Observer books

The Observer's Books were a series of small, pocketsized books, published by Frederick Warne Co in the United Kingdom from 1937 to 2003. They covered a variety of topics including hobbies, art, history and wildlife. The aim of these books was to interest the observer and they have also been popul

Over the past year or so I've started a collection of Observer's Books. These little hardbacks are something I've been aware of for most of my life, because my mum has the Weather book and the photos in it were always fascinating to look at. I also had a more recent edition of the Wild Flowers book, and as a child I would write in it when I'd seen each of the plants. I decided sometime last year that I'd like to start a collection of the books, after seeing them used in Instagram photos a…

A guide to collecting vintage Observer's Books published by Frederick Warne. How to start a colourful vintage book collection.

Today's Observer Review included a photo of a piece in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park by Jaume Plensa (whose website is here), an artist born in Barcelona in 1955 and now working in France, Spain and the USA. The image caught my eye because if shows part of a large sculpture of a human form, made entirely out of capital letters in a sort of mesh, made of metal. The YSP exhibition website is here. A Guardian article about his work is here. Lots more image, and interesting analysis of his works…

"It was the first time I had read a book like this and it shook me to my core at the end."

A Thousand Feasts is a collection of stories and insights from the Observer’s food writer. Here, he reflects on simple joys that can arrive anywhere, from a beach half a world away to his own kitchen