leaves of grass.

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun..there are millions of suns left,
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand..nor look through the eyes of the dead..nor feed on the spectres in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.
(from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman)

Two books arrived. It was kind of a difficult day and they always seem to show up in my letterbox at the right time. One is Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, and the other is Radical Simplicity by Dan Price (both from the amazing [yet money-swallowing] Book Depository).

Aside from the fact that it contains so many beautiful, simple little musings on nature and life that I can't wait to read it multiple times, Leaves of Grass is also probably one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen, let alone owned. The cover has the most intricate embossed border that I keep feeling the need to run my hands over it like some sort of heavily breathing, book-loving creep (not that far from the truth). And the typography makes me remember why type is so important in design, always.

Also (and this is important)
The paper is thick.
And has ragged edges.

(Believe me, it's like you can see the pulp mill and the paper press when you're turning these pages..that's how lovely they are.)

I love when the design of a book, and in this case the feel of it too, is so perfectly in keeping with the words, the content. It might be trivial for most people, but for me it makes a huge difference- it's part of the whole experience of reading it and is like a little visual precursor to this collection of words you're about to be entering into, spending time with and filtering through your mind for the next few days or weeks.