10 BEAUTIFUL NEW BOOKS ON LOVE

It’s Beautiful Love week here at BeautifulNow. Every day this week, we’ll be featuring cool content that is totally focused on the many different expressions, flavors, and aspects of love. We begin with a look at 10 beautiful new books that offer fascinating new views on the thing that makes the world go ‘round.

1. KAMA SUTRA: THE INDIAN TREATISE ON LOVE AND LIVING

 

“Kama Sutra: The Indian Treatise on Love and Living ,” by Sandhya Mulchandani, is a gorgeous new version of the ancient original. With lavish packaging in a handmade box, made of pure silk, luxurious gold-edged pages, and high-quality production, this makes a very special gift for your very special lover.

 

Roli Books (2014)

1. ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD

 

“All the Love in the World ,” by Jesse Hunter, is a beautiful photo-survey of love symbols around the world. Jesse Hunter and his partner spent 650 days, traveling across 44 countries, across six continents, in search of unique expressions of love.

 

Hardie Grant Books (2013)

 

1. THE INVISIBLES: VINTAGE PORTRAITS OF LOVE AND PRIDE: GAY COUPLES IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY

 

We love vintage photos. They have a special sweetness and charm. “The Invisibles: Vintage Portraits of Love and Pride: Gay Couples in the Early Twentieth Century,” by Sebastien Lifshitz, is a unique collection of photos discovered by the author at flea markets and garage sales.

 

The photos date from around 1900 to 1960, during a time when most gay couples were deeply closeted, making the photos all the more rare. They include beautiful images of lovers, hand in hand, in tender poses of affection.

 

The author also made a documentary about the photos and their subjects, called The Invisibles, for which he was awarded the Cesar Award for Best Documentary in 2013.

 

Rizzoli (2014)

1. BRASSAI: FOR THE LOVE OF PARIS

 

This book is about the love of what is, perhaps, the most romantic city in the world, Paris. "Brassai: For the Love of Paris ,” by Brassai and Agnes de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, spans a fifty-year love affair between the photographer and his city muse.

 

The book includes iconic images of candid life across a broad spectrum of Parisians, from delightful children playing, to couples loving, to opera and ballet stars, to prostitutes and vagrants, the Hungarian-born Brassai captured their spirit and their situation with stunning passion and grace.

 

Flammarion (2014)

 

1. THE LOOK OF LOVE: ROMANTIC ILLUSTRATION THROUGH THE AGES

 

"The Look of Love: Romantic Illustration through the Ages ,” edited by The British Library, celebrates love with a beautiful collection of more than one hundred illustrations from the Middle Ages, to the pulp novels of the twentieth century, to a honeymoon in space. Many are kitschy. All are charming.

 

British Library (2014)

1. THE LIBERTINE: THE ART OF LOVE IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FRANCE

 

"The Libertine: The Art of Love in Eighteenth-Century France ,” by Michel Delon, is a glorious collection of the passion, fantasies, and seductions of freewheeling hedonistic lovers who were loving their hearts out in the 18th century.

 

It includes a beautifully curated selection of more than 80 pieces of 18th century French literature. Voltaire, Rousseau, and the Marquis de Sade are all represented, along with lesser-known passionistas.

 

Each selection is illustrated by well-chosen period artworks, many rarely seen, by Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, and numerous others.

 

Abbeville Press (2013)

 

1. ART AND LOVE IN RENAISSANCE ITALY

 

"Art and Love in Renaissance Italy (Metropolitan Museum of Art) ,” by Andrea Bayer, Beverly Louise Brown, Nancy Edwards, Everett Fahy, Deborah L. Krohn, Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, Luke Syson, Dora Thornton, James Grantham Turner, and Linda Wolk-Simon, is a comprehensive survey of one of the most romantic periods in history.

 

Love was a popular subject in Italian Renaissance artworks. Betrothal and marriage were often celebrated by commissioning and gifting extraordinary pieces.

 

This book includes full color images and commentary for each of 140 works of art, dating from about 1400 to 1600.

 

From exquisite objects and instruments, to erotic drawings and prints, to nuptial portraits, love inspired some of the finest and most important art of the period, including pieces by some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, including Giulio Romano, Lorenzo Lotto, and Titian.

 

Metropolitan Museum of Art (2013)

1. TURN AROUND BRIGHT EYES: THE RITUALS OF LOVE AND KARAOKE

 

"Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke ,” by Rob Sheffield, is a memoir about love, loss, & love again.

 

Sheffield was a young happily married rock critic when his life and his music came crashing down around the untimely death of his wife.

 

After more than enough time passed, one night, friends came to his rescue and got him out of his lonely house and out to a karaoke bar in the West Village. The friendly lift worked, so Sheffield and his friends began to make a habit of karaoke nights.

 

Turn Around Bright Eyes, named for the karaoke favorite by Bonnie Tyler, tracks Sheffiled’s life as it turned around. It is an emotional journey about finding courage and losing at least some inhibitions in order to find love again.

 

It Books (2013)

 

1. DEVOTED: 38 EXTRAORDINARY TALES OF LOVE, LOYALTY, AND LIFE WITH DOGS

 

Dogs really “get” the idea of love. And that’s why they are our best friends. "Devoted: 38 Extraordinary Tales of Love, Loyalty, and Life With Dogs ,” by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, presents a collection of 38 inspiring stories and emotionally packed photos about dogs who bring love to veterans, detect cancer, and somehow save the day.

 

National Geographic (2013)

1. KINDRED BEINGS: WHAT SEVENTY THREE CHIMPANZEES TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE LOVE AND CONNECTION

 

Sheri Speede fell in love with chimpanzees. She rescued many dozens of them who had been abandoned, abused, or orphaned, and cared for them at the forest-based Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, which she founded.

 

"Kindred Beings: What Seventy-Three Chimpanzees Taught Me About Life, Love, and Connection ,” recounts all Speede learned about chimpanzee friendships loyalties, jealousies, and enduring love.

 

One chimpanzee, in particular, named Dorothy, forged a deep friendship with Speede. And when Dorothy died of old age at the sanctuary, a photograph of Dorothy's funeral, in which Dr. Speede cradled Dorothy's head while her family of chimpanzees mournfully viewed her body, went viral after being published in National Geographic.

 

The book is also part memoir, as Speede shares her own personal story, of loves, dangers, and joys that took place during her time with the chimps.

 

HarperOne (2013)

Read more about Beautiful Love, it relates toArts/Design,Nature/Science,Food/Drink, Place/Time,Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact in our posts throughout this week.

 

Enter this week’sBN Competition. Our theme this week is Beautiful Love. Send in your images and ideas. Deadline is 02.16.14.

 

Photo Credits:

 

1) Image: Courtesy of Roli Books. Kama Sutra.

2) Image: Courtesy of Roli Books. Kama Sutra.

3) Image: Courtesy of Hardie Grant Books. All the Love in the World.

4) Image: Courtesy of Rizzoli.The Invisibles.

5) Image: Courtesy of Flammarion. For the Love of Paris.

6) Image: Courtesy of the British Library. The Look of Love.

7) Image: Courtesy of Abbeville Press. The Libertine.

8) Image: Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art and Love in Renaissance Italy.

9) Image: Courtesy of It Books. Turn Around Bright Eyes.

10) Photo: Courtesy of National Geographic. Devoted.

11) Image: Courtesy of HarperOne. Kindred Beings.

12) Photo: Courtesy of Fiction for a New Age.