Outcrops

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Hvítserkur, Vestur-Hunavatnssysla, Iceland. By Flickr user jónr.

I hadn’t come across this feature of north-west Iceland before until a view turned up in Flickr’s Explore. The place is a tourist site so there are many more such views.

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Ailsa Craig by Flickr user atomicjeep.

Hvítserkur reminded me of Aisla Craig, a volcanic island a few miles from Girvan on the west coast of Scotland. I’ve seen Aisla Craig from the shore and can testify to its imposing presence, and also the way its appearance changes depending on the weather and time of day.

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Both these pale into insignificance next to Ball’s Pyramid, a volcanic stack in the Tasman Sea which is 562 meters in height and looks like it might be Cthulhu’s second home. Flickr has further views of this spectacular eruption but not as many as you might hope.

Gilded volumes

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The cover of an 1894 edition of Jane Austen’s novel designed by Hugh Thomson (1860–1920). The so-called “Peacock Edition” is illustrated throughout and a copy can be yours for £845 should you be so inclined. Or you can go to the Internet Archive and download the same edition for free. Thomson’s lavish cover design is absolutely right for the 1890s and as such would have suited Oscar Wilde far more than Jane Austen. AbeBooks drew my attention to this with a feature on rare books with gilded covers where, needless to say, all the titles are very expensive. A lot more reasonable but just as lavish is I Wonder by Marian Bantjes, the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys the art of book design.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
The book covers archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
I Wonder by Marian Bantjes