was delighted to get involved in the campaign to raise awareness about public libraries by doing the artwork for these bags. We chose three quotations to begin – Borges’s ‘paradise-as-a-kind-of-library’ image is a perfect one to start with, we thought, redolent of the secret library scene in the film of Eco’ “The Name Of The Rose,” all impossible curves and angles, and books, books, books hidden around every corner. Virginia Woolf’s line “I ransack public libraries & find them full of sunk treasure” comes from her diary for August 1921; “I want nothing but quiet & an active brain” she went on. Finally, we chose a more modern line, Germaine Greer’s patient defence of the value of libraries and reading. I hope you’ll all enjoy these bags. What’s more, they are the perfect size for dragging home a dozen or so battered hardbacks with you on the bus. “

Map Llenorion Cymru / Literary Map of Wales

2011-10-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

If the Literary Gift Company did holidays, I don't think we could do better than offering people a stay at St. Deiniol's Library in North Wales. It's Gladstone's personal Theological library, and you can stay in the rooms; I had a few days there last week working on our forthcoming Literary Map of Wales. My old boss Ieuan had recommended it to me years ago, saying 'if you ever need somewhere to work quietly', and I did feel it had the most beautiful, relaxing atmosphere for working I've ever found. I had a conversation with a woman one lunch-time about a retreat she had been on at a monastery somewhere. It was lovely, she explained, but everyone was so jolly, and chatty, and the meals were so huge, the monks all like Friar Tuck, and in the evenings in the visitor's part, they had a little bar open... 'I had a great week," she said, "but it wasn't at all the week I expected. St. Deiniol's is much more like what I'd expected of a retreat than the monastery was!"

So anyway, I got a lot more work done on the map in three days than I'd expected. It's been running over time slightly, as my collaborator Gwyn Tudur Davies keeps e-mailing me, saying 'here's a dozen more names it'd be great to include, and can you fit them in to the most crowded part of the map...'; I am just starting on the final artwork now (Ynys Mon, above) and if I forget to sleep or eat I might just have it ready by Christmas. Seriously, though, Gwyn's knowledge of the literature is far deeper than mine and I have learnt a lot as I've worked on this. And in a way, Wales is perfect for the format: this applies to both the UK and USA literary maps too, but I can't think of anywhere in the world where the connection between many writers and their own particular patch is so strong and so deeply imbued as it is in Wales.

Hwyl fawr, hwyl am y tro, as we always used to say whilst tripping over the step on the way out of the Brunswick Arms in Abertawe.
- Geoff Sawers (Him Indoors)

Bookends

2011-10-18T04:17:00.000-07:00

In my quest to familiarise myself with our stock I found vinyl bookends, they may not technically be literary related but I have fallenin love with them! As someone who loves vinyl records, has arecord player and actually listens to records this makes me smile! And no I amnot particularly old!

I love the idea that old abandoned vinyl LPs have been givena new purpose in life and it’s to prop up the other love in my life, books. Ipassionately loath those ugly metal monstrosities that you usually findcaressing bookends. Now I can have something funky, unusual and far moreattractive stopping my beloved books falling to the floor.

Looking through the bookends I thought that they would all be the unpopular records, I found one by the 'Choir of the Russian Church of the Metropolitan of Paris' sung in Russian, recorded in Britain! Personally I have never heard of them, but I am sure they were popular at the time. However, the classics of Nat King Cole and Elvis are also in our collection of recycled vinyl's which I have to admit was a tad shocking. I know that everyone has iPods and download music now, but a few years ago vinyl made a retro comeback and it suddenly became cool again. Maybe the cool kids don't listen to Elvis. Ironically, HMV still sell vinyl records of modern bands, they don't sound the same as the really old vinyls that have that authentic 'recorded in my garage' sound, but who knows maybe in a few years Rihanna and Justin Bieber's vinyl records will be recycled into quirky bookends?!

New Recruit

2011-09-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

I am the newest recruit to thebook loving cult that is the Literary Gift Company and I decided to say Hi toall our customers and tell you the story of a young lady’s first week at hernew job….

Arriving bright and early for thefirst day at her new job, Charlotte (the heroine of this tale), was greeted byDani and Matthew who although smiling and very welcoming, informed her thatthey “are not morning people, so please don’t feel like you have to bechipper!” After this Charlotte felt far more relaxed, for although she tries tobe jolly at all times, she finds mornings have never agreed with her, and inactual fact make her feel quite unwell. (As a side I would like to add thatCharlotte aka me decided to be all healthy for this new job and walk to workevery morning, however, once I realised that driving meant that I could spendlonger in bed this idea sadly died a sudden death having only lived a day).

Now back to the story, which Iwill now seamlessly change as I skip through the fields of genres (sorry! I mayhave got a little carried away and over excited when I was told I could writeon the blog! OOPSY!)…

Having arrived at work, on foot,on time AND without getting lost I was given a cup of tea and a tour of our littlebuilding. I say little but this gives the wrong impression. We have three roomson the ground floor, all of which feature stunningly high ceilings, and twothat have marble fireplaces, that are unfortunately non-operational! Otherwisein the depths of winter you would find me huddled in front of the open firesneakily reading a book!

One thing that has astounded mein my first week is the amount of tea and coffee my new colleagues drink! Now Iam a tea drinker, or at least I thought I was, compared to these guys I am anamateur! I have maybe 3-4 cups of tea a day and no coffee. I thought this was alot… how sheltered my life has been until now!

One of my first jobs was to learnand find all our products. Whilst sifting through the stock room familiarisingmyself with everything an eerie silence fell upon me. A blinding light suddenlyshot from above, piercing the growing darkness. Trembling I struggled to movemy increasingly heavy legs, propelling my body towards the light. Blade runnerwas its destination, Blade runner I must see. The aliens above obviously lovethat book and so must I. I must discover the ever alluding answer to: ‘Do Androidsdream of electric sheep?’ (WALLETS COMING SOON!)

After my alien encounter I wasnot expecting any more excitement, however, the greatest surprise of all wasabout to slap me round the face…

Gazing through the shelves myheart began to flutter as our eyes met. Never had I felt, so instantaneously,so whole-heartedly, so strongly. It was simply love at first sight! My lifewould not be complete until I possessed him, my love, my life, my other half.He completes me. My squashed bookmark man!

So thus my first week ended, Ipackaged, weighed, drank tea, fell in love and had an alien encounter!!!Shocking! Hopefully next week will be slightly more sedate.

But my tale does not end there asluckily for me my new colleagues had their priorities firmly in line with mine,the first thing on the agenda … work drinks! Having moved to the area and notknowing anyone this was the perfect welcome! The mixture of a good pub, alcoholand laughter was the ideal ending to my first week.

But still my story does not end,there is still one more piece to this puzzle that must be told…

As the clouds brewed on achilling Saturday morning the silence of the Literary Gift Company wasshattered by the piercing cry of broken glass. Long bony fingers crept over thewindowpane as droplets of red stained the jagged edges. Attached to thesedisgusting fingers was a body, small and grotesque, the crimes of its lifeetched on the face. Slithering through the window the body skulked around thehallway deciding which door to violate and destroy.

Having gone to all the trouble ofbreaking not one but two windows in completely different areas of the building(one in the little under the stairs cup washing room we have and the other inthe stock room), and the effort of squeezing themselves through the smallestwindow possible, the trusty burglars made a disappointing discovery… The roomthey had imagined their riches to be kept was full of tea towels and mugs! Ican imagine their little faces as they surveyed the spoils of all their hardwork only to be welcomed by bright yellow rubber duckies reading books.

The clues had been laid and nowit was time to introduce ‘The Detective.’ He may not have been dressed intweed, have his trusty companion Dr. Watson, or smoke a pipe, but I have total,ok maybe partial faith, in our very own Sherlock Holmes. He will be able tofind the deviants who broke into our bat cave! The size of the window that theysqueezed through helped him in his deduction that the culprits were not fat,round or even slightly chunky. Instead the villains of this piece were positivelyskinny, if anything they probably needed a good pie! Following our trustydetective was his side-kick, the CSI guy. Unfortunately not dressed in a bluejumpsuit but instead casually in jeans and a t-shirt, he opened his forensickit to reveal the staple item that completes any CSI … a torch. Inspecting allthe door frames, broken glass, corners and mugs (just in case our robbers gotthirsty) with his trusty torch, he began work. Gently rubbing his brush ofblack powder over every possible entry point, he began his quest forfingerprints…

The saga of the broken window isan ongoing investigation so I shall keep you all informed of our trustydetectives progress. Until next time…..

Teapots - an insight into our buying decisions

2011-08-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

We are currently working out which products to stock in the run up to Christmas. This is obviously frightfully dull - samples being sent, board games to try out (you can't stock something without playing it first!), jewellery to try on and so on. Everyone working at Literary HQ has a say and our most recent debate has been about teapots. We sell plenty of mugs but would love more literary tableware. Enter the literary teapot:

It's definitely literary. It is also a nice solid piece of porcelain. I think the lid is lovely but we all remain unconvinced. One of our team has an actual allergy to typeface mish-mashing, another of us thinks the combination of hand-drawn design and author photographs is tricky. Matthew has an issue with the reference to '1984' which is the title of the film, not the novel. My personal issue is the lack of female authors - not even one!

Are we being too fussy? What do you think?

We're on the move

2011-06-09T01:55:00.000-07:00

In 3 weeks The Literary Gift Company is moving. We have outgrown our current premises (hurrah!) and have found something new about a mile up the road. The old place has, over time, functioned as a workshop, a residence and a porn studio (before our time!) The new place is part of an enormous Georgian building with 'many original features'. Our floor includes an oval shaped room which will help us fulfill a few of our West Wing fantasies: we'll definitely need a 'Sit. Room'. We will have more space to work and get organised - we may set up a mini photography studio (nothing X-rated!)

Of course this all means that we will have to have a mini clear-out of stock to help the moving process. So watch this space for an early summer sale.

Literary Map of the USA.

2011-04-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Now that our US literary map is out, I thought I'd say a word or two about how I did it. The first one (the UK map) was quite eclectic in its' selection of authors; it was just my personal favourites, although it covered most of the big names. If anyone were to ask 'Where is so-and-so?' I could just say, 'I'm sorry, I've never read them.'

This time, however, on the USA map, although we have not attempted to be definitive - I think that's impossible - we have tried to be a little more representative. We worked with our old friend Bridget Hannigan who produced long lists of possible names, partly from her own knowledge (she is an American herself) and partly by going through lists of Pulitzer prize-winners and so on. I added mine, and Matthew in the office supplied several more. There are still one or two high-profile ommissions; Ayn Rand and Norman Mailer for instance are both writers who have sold hugely and been widely influential, but at the end of the day you cannot please everybody and to include them would have meant leaving out someone else about whom we felt more strongly.

Once I had chosen an orthographic projection of the contiguous states that cinched in the north a little so that it would all fit on the paper, we divided up the names we had, state by state. They all have some kind of connection to where they are placed; it might be where they were born, lived and died, but in other cases it is just from a single book or poem. Very few people could only be placed in one location. The state boundaries are still visible in some places, although California has spilled over into Nevada, for instance, and New England is so crowded that the names for Maryland, Virginia, and a couple of other states have been displaced to the West and South. Hawaii and Alaska would not fit graphically, so I chose to just draw them at the extreme North- and South-West. Finally, on the East, I included a spray of names coming out from New York who are largely Americans who have made their name in Europe (James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein) or immigrants.

I love the way the relative density of the coasts and interior tells its' own story about America; the Native American names that crop up in the mid-West, the Hispanic names further south. And then I settled down to ink it all in; a process that took some weeks. I amazed myself by doing it all without a single correction; on the UK map I mis-spelt the very first word!

-Geoff Sawers (Him Indoors)

2011-03-30T01:10:00.000-07:00

Sign made for me by my 6 year-old son.

I'm just writing to say that the Literary Map (UK) has just been reprinted, with two new names added - there is a competition to win a copy over on our facebook page.

Literary Map of the USA (in progress)

2011-03-07T05:27:00.000-08:00

Several weeks after starting on the lettering, Him Indoors hits the Deep South.

Happy World Book Day

2011-03-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

I really hope you have a fab one! We're offering 10% off everything at The Literary Gift Company today. Just enter WBD2011 at the checkout.
Although we'd love you to visit us online we'd also like to urge you to visit your local library and/or bookshop. There are some brilliant events happening up and down the country, and libraries and bookshops need your support right now.

Poetry Instead of a Card

2011-02-01T07:01:00.001-08:00

We are beginning to expand our range of pamphlets from Candlestick Press. This range of 'Poetry Instead of a Card' collections is a wonderful concept and exactly the sort of thing we love at The Literary Gift Company; not only is it a literary version of an everyday item, but it is much more ecologically sound than 'ordinary' greetings cards - you might recycle cards, but a volume of poetry is something you will want to keep and enjoy again and again. Find our range here.

A book

2011-01-14T02:49:00.000-08:00

We have decided to stock A Book. The Literary Gift Company is all about books, but we don't generally sell them. We don't have to: there are many many talented booksellers out there! However we think there might be a handful of titles which will fall under our remit of celebrating literature and this is one of them:

Ever wanted to recreate Mrs Ramsay's boeuf en daube? Now is your chance.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Apologies for being a bit quiet over here. We had an amazing Christmas at The Literary Gift Company which didn't leave us much time for anything much apart from despatching parcels of literary loveliness here, there and everywhere. Thank you to all of you who have supported us during 2010; we are planning to expand our site and offer even more unusual and gorgeous book-related products throughout 2011. If there is anything you would particularly like to see on the site do let us know.

Tanks a lot...

2010-11-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

We're very excited about a new product hitting the site around now.
Bookity has designed and made a range of Secret Book Boxes: books with a hidden compartment in them. Its an old idea, but it has been revisited with style and a beautiful attention to detail. What would YOU keep in one?

The Map is Finished:

2010-11-02T13:21:00.001-07:00

Guest post from Him Indoors

2010-10-06T04:44:00.000-07:00

Two weeks later, I reach East Anglia... still quite a lot of lettering to go though. And nobody has spilt orange juice on it yet.
In an attempt to pre-empt a possible wave of "I can't believe you haven't included my favourite poet" messages, let me just point out at this stage that I'm not attempting to be definitive in my selection of authors; it's a personal choice, and largely of writers who have a strong connection to place. Most of the big names are there, but essentially, the names just come from our own bookshelves. Some might seem a bit obscure, but mean something to me; and I hope to a few others too.
Oh, and I'm not responsible for the 'product placement' in this photo. I'd never put a cup of tea that close to my work!

A little peek

2010-09-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

A quick peek at a forthcoming Literary Gift Company work of art. Him Indoors is working on a literary map of this country:

Too much Penguin?

2010-09-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

When we started The Literary Gift Company we weren't too bothered about Penguin mugs. This isn't because they aren't gorgeous, it was simply because they were EVERYWHERE, including Waterstone's; they have been phenomenally successful. We have realised, however, that not many places stock a large range of the mugs: it's fairly easy to track down the Christies and the Austens, but less so other authors. Also Waterstone's is turning many of its non-book areas into Paperchase concessions which don't stock any of the mugs at all. So we've decided to bring some into our store - hopefully building up to stock the whole range. They're tucked away in Homewear - near the back so they don't get in the way of more unusual items. We're in two minds about this as our vision is not to be too mainstream; your thoughts are welcome!

Gift Fair

2010-09-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

I spent the day at The Autumn Fair today. It's a massive trade fair for gift buyers held at the NEC. Massive is the word; after a few hours my brain was beginning to melt. And if I see another cream coloured balsa wood heart I will set fire to it. (Do people really have houses full of cream coloured balsa wood stuff?). I didn't see too much in the way of literary gifts which is just fine, it much more fun sourcing unusual products from more out-of-the-way places (as well as making it ourselves - that's great fun). What I have tracked down today is a few possibilities for bookends. We don't stock any at the moment and that's because we hadn't found any good enough ones before now. Hooray, I feel a new store department coming on...

Now we are one

2010-08-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

It's our first birthday today.
Thank you so much to everyone who has helped, supported, ordered, liked, linked, blogged, tweeted and loved. We couldn't have done it without you.
Love from Dani and the team

ps. it's 10% off everything today. Enter voucher code 'dickens' at the checkout.

Spotted in a second hand bookshop 2

2010-06-30T02:35:00.000-07:00

Saw this recently. I searched but couldn't find the "Actual Modern Classics" section.

Books. Bar. What's not to love?

2010-06-10T08:10:00.001-07:00

http://www.vestaldesign.com/projects/bookbar/

Football Free

2010-06-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

We've declared The Literary Gift Company to be a football-free zone. This isn't because we hate football and think it should be banned. I'll probably even watch some of the matches. We just feel the world might need a small football-free corner for the next few weeks. Maybe corner was the wrong word.

New bags

2010-05-28T03:28:00.001-07:00

Just listed some gorgeous new books-turned-into bags. There are four new ones listed today, and more due next week.

More Susan Hill

2010-05-22T01:43:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read the fantastic Simon Serrailler series of crime novels you really should. If you have read them and enjoyed them then VOTE NOW for The Vows of Silence to win the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award. I know we're biased (see below), but I've read plenty crime novels and I really do recommend these. As good as PD James and Kate Atkinson, these novels go far beyond your average police procedural tale: well crafted and well plotted.

She is too fond of books...

2010-05-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

You may have seen these products on our site. We love them, and we're not the only ones. This mug has been in our top 3 bestsellers since it first came into stock. Its such a great quote.

What you may not know is that this mug and the matching notebook and tote bag are the creation of multi-award winning novelist Susan Hill. We don't know how she does it, but when she's not writing, Susan also runs her own small publisher called Long Barn Books. The publisher recently decided to diversify a little and produce these Alcott inspired items and we can't get enough of them!

Sad news

2010-04-25T05:19:00.000-07:00

Galloway and Porter are going out of business. Always the best place in Cambridge to buy cheap academic and unusual books, G&P have been trading for over 100 years. There is a closing down sale so you still have a couple of weeks left to grab a bargain. Even in a prime retail environment like Cambridge, the former Borders store is still lying empty. The old Waterstone's on Bridge Street where I used to work is currently vacant too. Cambridge University Colleges - it is time for you to stop pricing your retail tenants out of the market.

Love this book cover

2010-04-03T03:58:00.000-07:00

There's something about the evil smile of the bloke on the left. I bet he isn't a midwife though.

Weird Gifts

2010-03-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

An interesting Guardian article on book related merchandise. We're also drawing the line at literary golf balls!

Spotted in a second hand bookshop

2010-02-05T01:31:00.001-08:00

Brave marketing strategy here.

Helvetica Cookies

2010-01-26T03:07:00.000-08:00

I have long wanted some nice alphabet biscuit cutters. If only these were available to buy. I have the Nigella Lawson number set which has mini alphabet cutters which are good for detail, but literary cookies would be tops.

Snow way

2010-01-14T01:37:00.000-08:00

A nice collection from OUP: Literary Snow.

The world changed

2009-12-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Day Amazon sold more e-books than books.

Linkaround

2009-12-26T11:30:00.001-08:00

Read all about The Literary Gift Company:

US based sexy apartment website
The well-read Scott Pack's blogs here
Bookity's weblog
Bibliobibuli
Gifts4booklovers
Blogher - community of women bloggers

SALE

2009-12-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

Now on.

OMG

2009-12-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

The most annoying singer in the world has collaborated on a book with the most annoying photographer in the world. There aren't words. Oh god it comes with a CD. Oh god.

Worst books of the decade?

2009-12-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Check out these suggestions. For me Da Vinci Code was one of the worst books I read this decade. Managed a single Harry Potter - not the worst thing I'd ever read but nothing to get excited about.

Bookshops in the media

2009-11-26T01:15:00.000-08:00

Lots of talk about high street bookselling at the moment:
You don't need to shop at Waterstone's to appreciate it,
Bring back the traditional bookshop,
And now news today that Borders has gone into administration.
With Waterstones' having issues with its distribution 'hub' perhaps 2010 will be the year of the indies.

Reassuring message from Amazon

2009-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

This is to inform you that the following items have been recalled by the manufacturer:

ASIN Title:
Cardiac Science Powerheart G3 Plus Semi Automatic AED
Cardiac Science Powerheart G3 semi automatic AED
Cardiac Science Powerheart G3 Trainer AED
Cardiac Science Powerheart G3 Fully automatic AED
Cardiac Science Powerheart G3 Plus fully automatic

The manufacturer has recalled these products due to a safety risk.

The device failure may affect resuscitation of the patient, which could lead to serious adverse events or death.

Please visit the link below for more information of the recall notice:
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm190605.htm

Please also notify any buyers of this recall and the actions taken in this regard.

We appreciate your support on dealing with this recall for the sake of maintaining buyer safety on our platform.

Thank you for selling on Amazon.co.uk.

Unusual Charity Bookshop spotted in Exeter

2009-11-11T12:22:00.001-08:00

Hurrah Bazaar

2009-11-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

Our Literary Parcel Tape is no. 3 on Harper's Bazaar's Hotlist for December!!

Royal Mail

2009-10-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

The postal strike is rather problematic for those of us running small online retail businesses! The Literary Gift Company is offering an inland service (by DHL) for the bargain price of £8.50.

From a review in The Bookseller 2/10/09

2009-10-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

"At last a website for the biggest bibliophile in your life (i.e. you), where books become useful things like handbags, clocks, even confetti. I refer, of course, to the strange and delightful outfit that is The Literary Gift Company."

Where The Wild Things Are

2009-10-16T07:50:00.001-07:00

Apparently it's not just cakes. Everyone is at it!

Saw this in an Oxfam bookshop the other day...

2009-10-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

There is something about those stickers that makes me wonder if they were slapped on for fun, or in frustration? A million years ago I used to work for Waterstone's. I remember applying and removing those orange stickers from the fronts of books on a daily basis. I thought sticking them was dull, until the Head Ofice memo came round saying the stickers should all be neatly aligned...

If The Literary Gift Company sold cakes...

2009-10-14T01:05:00.001-07:00

...then we simply wouldn't be able to resist these Where The Wild Things Are cupcakes:

My favourite

2009-10-14T00:56:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited. These scarves are on their way from Japan. I've been waiting for ages for them to come back into stock and they are just gorgeous. They come in white, grey and black and made from microfibre suede.

Kindle

2009-10-07T01:43:00.000-07:00

Kindle has made it to the UK! Still not sure what I think about the whole eBooks issue. The gadget lover in me wants one badly. The idea of freeing up many miles of shelving in our house appeals. The idea of dropping an electrical gadget in the bath? Uh oh. For those of you who would miss the smell of real books, you could always try this. The Literary Gift Company is currently not a stockist. Although we do sell perfume!

Brand new literary department

2009-10-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Book jacket art now available in our Poster Department. 30 different posters to chose from featuring classic novels and plays.

Welcome

2009-10-02T14:07:00.001-07:00

Hello,
News from The Literary Gift Company will be appearing right here. Along with fun links and all sorts.
Watch this space, as they say.