#Quarto Publishing

[haute-lifestyle-com]

The Cottage Garden, from Quarto Publishing and Danish garden celebrity Claus Dalby, takes readers on an inspirational journey traveling across Europe and the United States introducing the principles of creating a quintessential cottage garden anywhere

[britneyshakespeare]

I can't believe the Younger Brother (1689) by Aphra Behn has the only one bed trope

[fearsmagazine]

Agnes Hollyhock's VAMPIRES - The History & Lore of the Undead comes to bookshops August 13, 2024.

Rediscover the precursors to and the cultural and historical ancestors of the modern-day vampire—the most powerful of all the forms taken by the undead—in this hauntingly illustrated volume.

The idea of a supernatural being with a never-ending, insatiable appetite for blood or human viscera has plagued the human mind for centuries, appearing in mythology and folklore from all corners of the world. Why were people of the past so concerned with such a creature? What worries and anxieties about human nature and existence could conjure up such a monster? Those of us in the present day are no less fascinated, taking these tales and reinventing and revitalizing them to embody our fears and desires in equal turn, ensuring that these undead beings will truly live on forever.

VAMPIRES (Wellfleet Press | August 13, 2024 | $19.99) explores the imagination, stories, and culture of these bloodthirsty creatures of the night by reintroducing the very first beliefs of vampires across a wide variety of cultures and geographic regions. Learn the history of your favorite monsters and their characteristics such as: o Shroud Eaters: German vampires who feed on their burial shrouds, other corpses, psychic energy, and human flesh o Strigoi: Medieval vampires from Slavic folklore. One story associated with them may have been the origin of vampires drinking blood from their victims' throats. o Jiangshi: An undead revenant from China. They are said to derive their supernatural powers from the moon, so are at their weakest during the day or on a new moon. o Dhampirs: Monsters, or misunderstood? The children of vampires and humans, Balkan folklore suggests that dhampirs make the ideal vampire hunters, as they can eliminate vampires with any tools at their disposal. o and more!

Featuring intricate illustrations, this ghoulish handbook looks back to the folklore throughout the centuries of the undead. Find the vampires you never knew existed and reveal the history of the undead.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Legends of Norse Mythology by Tom Birkett

A beautiful, concise, intriguing introduction to Norse Mythology ~ This is a book that I can see adults and those younger that are interested in learning more about this subject reading as an introduction.

I realized as I read that there are many names I recognized from books, television series, and movies and though I had an inkling they were from the Norse mythology, legends, old religion, and/or fairytales…this book helped me see them more clearly. I learned about the nine worlds, who lived in each one of the worlds, what the rainbow bridge was and who guarded it, found out what each one was known for, who they were married to, who their children were, some of their stories and magical items, and that they were all going to live the life fate had set for them and that not much if anything could be done about that fate. It was interesting and informative and more than I could absorb in one sitting. It is a book I would gladly add to my library.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing-Wide Eyed Editions for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

BLURB

Legends of Norse Mythology is a fully illustrated anthology of Norse gods, giants, monsters, and heroes retold anew .   Featuring beautiful and otherworldly portraits of mythological characters from Isabella Mazzanti and enchanting text from Old English scholar and Norse mythology expert Dr Thomas Birkett , this collection of timeless tales is the perfect gift for lovers of Viking myths as well as readers looking for an introduction to this epic world of mystical power, battles, quests and intrigue .   With this book, readers can take an adventure through time to a realm of ice and fire , magic and mischief . They’ll meet a cast of characters from Norse folklore and be swept up in their epic deeds and fates .   Inside, there are more than 30 profiles of Norse figures – from gods and goddesses , to giants , elves , monsters and other mythical beings . Each profile introduces the figure, including their defining attributes and a new retelling of their story , along with sidelights of extra facts and details. Figures include familiar gods like Thor to lesser-known legends such as giant sisters Gjálp and Greip .   A captivating visual portrayal of each figure  helps crystallize these beings in readers’ imaginations. Isabella Mazzanti’s evocative artwork perfectly express the fantastic traits and powers of the mythical figures within.   Interspersed with the profiles are summaries of  four famous Norse tales and events : A visual feast and a journey to another world this book is perfect for the whole family to explore and enjoy. From the trickster god Loki and his mischievous ways to the powerful Norns – the three women who weaved the destinies of all living beings – discover why these incredible stories are still a part of our culture today.

[jessicaroux]

A Natural History of Dragons comes out September 3rd in the US and September 5th in the UK! It’s a beautiful tome detailing dragons around the world, their anatomy and life cycle, habits and habitats, and the secrets of dragon fight. Written by Emily Hawkins and published by Quarto Kids 🐉 available for preorder wherever books are sold.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The stuff in Gabriel’s box that Crowley dumps out to read the bottom..was that stuff Gabriel brought back from Heaven that Aziraphale wasn’t a high enough rank to see..but Crowley can? Or just random insignificant bookshop stuff. Aziraphale almost looks confused when Crowley dumps it out

Hiya! :) Those were bookshop things Aziraphale put there bc he started using it as just a box :). But they are actually quite interesting :D.

In the Good Omens book there is (with Bilton and Scaggs being publisher next door to Aziraphale):

Bilton and Scaggs' second great publishing disaster occurred in 1653. By a stroke of rare good fortune they had obtained one of the famed "Lost Quartos"—the three Shakespeare plays never reissued in folio edition, and now totally lost to scholars and playgoers. Only their names have come down to us. This one was Shakespeare's earliest play, The Comedie of Robin Hoode, or, The Forest of Sherwoode. *The other two are The Trapping of the Mouse, and Golde Diggers of 1589.*

Master Bilton had paid almost six guineas for the quarto, and believed he could make nearly twice that much back on the hardcover folio alone.

Then he lost it.

In the box on the left you can see the two plays that has been lost to the publisher neighbour (*cough*StolenByAziraphale*cough*? :D).

The second document I'm a bit confused about :D.

New Cumnock,

February, 1913

...from the Trustees of the late John Gibson, Post:

...from Cumnock, the sum of One hundred and fifteen

...with interest at four per cent until final

...of the Estate is to he be deducted from the

...falling to me,

John Gibson

Some kind of last will? I found a Jonh Gibson from New Cumnock but still don't know the connection to Aziraphale? :)🤔

@neil-gaiman could you shed light on this please? :) ❤

[youryurigoddess]

Aziraphale’s secret investigation and overlooked Clues

Remember this frame from Good Omens S02E06? Apparently Aziraphale had been using the empty carton box brought by Jim to store things in. It became a new home to at least two out of three “Lost Quartos” — the supposedly lost Shakespeare plays briefly but hilariously mentioned in the Good Omens book — as well as a very mysterious legal document.

Thought probably half of the Good Omens analysts here, including the ever so wonderful @fuckyeahgoodomens, who managed to find some information about the deceased John Gibson from New Cumnock (1855 - 1905).

Unfortunately the most interesting thing about this early 20th century provincial postmaster was his youngest child James (1894 - 1973), a quite famous stage (West End!) and film actor immortalized on screen in The Master of Ballantrae (1962), Witch Wood (1964) and Kidnapped (1963).

After that particular discovery the fandom-wide search seemingly led nowhere and the topic died a premature death.

And I almost figured it out seven months ago.

“But Yuri, you’re so clever. How can somebody as clever as you be so stupid?”, you probably want to shout across a busy London street at this point. Well, let me tell you. Much like Aziraphale, I'm blindingly intelligent for about thirty seconds a day. I do not get to choose which seconds and they are not consecutive.

Only tonight the stars have aligned in an ineffable way.

For those of you who don’t follow this account, some time ago I’ve realized that John Gibson isn’t the only testator whose estate was being investigated by Aziraphale right before The Whickber Street Traders and Shopkeepers Association monthly meeting.

If you watch S2 finale closely enough, you should notice that Crowley not only stress cleans Aziraphale’s bookshop — he also goes through the books and papers on his desk between the last three angels leaving the bookshop and Maggie and Nina’s intervention. A seemingly permanent arrangement of the props post-shooting, visible in detail both on Radio Times tour and SFX magazine photo shoot, sheds even more light on this detail.

The close-ups published after S2 release are legible enough to refer us to a much more prominent historical figure, Josiah Wedgwood (1730 – 1795) — an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the industrialisation of the manufacture of European pottery.

Long story short, I transcribed the handwritten pages abandoned on Aziraphale’s desk, found out the source and the full text of what could be identified as Wedgwood’s last will and testament, took a walk to visit his Soho workshop, and proceeded to write a lengthy meta analysis about it.

I was today’s years old when I realized that there’s something else connecting those two dead British men.

The Scottish Post Office Directory of 1903 recorded John Gibson from New Cumnock as a “stationer and china dealer” (above) operating from the shop located in the town’s post office building.

Indeed, a close look at his post office shop window in the Henderson Building (below, bottom left) reveals an artful display of fine china and pottery next to postcards printed by Gibson.

There are multiple ways to connect this surprising link with possible S3 plot points, obviously, but it’s getting late, so let’s just name the two most important ones.

You’ve probably heard of the Holy Grail, maybe from Monty Python or Good Omens S01E03 1941 flashback. Depending on the version of the story, if can be a cup, a chalice, a bowl, or a saucer — but almost always a dish or a vessel connected personally, physically and metaphysically to Jesus (unless you’re partial to Wolfram von Eschenbach’s idea that the Grail was a stone, the sanctuary of the neutral angels who took neither side during Lucifer's rebellion).

A slightly more obscure dish related to the Son of God appears in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation as a vital part of His Second Coming. The Seven Bowls (or cups, or vials) of God’s Wrath are supposed to be poured out on the wicked and the followers of the Antichrist by seven angels:

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.  (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

[greenhorn-art]

All The King's Horses | As You Are Now, So Once Was I by @samwpmarleau (grumkinsnark)

All The King's Horses [LiveJournal ch1] [Fanfiction.net ch1]

As You Are Now, So Once Was I [LiveJournal ch1] [Fanfiction.net ch1]

Fandom: Supernatural, Criminal Minds

Rating: Teen | PG-13

Category: Gen

Words: ~36,192

All The King's Horses: Protect and Serve. Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity. To what lengths would you go to uphold those oaths? When it comes to a particularly brutal and unsolvable case, the BAU just may have to resort to some more unorthodox methods. SPN/Criminal Minds crossover.

As You Are Now, So Once Was I: Sequel to "All the King's Horses." When Dean catches J.J.'s press conference on the news about a current case and notices a few...inconsistencies, he realizes the BAU is definitely going to need his help. Again. ON HIATUS

About the Book

FORMAT: Letter quarto, flatback bradel binding, french link stitch, no tapes

FONTS: EB Garamond [via Google Fonts], Supernatural Knight [via DaFont], D-Din [via Font Squirrel], Daniel [via DaFont], Permanent Marker [via Google Fonts], Arial

IMAGES: Seal of the FBI [via Wikipedia], Dean's handprint scar [by greenhorn-art]

MATERIALS: 24lb Xerox Bold Digital paper (8.5"x11"), 80pt binder's board (~2mm), 30/3 size waxed linen thread, embroidery floss (DMC #721), 1.9mm cording, brown cardstock, black Cialux bookcloth, gold foil transfer sheet (came with We R Memory Keepers hot foil pen)

PROGRAMS USED: Fic exported with FicHub, word doc compiled in LibreOffice Writer, Typeset in Affinity Publisher, imposed with Bookbinder-JS, title pages designed in Affinity Designer/Photo

.

I first read these stories on LiveJournal back in 2013, some time after I first encountered Tumblr, Supernatural, and the wider world of online fandom. Once I discovered SPNxCriminal Minds crossovers I devoured so many of them. Something about POV Outsider on the Winchesters, the existing connections with investigating monster vs human-crazy cases, and run-ins with the FBI... it's just works so well.

Of all the SPNxCM fics I read and enjoyed, All The King's Horses is among those that bookmarked themselves in my brain. Since it's been living there all these years, I thought it deserved a place on my bookshelf too.

(Rambling below)

Sourcing the Fic

I used FicHub to download the fics off of Fanfiction.net as HTML. Then I pasted them into LibreOffice Writer and created rich text documents of each fic, so I could Place them into Affinity Publisher.

The stories were crossposted, first on LiveJournal and then Fanfiction. I included the metadata from both sites in the appendices.

(It's fascinating to see the differences in the same work between platforms. FFN requires genres, so if the author doesn't add them on LJ then by default there's more info on FFN. But FFN limits listed characters to 2, so authors have to pick and choose the most important. Then there's the author's amusing disclaimers and spoiler warnings for these fics, which are only included in the LJ version)

Shoutout to the author for how they linked/listed their accounts on other platforms! Thanks to that I was easily able to track down all the tags/metadata for the fics, and find them here to express my appreciation for their stories!

Typesetting

Fonts

EB Garamond is my new favourite body font, 11pt as per my usual.

The title page is entirely Arial: 1) it was the closest match I have to the case file prop I was copying, and 2) if it was a government doc they wouldn't be using anything but the most basic fonts.

Headings and the the bullets bracketing the page numbers are set it Supernatural Knight, a free font in the style of Supernatural's title.

The location segments are in D-DIN, the closest free match to the font Criminal Minds uses (which is probably DIN).

Daniel is used for Dean's 'rushed but legible' note.

Permanent Marker for the 'thick black Sharpie' case file labels.

Artwork

Title pages designed as FBI case files, copied from a prop found online (specifically Etsy's propfictionstudios', but it's all over the web so no idea who actually created it). I had fun plugging in all the fanfic/bookbinding meta!

The ID# above the author's name is the FFN story ID, and the date is the date originally posted on LJ.

The handprint used in the headings of ATKH is Dean's scar. I traced off of a screenshot from s4e01 Lazarus Rising. I chose to use the handprint instead of the anti-possession tattoo or a Devil's Trap as my SPN art element because 1) it's specific to Dean, and 2) indicates/reminds that the story is not set during the season 3 Agent Henriksen/FBI arc.

Grabbed the FBI seal off of Wikipedia.

Construction

Both fics typeset and printed separately, then sewn together into one book. Title page for the sequel was tipped in like an endpaper prior to sewing.

Endbands sewn with orange embroidery floss (DMC 721) around 1.9mm cording. I chose orange because Dean's being in jail brought to mind the orange prison jumpsuits Sam and Dean wore in s1e19 Folsom Prison Blues.

Black bookcloth for the cover, like the Winchesters' beloved black '67 Chevy Impala. (I'd wanted a Supernatural reference to balance out the Criminal Minds-ness of the FBI case files).

I'd originally planned to make lineart of the front of the car, and have it stretch across the bottom of the cover (maybe even wrap around to the back). Even found a useful reference to trace [from here], but it didn't look as good as I'd hoped. Instead I reused the FBI seal and swapped out its text with the titles.

(The effect of shiny foiled FBI symbol on small black book reminds me of one of those FBI badge wallets!)

The foiling process was an unnecessarily long and gruelling affair. My laptop served as a massive power bank for the hot foil pen as I spent 2hrs ever so slowly tracing the image, and then 15mins on the author name and touch-ups. Did it need to take so long? Moving slowly, pushing down hard, going over everything at least three times? I'm sure it didn't. BUT I did not want to chance peeling up the foil to check how I was doing and risk shifting it. It was worth it in my books (haha) ‒ I feel giddy and kick my feet like a schoolgirl whenever I see it!

New Things

Used 24lb paper for the first time, and I love it! It's a little thicker and heavier then regular 20lb printer paper, feels more substantial.

The page numbers & running/section headers are along the outer margin, instead of in the header/footer. This was my way around Affinity's buggy-ness regarding pinning things inline in master pages. (More about that below). If I had been thinking, I could have formatted them like the tabs on a file folder and cut the textblock to match. Oh well, the things you notice once it's printed 😔

This time I also started new chapters/sections using text flow & paragraph spacing settings, instead of using a master. As always, there are pros and cons.

Pro: much faster and less involved. (find chapter start, apply paragraph style VS working from the end cutting text, inserting a frame break, unlinking frames, inserting new pages with master, relinking, pasting, and adding chapter title to a different text box)

Con: images need to be added manually (whether by adding image directly, or by applying a master with the image). I forgot to do this for the second fic, so only ATKH have Dean's handprint scar.

Difficulties Encountered

Affinity Publisher is fighting me on pinning things inline on master pages. They like to disappear on regular pages I've applied the master to. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it only works on some of the pages. Idk what's up. (The bullet character only faces one way so I had use textboxes, flip/mirror one, and pin them inline to the page number).

So instead of having page numbers in the footer, bookended left and right by text boxes with Supernatural Knight's bullet, I put it vertically down the side.

Updated Publisher and all my paragraph styles' fonts changed/went funny. Something to do with the update's variable font support, I think. What was previously 'EB Garamond' regular, was now something along the lines of 'EBGaramond-Regular' which isn't a font. Issue seems to have ironed itself out in my original (near-complete) doc while I was busy remaking it. 😐

On the bright side, the update brought QR code generation to Affinity!

[bobnichollsart]

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

One of the books I illustrated in 2007 was TRAILBLAZERS: DINOSAUR HUNTERS, published by Quarto Children's Books. I'll post a few acrylic paintings from it today, here's a Protoceratops and Tarbosaurus.

[uwmspeccoll]

It’s Fine Press Friyay! 

This week we’re digging into our 1896 copy of Alexander Pope’s (1688-1744) The Rape of the Lock: an heroi-comical poem in five cantos, which features decadent illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898). This crown quarto edition of 500 was issued in London by Leonard Smithers (1861-1907). It was printed on deckle edge paper at the Chiswick Press.  

This publication is an excellent example of high burlesque, a style of satire in which “a literary, elevated manner was applied to a commonplace or comically inappropriate subject matter.” Pope’s epic treatment of a minor event of social trespass- the theft of a lock of Arabella Fermor’s (1696-1737) hair by Lord Petre (1689-1713), her suitor at the time of the incident and soon-to-be ex-fiancée, mocked the excessive role of social mores and morality in European culture of the era through exaggerated imitation.  

Leonard Smithers was a London bookseller and publisher associated with the Decadent Movement, a 19th century Western European artistic and literary movement that prized aesthetic excess, artificiality, and hedonism. In addition to his support for Beardsley’s work, he also promoted the work of a number of controversial figure or the time including, amongst others, Max Beerbohm, Aleister Crowley, and Oscar Wilde.  

The Chiswick Press was founded in 1811 by Charles Whittingham (1767–1840), who found success in producing accessibly priced editions of classics. His nephew Charles Whittingham II (1795–1876), who took over in 1840, was known for printing William Morris’s (1834-1896) early work, and would establish the press as part of the Private Press Movement in England, which started in reaction to the mechanization of book production. Contributors to the Private Press Movement championed the material qualities of their publications, lending heightened consideration to aesthetic choices and reviving traditional techniques of typography, binding, paper making, and printing.

--Ana, Special Collections Graduate Intern

View more Chiswick Press posts

View more Alexander Pope posts

View more Aubrey Beardsley posts

view more Fine Press Friday posts.

[haute-lifestyle-com]

The Complete Guide to Vegetable Gardening, from Quarto Publishing, brings to the pages an exhaustive guide to cultivating the garden, beginning with the basics, from understanding soil to preserving your harvest, companion planting, and herb gardens

[piscesmoonpress]

skinny-dip inside your mind by spacexcowgirl (@spacexcowgirl)

Through the smoke and dark lighting, it’s hard to make the man out, but his looks really don’t matter. This isn’t about what Regulus wants in a partner, it’s about what he needs to survive. At the moment, he’ll take whatever he can get.

Pairing: Regulus Black/James Potter Fandom: Harry Potter

I'm so excited to share this bind that I made for Rose, who wrote one of my favorite jegulus fics over the span of a single weekend, and messaged me about it incessantly the entire time.

Turning this story into a bind was so fun, and I'm incredibly proud of the way it turned out. Hopefully, I managed to do this masterpiece justice.

Quarter-Letter | 23,433 words | 157 pages

Title Font: Clavichord Body: Fern

Typset and bound by me in InDesign for @spacexcowgirl.

Making the typeset for this bind was a bit of a process I wasn't prepared for. Previously, I made all my typesets on Word, and the switch over to InDesign was not an easy one. That said, I have officially been converted, and I am so proud of the way this one turned out.

Rose said that she imagined this story as a bit dreamy, though given that it's an incubus fic, I did got in a bit of a gothic direction. All the design details, excluding the eye on the cover page, is done using the Fern and Clavichord fonts, including the motif on the back of the bind.

This was also my first quarto, which was a fun challenge that I wasn't expecting to enjoy so much. I can confidently say there will be many quarto binds in my future—this one was quick, easy, and addicting.

Materials and Techniques

Cover Bookcloth: Duo in Mudbath Spine Bookcloth: Iris in Black HTV: Siser Brand in Red Endbands: Mettler Silk Finish Thread

The only new technique I used in this bind was the double-core french endband, which I learned from @no-name-publishing as a part of the @renegadeguild binderary tutorials.

The binding itself is a three-piece bradel bind that I used before on my Choices bind. It's slightly adapted from the DAS tutorial to accomodate a flat spine, as this book was a bit too small for my comfort to round, but otherwise used all the same steps.

I recently acquired a few yards of Duo in various colors, and I absolutely fell in love with the mudbath color for this bind—the contrast of the blue and the red gives it a very dreamy look. The spine is Iris bookcloth, which is a favorite of mine because of how well it foils. This bind is photographed on misprints, of which I had quite a few, given that this was my first quarto.

skinny-dip inside your mind is free to read on ao3, here.

[ghostlandtoo]

new bind! my 40k fic turned into an 188-page quarto bind. once again with the layered cover! because this fic explores the catholic faith, i was semi-inspired by bible formatting: drop caps at the beginning of scenes and fully justified columns for interludes. and again, i added a closing epigraph that did not make it into the published fic. a little secret just for me. also finally using premade bookcloth (supposedly hollander’s japanese bookcloth but i’m not sure) and while it’s nice to skip a step, i do miss the texture of my homemade bookcloth.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

London: A Guide for Curious Wanderers by Jack Chesher

 I hate to admit it but…I requested to read and review this book knowing I would be in London and wanting to see something new, different, and fun. Sadly, I forgot to download the book into a reader before traveling and lost out on SO MUCH! When I returned home, started going through books to be read and reviewed…there it was…this tiny gem filled with beautiful illustrations, unusual historical tidbits to seek around London, and specific walks to take to enjoy information in this book. I probably will not be back in London to do for a while BUT I will keep this book in mind to pick up before my next visit so that I can make the walks I would have taken if I had had this book with me a month ago.

 Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group-White Lion for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 4-5 Stars

    BLURB

 See London in a completely new light in this guide to the city's hidden secrets, untold stories and special places laden with history which you can discover for yourself! London is famous for its museums, each one full of treasures and relics – but the biggest museum in the capital is the city itself. From the stories behind unusual street names, to the trees in our parks; railings made from recycled WWII stretchers, to shrapnel damage on walls; the hidden symbols on post boxes, to prehistoric tree trunks – there is a rich history hidden in the oft-overlooked details of the city's streets, gardens, parks and buildings. This richly detailed and beautifully illustrated  book provides a miscellany of historic features and curiosities to spot as you wander around the capital. Whether you’ve always wondered why there are cattle troughs on your route to work , why bollards often look like upside down cannons or wanted to know what a Victorian stink pipe is – this book will provide the tools to decipher London’s secret code, and introduce you to a treasure trove of hidden spots to explore. The book comes complete with maps so you can spot these details yourself  on walks through the capital. So, pop on a sturdy pair of shoes and get ready to turn the city into the museum you never knew you had.

[canon-in-too-deep]

A Tutorial On Typesetting In Affinity (With Template)

This is an semi-abbreviated guide to typesetting in Affinity Publisher, using the template I posted here.

While this is not a comprehensive tutorial, I tried to be as detailed as possible, and hope this help folks with their typesetting journeys! Note: there are different ways to to do this, these are just the ways I've used personally. (And by 'used', I mean all the features and functions I've bashed my head against till something readable came out). Second Note: these steps do apply specifically to the template I posted. This is the template I use to save time when typesetting, as it already has all the Paragraph and Character Styles and text boxes and margins I've made in previous works. Warning: wall of text below the break!

Part 1

Importing your text into Affinity. First things first, this step all depends on where you are getting your text from. If you are typesetting something from Project Gutenburg or a similar site, copy and paste the text into Google Docs. If you are typesetting from AO3 or a similar site, download an html file of the text, then copy and paste that into Google Docs. Once in Google Docs, download the file as Rich Text Format (.rtf). Open the .rtf, and copy and paste that into the Affinity Template. Just stick it into any of the body pages on page 9 or up. It'll 'flow' automatically to fill the pages. Whew. Okay. Now, you can actually work on your text in the template.

Document size (optional). So the template I made is for half letter (letter folio). Letter is the size of the page I would be printing on, and folio is the imposition (which means if I was making it into a physical book, I would fold that page in half. Folio = the page is in halves. Quarto = page is in quarters. Octavo = page is in eighths etc.). You want your document size to be the size of one single page in your book. - Now, again, the template I have is all set up for a single page size equal to half letter. If you want to change the size, you can go to File -> Document Setup -> Dimensions. If you change the size, you will have to go in and change the text boxes and margins I have left in the template to fit your new dimensions.

How to Auto Flow your text. You will notice that the template only has 50 pages. Chances are, you can't see all your text. To get it to automatically appear, just hold down Shift and click the red triangle on the right of one of the text boxes with your body text in it. It should automatically generate the pages you need with your text. - If you need to manually get your text to flow from one text box to another, just click the little triangle on the right of the text box your text starts in, and then click the text box you want it to flow into. Bonus: To make a text box, click the image of the T in the white square on the left, and draw it on the page. This is the Frame Text Tool, or the text box maker, To add a picture, click the rectangle with an X through it. This is the Picture Frame Rectangle. Draw a frame, then go to File -> Place, and add your image.

Your text is in the template. Time to get it dressed. Okay, now you need to set up your Text Styles. Text Styles should be located on the right hand tool bar. Text Styles are essentially how you tell Affinity how you want the different parts of text to look like. You can change your fonts, spacing, justification, etc, by playing around in the settings of a Text Style (to do so, just click the three lines next to the text style's name, or create a new one by clicking one of the + symbols at the bottom of the Text Style tool bar. Now, there are two types of Text Styles: Paragraph Styles (have the backwards 'P' looking symbol) and Character Styles (have the underlined 'a' symbol). Think of these like jackets and shirts for your text to where. The Paragraph Styles go on over the Character Styles, but you can still see the Character Styles underneath. - First thing to do is go to Find and Replace. It should be next to the left hand tool bar. - Click the cog to the right of 'Find'. Then click 'Format'. This should bring up the screen below. - Click the box next to Italics so it turns into a check mark. Now hit Ok. This will now allow you to find all Italics in your text. - When you find the Italics, you can now Replace them. Hit the cog next to 'Replace with'. Click Character Style. Click Emphasis. -Find and Replace all.

This will save all your Italics while you work on the text. Note, do NOT select all your text and use a Character Style on it. It will override and remove your Italics. You can only have one Character Style and one Paragraph Style applied to specific text. Because of this, I don't really use any Body Character Styles, and make all my changes usually in Paragraph Styles. Part 2

Chapter Headings. Find and Replace is one your best friends in Affinity. After I have Italics saved, I do the Chapter Headings in the text next. I Find and Replace the Chapter Headings if I can, or manually select them. Then I apply the Chapter Character Style to them. Now, if I ever want to change them en mass, I can just Find them using that Character Style to apply a new Paragraph Style or whatever I want to them.

Body Text. Now is the time to finally use a Paragraph Style. I select my text, and apply the Paragraph Style labeled Body to it. While I have it selected, I can change my font type, size, and leading to whatever I want. If I change leading, I do have to go in and edit the Paragraph Styles to have the same leading across all of them. The template is setup for 11 pt font and 140% leading. - To change leading in a Paragraph Style, click the three lines to the right of the Style -> Edit 'Name' -> Spacing -> Leading. - If you change font size/leading, you will need to change the Baseline Grid. Baseline Grid is the underlying grid that your text will snap to (you can disable this in a Paragraph Style, but I like to use Baseline Grid to make sure the Body Text is all lined up the same). To change Baseline Grid, click the button in the top middle of Affinity that looks like an A with blue lines behind it. Then go to Grid Spacing. I usually set it to whatever is my body text leading equal to.

Back to Chapter Headings. At this point, I usually use Find and Replace again, and Find the Chapter Headings with their Character Style. I use Replace to apply the Paragraph Style 'Chapter Heading' to them.

Other Styles. Okay, so Chapter Headings are set. Body text are set. But there's still text that need different formats, like where there's a body divider/dinkus, or the start of a chapter where there's no indent. From here, I manually go through the text, and start setting the little things that weren't covered by the Body or Chapter Heading styles. I use Body No Indent Drop Cap (Paragraph Style) for the first paragraph of each chapter. I use Body Divider (Paragraph Style) wherever there's a section break. I use Body No Ident (Paragraph Style) wherever there's a new paragraph after a section break. And I use Body Special as needed, if there's unique bits of text in the work, like letters, or poems, or songs, to make them stand out more. - This part of typesetting is a lot of me just going through manually, while scrolling through and checking the original text I am typesetting to see if there's any places that need special attention or different paragraph styles. Lot of side by side scrolling and comparing how the original author/publisher had the fic looking, and making sure my typeset matches in a way that I like.

More on Body Dividers. You can check out my book of dinkuses for potential fonts for section breaks/dividers. Once I find the dinkus I like, I copy and paste it into my text, or use find and replace. Just make sure that the Body Divider Paragraph Style is applied to whatever you put. - Now, you may need to adjust the dinkus because it's not centered or spaced how you like. To do this, click the three lines to the right of Body Divider under the Text Styles tab on right hand side of your screen. This brings up the Text Style Editor Box (see the picture below). - To get the divider looking how I want, I go to Paragraph and then adjust the Leading, Space Before, and Space After until the Body Divider looks how I want. Sometimes you might want a section break with a lot of space, sometimes you might want it narrower. This is the place to do it.

Part 3

Next step: Working in Master Pages. Master Pages are great. You can apply them to your text to make your text look uniform. Whatever the Master Page is, the other pages must follow. -To apply a Master Page, right click the page you want on the left sidebar under Pages. Then click apply Apply Master. Then choose what Master to apply. The body text pages all have the Master Body text applied to them already, but you may need to change one because it's the start of a new Chapter. -If you want different margins in your text, this is where to do it. I have mine set up for .8 outer and inner margins, and slightly narrower on the top and bottom margins to account for leading. If you want to change this, just drag the text box to whatever size you want to fit your margins.

Headers/Footers. In the Master Page titled Master Body, you can change the placements and formats of the headers/footers. I usually just have these all centered, but you can put them and size them however you like here, and it will apply to all the main body pages of your text. - The template is setup so you can just fill in your title name and author name in the header locations of the Master Body pages. Click the text boxes and type in whatever you want. If you don't want to use these, you can delete them on the Master Pages, and they won't show up at all.

Master Chapter Heading. The Master Chapter Heading pages are not applied to the text. In the template, you will see that page 9 does not have the Master Body applied to it. This is because I like to play around with different text box sizes and chapter heading designs here, then copy and paste them into the Master Chapter Heading when I have one I like. Then, I can just apply the Master Chapter Heading to wherever there is the start of a new chapter.

Part 4

How to add a Table of Contents. Okay, once all the Chapter Headings are formatted and everything is on the page they should be on, you can put in a table of contents. To add a table of contents, put a text box down wherever you'd like your table of contents to be located. This is usually on page 7 of the template for me, but it may be different for you based on your text or how you do your front matter. - Click in that text box. Then, click Text (on top of your Affinity Screen, towards the left). Go to Table of Contents. Then Insert Table of Contents. - See the picture below. Your screen should look similar to this. - On the left, you can see we are in the Table of Contents tab now. Under Style Name, check the one that says Chapter Heading. Now, everything that had the Paragraph Style Chapter Heading will be in our Table of Contents. - Click the three lines to the right of where we checked Chapter Heading. You can then check Include Page Numbers here.

Part 5

Alright! Now we have pretty much everything done. Almost. There's just the front matter to do now. These parts are pretty much just pasting/typing in your information. The front matter in the template I made is set up for Project Gutenburg public domain stuff. When I typeset things from AO3, I put the stats here instead.

Front matter. What is it exactly. The front matter included in the template is as follows: bastard title page (just the name of the book), blank page, full title page (title and author; you can include publication/imprint info here as well), copyright page, book bound by page (this is not an official thing, just something I decided to add to my templates since mine as free to use), blank page, table of contents. Sometimes a text has a preface or dedication. You can add these pages to the front matter, and if you need more pages to add them, just right click on the left hand side under Pages wherever you would like the new pages to go, then click Add Pages. I use Master A for front matter pages. These are just plain, blank pages with nothing on them.

Title Pages. Title pages. You can pretty much do whatever you want here. I've posted links before to places you get free to use images/art, but you don't need to include any images/art at all. It's all totally optional, I just like to have a bit of fun on my title pages and put in little extra bits.

Anyway, hope this helps and I didn't ramble tooooo much (this started as a short post to just talk about how to import text). If you're looking for more detailed help, I do recommend joining the Renegade Binder discord. I learned how to use Affinity Publisher from someone's tutorial there. I can also try to make more posts in the future further explaining things.