Publishing
"The Beauty of Books"
Takoma & The Takoma Foundation
Most of the public-domain books printed on Amazon are flimsy, low quality, done-in-a-rush jobs that reflect the motives of the 'publisher'. Teachers buy them in stacks because they are cheap, but a meta-message of cheap knowledge is also sent to students.
What if we did it a different way. What if public domain books were produced locally, made substantially with great care, presented to students with ceremony and ritual? What if books were designed from the beginning to represent all the treasure they really are?
The Beauty of Books Project seeks to take classic books into schools, one classroom at a time, subverting the notion that these texts are easily tossable and instead celebrating them as keepsakes, as wayfairs and doorways to beauty, inspiration, understanding, and knowledge.