Luxury book publisher Assouline (and, yes, it is tempting to oopsidently change that l to n) produces pure pleasure via its Bespoke Book Bindery, where "the exquisite artistry of traditional binding" includes volumes "custom tailored to individual requests, from personalized monogramming and embossing to custom colors, covers, and casing using naturally tanned leather and handmade endpapers from artisans in Paris, Florence, and New York."I bought this off the rack, or more precisely off a sale table, and was instantly infatuated, starting with the unmistakably lush and increasingly rare scent of a finely bound book. This one pairs literary and artsy personae and lore with inevitably pretentious but truly exceptional and allegedly ecofriendly places. Offer to take me to any one of them and I'll be there. (You'll find a couple of the many photos in my status updates.)
The list of pairings is as follows:
Paws Up, Montana/Jim Harrison
Longitude 131, Yulara, Australia/Bruce Chatwin
Beniya Mukayu, Ishikawa, Japan/Akira Kurosawa
Le Bruit de L'eau, Bay of Somme, France/Georges Seurat
Banyan Tree Ringha, Shangri-La, Tibet/Alexandra David-Neel
Sorrel River Ranch, Utah/Jeremiah Johnson
Ventana Inn, California/Henry Miller
Kasbah du Toubkal, Morocco/Jacques Majorell
Sanctuary/Arizona/Max Ernst
Kings Pacific Lodge, British Columbia/Malcolm Lowery
Fabriken Furillen, Sweden/Ingmar Bergman
Casa do Dean, Brazil/Jorge Amado
Posada de Mike Rapu, Rapa Nui/Pierre Loti
Treverra Farm Cottage, Cornwall/Virginia Woolf
Cottars Safari Camp, Kenya/Karen Blixen
Sanctuary Lodge, Machu Picchu/Che Guevara
Soneva Gili, Maldives/Jacques Cousteau
La Coquillade, Gargas, France/Nicolas de Stael
Borgo Santo Pietro, Tuscany/Edith Wharton
Fuchun Resort, Hangzhou Zhejiang/Fanfan Li
Encantado Resort, New Mexico/Georgia O'Keeffe
Chateau de la Bourdaisiere, Montlouis-sure-Loire/Alexander Calder
The Hideout, Wyoming/Dances With Wolves
Ridgewood Wilderness Lodge, Alaska/Jack London
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