Remember how, a while back, I was looking to find the portrait of Helene Hanff (she of 84, Charing Cross Road fame) that Elena Gaussen painted? (The artist and the painting are described in Hanff's sequel to 84, CCR, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street.)
Well, Google had turned up nothing, except for a bit more information on the artist, Elena Gaussen Marks, and her husband, Leo Marks (whose father originally owned the bookshop to which Hanff wrote about in 84 CCR). So I was resigned to never seeing the portrait. However, as I read more about Leo Marks and his career as a codemaker during World War II (and as the author of lovely cipher poems), I became more interested in reading his book, Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945.
So I checked the book out at the library, brought it home, and looked at it for a few weeks, longingly, as I didn't have time to start it right away. Finally I decided I would just have to get it back some other time, but before I returned it, I opened it up to check out the pictures in the middle. I don't know how you feel about this, but I am fundamentally unable to put a nonfiction book down before I have looked at its pictures (if any are available). Even if I don't get them read, I always look at ALL of the pictures in whatever nonfiction books I drag home. I don't know why. They're usually the first thing I look at when looking at new nonfiction books in bookstores, too. So before I returned Between Silk and Cyanide, I went to look through the pictures, and guess what I found?
"Helen Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road, by Elena Gaussen Marks." A picture of the portrait! Or at least I'm guessing it's the portrait. (As my sister says, how many can there be?) It's not at all what I expected, but it's beautiful in its own way. So there it is, and if you want to see it, all you have to do is check out Leo Marks's book. All I can say is, suck that, Google.
Don't you love it when that happens? I've been meaning to check out 84, Charing Cross Road ever since your post on it.
Posted by: Lu | 02 June 2009 at 09:32 AM
Nice find CR. I too check out all the pictures. One of the first things I do is to check the book for pictures. This is usually great fun, but sometimes there is a spoiler. Not that spoilers are always a problem in nonfiction, but say in true crime where you might find something like "John Jones, pictured here with his wife, before it was proven that he killed the sitter." Most recently this happened with the Bin Laden book, where it turned out that one of the elder brothers died in a plane crash.
Posted by: Tripp | 02 June 2009 at 12:11 PM
Glad you're back! I loved 84 Charing Cross Road - bought it for my MIL.
Posted by: Laura | 02 June 2009 at 02:59 PM
Yay! You're back! Alright already, I will read 84, CCR.
Posted by: Angie | 02 June 2009 at 03:50 PM
Lu,
I DO love it when that happens. I also love it when Google fails at something. I don't know why. That's just the way I roll.
Do pop back in and let us know what you think about 84CCR if you read it!
Tripp,
I LOVE pictures in NF books. I really do truly believe ALL NF books should have pictures, although, as you point out, not all of them should have such detailed comments.
Laura,
I'm so glad you liked 84 CCR and are passing it on! Awesome.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 02 June 2009 at 03:51 PM
You'll never believe whose library had a copy of that checked in at the moment she was reading your post! Just dashed out and peeked inside. "Portrait" made me think "posed, posh painting." And that it is not. But it was thrilling to see. Brilliant creature, you found it!
Posted by: Robin | 03 June 2009 at 06:03 PM
Dang, I've never even cracked the cover of my copy of Silk & Cyanide, so I didn't know HH's picture was in there. (smacking own forehead)
Posted by: bybee | 04 June 2009 at 01:32 AM
Robin,
I'm so glad you got to see it! "Thrilling" is just the perfect word to use. I was thrilled to find it!
Bybee,
You have your own copy of "Silk and Cyanide"? That is SO. AWESOME.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 04 June 2009 at 10:10 AM
It seems to me that fewer nonfiction books are having the picture sections in the middle now, putting photos throughout text. While this makes some sense, it makes it harder to look at all the pictures. Looking at the pictures in the middle was like seeing the trailer for a movie. I have looked at many photo sections in books that I never read, often when trying to answer reference questions. I hate to see that end.
Posted by: Rick Roche | 09 June 2009 at 11:01 AM
Rick,
I think you're probably right. Sometimes they have pictures in two spots, which I totally support, as it breaks up the reading a bit and it often means more pictures. But to just sprinkle them through the text? Not cool.
I also like captions to be descriptive, informative, and indexed, if possible. (That's a carryover from my reference desk days, when I helped school kids doing reports find many a picture inside a book--especially when pictures found on the internet were very tiny or poor quality.)
Me, fussy about my nonfiction? Nah.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 09 June 2009 at 04:13 PM