Art history Quote by Regina O'Melveny
““...it was my father who had taught me to love books for themselves, the smell of the vellum and paper, the rare authority of the pages. "Here, do you see this marvelous book, the skins of 182 sheep," he once pronounced as he slapped his hand down on the stamped leather cover boards. "The book is a flock, a jewel, a cemetery, a lantern, a garden, a piss pot; pigments ground of precious minerals, charred bone, lamp soot, rare plants and insects. Pigments formed at the corrosion of copper plates suspended above urine.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Unknown memoir or essay, likely 20th‑century literary reflection
The passage celebrates the tactile, sensory, and historical richness of books, likening them to living, complex objects made from diverse, sometimes odd, materials.
In simple terms: Books are treasured for their physical and material qualities.
Key Takeaway
Appreciate the materiality of books.
Themes
literature
material culture
nostalgia
Mood
reflective
nostalgic
Type
literary
descriptive
philosophical
When to use this quote
- collecting rare books
- library curation
- personal reading rituals
- teaching about bookmaking
Key Concepts
sensory experience
historical craftsmanship
book as object
Questions to Reflect On
- How does the physical form of a book affect your reading experience?
- What value do you find in the material history of books?
A Different Perspective
The focus on physical aspects may overlook the intellectual content and accessibility of digital formats.
![“The object [Duchamp's Fountain] was rejected , giving Duchamp the opportunity of issuing a statement, which he published in a review, The Blind Man. In his statement he emphasized that the act of choice was sufficient to justify it as a creative art. Placing it in such a way that its normal use…” quote by Neville Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5d5/neville-weston-48349_art-history_the-object-duchamp-s-fountain-was-reject_104800.jpg)
