For a year or two I was dedicated to the New York Review of Books' tremendous series of classics. During that time, whenever I needed a book to read I'd simply go to the bookstore, scan the fiction shelves for the distinctive NYRB spines, and choose from the half dozen or so I'd find on any given trip. In total, I went through maybe 12 or 15 books in this way. They were almost all books I wouldn't normally have considered, and there's only one I didn't totally enjoy. Not a bad editorial record.

Luckily for us, they've also published a number of art related titles:

The first five are fiction. I've read the first three and The Horse's Mouth in particular stands as one of my all-time favorite novels, art or not. Renoir, My Father is a memoir by painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir's son Jean, and Born Under Saturn is a history of the "character and conduct of artists" by art writing notables Margot and Rudolf Wittkower.

(And if you haven't held one of these in your hand, do. They're impeccably produced by Sheridan Books, with the right paper, the right color, and the right cover varnish. A matte polyurethane I believe -- I called the NYRB production manager and asked once but managed to lose the note I made.)

Update on Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 10:33AM by Hol Art Books

Jacket designs for the NYRB Classics are by Katy Homans. And you can read all about the NYRB's publishing efforts at their blog, A Different Stripe.