Bookshelf: Here's the lovely Carol Montpart of The Plant with some botanical treats

Date
8 April 2014

Carol Montpart is a Spanish graphic designer working from the Fraser Muggeridge studio in London. For five years she specialised in printing and publishing at Folch Studio, before moving to London to work for the Frieze Art Fair and on the redesign of ArtReview magazine, as well as starting The Plant with two colleagues. And with a CV like that, she’s something of a safe bet for having a stunning collection of tomes on her bookshelf.

Unfortunately, much of that bookshelf is still in storage in her native Barcelona, but she’s pulled together a selection from the tomes she’s bought over the past two years for us to have a gander at. And there are some absolute beauties! Over to Carol.

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William Strunk Jr and E.B White: The Elements of Style

William Strunk Jr and E.B White: The Elements of Style

My friend and editor at The Plant Kate O’Brien recommended me this book and I always carry it in my pocket since I bought it. In this timeless book you can find basic but fundamental rules of the English language. This is the third edition. Really worth buying for a foreigner like myself. A present.

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Adam Broomberd and Oliver Chanarin: Holy Bible

Adam Broomberd and Oliver Chanarin: Holy Bible

This beautiful and interesting publication puts images of conflict and violence over the text of the Holy Bible. The publication has released a second edition and it is carefully designed with thin bible paper. The size it just feels perfect. A beauty.

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Derek Jarman: Finger in the Fishes Mouth

Derek Jarman: Finger in the Fishes Mouth

Many people wouldn’t think of Derek Jarman as a poet but as a filmmaker, painter, activist and gardener but his journals sparkle with poems. This lovely book is a compilation of Derek Jarman’s poems from the 60s that he qualified by saying, “don’t read that, it’s puerile rubbish.” He was not right. These naïve poems are illustrated from Jarman’s personal collection of postcards in green silkscreen images. A poem of his ex and last partner Keith Collins closes the book with some nice words. A memory.

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Ingo Niermann: Solution 247-26:1Love

Ingo Niermann: Solution 247-26:1Love

For a very reasonable price you get a great cover and an essay about the bio-political and psychosexual topic of love. As Alexander Tarakhovsky said, “love is about mixing genes to compete with bacteria and viruses, and to dream together about conquering the cosmos in its various forms. People who do not mix fluids, do not dream, and use hand sanitizer or mouthwash will be extinct.” A heart.

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Frances Perry: Gardening in Colour

Frances Perry: Gardening in Colour

I bought this book at a second hand bookshop on Charing Cross Road and it is one of my favourites. This remarkable book packs hundreds of colourful illustrations; a complete guide to gardening in town and country, in and out doors, all the year around. It was written by Frances Perry who was a distinguished horticulturist and gardening writer. She was also the first woman elected to the council of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1968. The book covers themes like how to design a successful garden, cultivation of indoor plants and keeping the garden bright in winter. A treasure.

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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