| NEW Volvelle Exhibit in NYC! |
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Volvelles: the Magnificent Art of Circular Charting, curated by Jessica Helfand and William Drenttel is on exhibit at the Grolier Club until April 24, 2004.
The Grolier club of New York has fostered interest in the book arts for over one hundred years, through exhibitions, publications, lectures, and--perhaps most importantly--through the formation of a research Library devoted to the arts of the book.
The fully illustrated 160-page color catalogue, published by Princeton University Press and Winterhouse Editions in 2002, will be for sale at the Grolier Club and from The Veatchs Arts of the Book, PO Box 328, Northampton, MA 01061; phone: (413) 584-1867; fax: (413) 584-2751; e-mail: Veatchs@veatchs.com at a cost of $25.00. In 2003, it won the award for Best Design from the Connecticut Center for the Book.
LOCATION AND TIMES: Volvelles: The Magnificent Art of Circular Charting will be on view at the Grolier Club from February 25 - April 24, 2004. Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM. Open to the public free of charge. THE GROLIER CLUB LIBRARY is located at 47 East 60th Street, New York City (between Park and Madison Avenues).
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| "Jessica Helfand's new book is the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel" says Chip Kidd. This full-color book chronicles the life and times of the volvelle both from its humble beginnings to its crazy applications in modern times.
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This volvelle from 1581 by Antonio Carrarino is typical of early volvelles which were used for a variety of calculations or computations. They were the earliest paper instruments.
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The "Cercle Chromatique" is from the 1920's and is hand-painted example of using a wheel to determine how color works in the visible spectrum. Color wheels are extremely useful to artists.
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| Published in the 1940's, the U.S. Navy Semaphore Signaling Guide is a turnable dieal which instructs users on the proper method of sending each of the 26 letters as semaphore signals.
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This "premium" (a form of paper advertising that was given away for free) is from Coca-cola and consists of 3 movable discs showing statistics of the American Baseball League from 1901 to 1960.
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The "Calumet Kid" was a popular character for a baking powder company in the 1920's. This paper volvelle was part of the companies advertising campaign and could be used as a calculator to add, subtract, multiply and divide!
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| Designed as a question-and answer quiz game, this 1951 wheel uses 3 rotating discs that reveal information on 24 woodland and garden bird species.
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Holt, Rinehart & Winston's reading kits from 1973 included a series of animal spellers for the pre-school or school age markets. The 5 animal set featured one vowel in the center and two wheels on the left and right side which could be turned to produce simple words.
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Sometimes volvelles are just strange and lovely. This British design from the 1960's is a perfect example. What was it for? No one knows, but it is still quite smashing! All these volvelles and many, many more can be seen at the exhibit so if you're in NYC make sure to stop by!
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