Home library books - design, plans and decoration

With the help of one of my visitors I have compiled an extended list of books dealing with home library design, decorating with books and some books of general interest for bibliophiles.

• At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries
• Candice Olson on Design
• Decorating with Books (House Beautiful)
• Design Ideas for Home Decorating
• Kelly Hoppen Home: From Concept to Reality
• Libraries
• Library Design
• Living with Books
• The Book on the Bookshelf

I would like to especially point your attention to Candida Höfer's Libraries. This book with Umberto Eco's introduction is a true masterpiece and would make a great gift.

For almost 30 years Candida Höfer has photographed interiors, mostly representational spaces accessible to the public, such as staircases, lobbies, reading halls or exhibition spaces. Rather than staging them, she takes their picture in the state she finds them, with great discreetness and a touch of humour.

Libraries are a book producer’s dream. Since nobody photographs libraries as beautifully as Höfer, it seemed only natural for Schirmer/Mosel to dedicate her next publication to the splendid and intimate cathedrals of knowledge across Europe and the US: the Escorial in Spain, the Whitney Museum in New York, Villa Medici in Rome, the Hamburg University library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the Museo Archeologico in Madrid, and Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, to name just a few. Almost completely devoid of people, as is Candida Höfer’s trademark, these pictures radiate a comforting serenity that is exceptional in contemporary photography.