I thought it would be fun to share a few of the more bookish postcards that have shown up in my mailbox in the last couple of months. Some came via Postcrossing and others randomly from friends. In honor of National Poetry Month Stefanie sent me this great card from a series called "Poems to Go", and this one features Jill Bialosky. I don't read much poetry but I am always meaning to, so this is wonderful. Lovely sentiments by the way. The poem is from from The End of Desire by the way.
From what I understand Hay-on-Wye is something of a booklover's mecca with over 30 bookshops selling specialized or second hand books. John (who is also a fan of Postcrossing) sent me this card. It goes without saying that I would love to visit there. You could probably stay a whole week and still not do a proper browse at all the shops!
As this is a portrait of "Rembrandt's Mother" by Gerard Dou it very fittingly came from a Postcrosser from The Netherlands. In my profile, if people are looking for ideas of cards to send me, I've suggested bookish themes or reading women and so far several people have been kind enough to oblige me.
This very delicate watercolor-illustrated postcard came from someone in Japan. The artist is Mayuko Oguro who is an illustrator living in Tokyo. Isn't she lovely?
A simple image, but very artfully done! I also love B&W photography so was especially taken with this card.
Another wonderfully imaginative image. This is "The Star House" by Toda Katsuhisa. The postcard company is called Inkognito, and I think they have the most marvelous postcards!
This card above and the one previous are from a Postcrosser in The Netherlands who is also a lover of books and reading. When we discovered our shared interest in books we decided to do a weekly swap of postcards with images of books. I had never come across this one before. It's a detail from a painting called "Wrapped Up in Dreams" by Friedrich Von Amerling. These are the first two cards I've received from her and am wondering what she has sent me this week!
This image of a mother reading to her daughter came from Finland. I'm not sure who the artist is or where the illustration first appeared. It almost looks like it might have been an illustration in a book or magazine, but wherever it came from, it's quite sweet, don't you think? (Thanks to Oolookitty who has told me the illustrator is Jessie Wilcox Smith, so now I will look for more of her work)!
How is it that I don't recall ever seeing this painting by Vincent Van Gogh, "Romanleserin"? It is listed as being in a private collection.
And I'll wrap things up with good old Pooh. This one is doubly nice as it has not only a literary twist, but the drawings are in the shape of postage stamps. How fitting. This was another surprise from Stefanie.
I've still got a few more bookish cards (I shared one of my bouquinistes cards here), but I've not scanned and loaded the others yet. I love sharing them, but scanning is a tedious business. When I get more I will share again. Aren't these great cards? And a nice variety, too. I feel decidedly spoiled and have been displaying them on a bulletin board that hangs on a wall near my computer. Always good to have bookish inspiration.