Picture the past

I was saddened to hear of the death this week of Mary Evans, founder of the picture library that bears her name. Anyone who has worked in the world of illustrated books will be familiar with this wonderful collection of historic images. Located in a lovely Arts and Crafts parish hall in Blackheath, it has been an beacon of kindly, civilised scholarship in an increasingly crass and philistine age. Long may it continue to embody the curatorial values whose decline was lamented more than a decade ago by Stephen Poliakoff in his superb TV drama Shooting the Past. The beautiful photograph that accompanies her obituary in the Guardian says it all, really.

Apologies, by the way, for the prolonged absence of this blog. I was working flat out to deliver a book to an absurd deadline, but have now returned to the blogosphere. Cue plug:  Mapping the World by C J Schuler will be published by Editions Place des Victoires on 1 November.

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