Flower Still-Life, by Jan Frans van Dael (1811)
Oil on canvas; in National Gallery of Victoria (Australia)
From: Wikimedia Commons
Neglected and Loved Treasures of Ancient and Modern Literature
The eternal virtues of literature are sincerity, clarity, breadth, force, and subtlety.— Sir Walter Raleigh (the literary critic, not the Elizabethan courtier), in Romance
A German-language retrospective of this year's Leipzig Book Fair. [Warning: You may encounter a paywall.]
"Es ist sicher nicht leicht, für so eine Mischung aus echtem Interesse und bloßer Neugier, Business und Debattenkultur, Promi-Begegnung und Literaturbegeisterung passende Slogans zu finden. Festzuhalten ist aber schon erst mal, dass zu defensiven Untergangsszenarios [...] kein Anlass besteht."(Rough translation: It is certainly not easy to find fitting slogans for such a mix of genuine interest and mere curiosity, business and debate culture, celebrity encounters and literary enthusiasm. But one thing is already clear: there are no grounds for defensive scenarios of an imagined downfall [of the book industry].)