Through the Revolving Door: Fisher Blog

How do you read a book that has no words?

In 1919, Frans Masereel (1889-1972) invented a new type of book: romans in beeiden, or novels in pictures. His first novel,… Read the full post.

Each week the Fisher Library highlights an item from one of its many collections available on the Internet Archive. This week, Rachael takes a look at a book from our Biodiversity Collection… Read the full post.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Gothic revival created popular interest in medieval manuscripts, but few ordinary British citizens had the opportunity to see what they looked like until the 1840s. Without duplication technology,… Read the full post.

At the end of this week, April 23, we celebrate World Book and Copyright Day, an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and… Read the full post.

In 1570, the Flemish cartographer and geographer Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) printed the first modern atlas titled, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. The word "atlas" became associated with geographic books when the Dutch cartographer Gerard… Read the full post.

Each week the Fisher Library highlights an item from one of its many online digitized collections available on the Internet Archive. This week, Rachael takes a look at a historical book from… Read the full post.

The attitude of the French poet and chronicler Jean Molinet (1435–1507) to the religious orders of his day was, at best, ambiguous. One of his more famous poems—a satirical grace in verse—begins:

We pray that the… Read the full post.

Each week the Fisher Library highlights an item from one of its many collections that have been digitized for the Internet Archive. This week, Rachael takes a look at a lovely book from our… Read the full post.

Fore-edge paintings – also known as fore-edge illustrations – are images painted on the side of the book opposite to the spine. When a book with this feature is closed, it appears like any book with gilded edges. However when the pages are fanned… Read the full post.

Zines (derived from the term “fanzines” or “fan-magazines) are a fluid literary creature. In a very broad yet clear explanation, Stephen Duncombe notes that “zines are non-commercial, nonprofessional, small-circulation magazines which their… Read the full post.

Each week the Fisher Library highlights an item from one of its many collections available on the Internet Archive. This week, Rachael highlights an interesting item from our Biodiversity… Read the full post.

It was exactly one year ago today, St Patrick’s Day 2020, that the doors to the Fisher Library were closed to the public by order of both civic and university officials. Little did we imagine that one year later we would still be working from… Read the full post.

The simplest definition one can give to describe an artists’ book is that they are works of art in the physical form of a book, but of course it is not so simple. An artists’ book is a form of artistic expression using the book as its medium.… Read the full post.

Each week the Fisher Library highlights an item from one of its many collections digitized online on the Internet Archive. This Monday, in honour of International Women’s Day we will be looking at “Women of Canada: Their Life and Work.”

In the year 1856,… Read the full post.

It’s long been said that Toronto is, first and foremost, a hockey town. And yes, while it’s true that the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs suck a significant portion of the professional sports oxygen in the city – despite its lack of silverware for the… Read the full post.

By the early 1950s Toronto had outgrown the formidable Romanesque-style city hall building at the corner of Queen and Bay streets, its home since 1899. The city’s projected space needs could not be accommodated within existing buildings, and so… Read the full post.

On 15 December 1853, William Henry Pearson took up a new and oddly macabre hobby. In a hardcover notebook he would write out his first entry under the auspicious title: "Dates of the decease of those who are my friends, or with whom I was… Read the full post.

Each week, the Fisher Library highlights an item from one of its many digitized collections available to anyone for free on the Internet Archive. This week, Rachael takes a look at a popular… Read the full post.

Whether familiar and long-established or decorative and experimental, typographical treasures are bound to be discovered across a wide range of rare book materials. A great place to start exploring and identifying printed typefaces as well as… Read the full post.

A night out on the town in Toronto is ephemeral by its very nature. After the lights at a dance club come on, a restaurant closes its doors, or a dinner party breaks up, the event inevitably fades from memory and from the historical record. There… Read the full post.

March 6 marks the 187th birthday of the City of Toronto. To celebrate, the Fisher staff have gone through our collections and picked some items to highlight some of the richness of the material related to this great city. We will post these… Read the full post.

Pulp fiction books hold an important place in special collections libraries. As a genre, pulps were initially marketed in the United States to adult audiences with a combination of eye-catching covers, low prices, and racy story lines. The genre… Read the full post.

Yellowback books, named for their yellow covers, originated in England during the latter half of the 19th century. These books were often referred to as “railway novels” because they were frequently sold at train stations when early publishers… Read the full post.

Starting next Friday, we will be featuring a series of posts on the subject of categories of rare books commonly found in special collections libraries. The posts will showcase the work of graduate students in the fall session of the… Read the full post.