Out next month and on my wish list is An English Room
by photographer Derry Moore: "Everyone has a favourite place to read, study, work, and dream - but there's something special about an English room. In this handsome volume filled with elegant photographs of architectural interiors and formal portraits of their occupants, some of England's most renowned sons and daughters share their sacred spaces and their personal musings about Englishness and English rooms. Benedict Cumberbatch reveals his favourite place to read a script; Jeanette Winterson shares why she treasures the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore in Paris; P.D. James divulges the inspiration for her novel, The Black Tower; and fashion designer Paul Smith contemplates the joys of his book-lined study. Gilbert & George invite you into their Queen Anne-style home, while Alan Bennett contemplates his rumpled existence in Primrose Hill. Derry Moore's refined eye captures the essence of the English room, be it in country cottages, estates, medieval chapels, or artists' studios at home or abroad. All those with a passion for English culture, society, design, and fashion will relish this unique invitation to peek through the keyhole into the private lives of some of England's most public figures."
This sort of book is SO tempting. I'm not sure what you all in Britain call them, but in the US they are "coffee table books." We have an enormous Stickley coffee table but even that humongous piece of furniture is not large enough for all the beautiful art and architecture books we have collected over the years. And still I want this book . . .
Posted by: Mary Ronan Drew | 09 August 2013 at 05:41 PM
Yes, coffee table books here too, Mary, and our coffee table (v. large and with a shelf underneath) 'attracts' more than its share of them!
Posted by: Cornflower | 13 August 2013 at 03:34 PM