“Everyday Dogs,” a perpetual calendar
Dogs can’t be perpetual — despite what some people might try to tell you — but dog calendars can.
While I pledged to selfishly ignore all calendars other than my own — that being the 2012 (and half of 2013) Travels With Ace Calendar, which documents the year my dog and I recently spent rambling the country – I’ve realized that, under the guise of writing about the works of others, I can sneak in plugs for my own calendar, and my own book.
See, I’ve already plugged them both twice and I haven’t even mentioned “Everyday Dogs: A Perpetual Calendar for Birthdays and Other Notable Dates” (Heyday Books), which showcases, through vintage photos and quotes, the special bonds between humans and their dogs.
“Everyday Dogs” is the work of two staff members at the University of California at Berkeley. Mary Scott is a graphic designer for the campus’s Doe and Moffitt libraries. Susan Snyder is public services director at university’s Bancroft Library.
The cover of the 152-page book is a photo taken by noted 19th century California photographer Carleton E. Watkins of a dog named Guardian in a wicker carriage. It’s just one of 75 black-and-white photos featured, all taken between roughly 1870 and the 1940s.
The photos are coupled with dog-related literary quotes from, to name just a few, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jack London, Mark Twain, John Muir, John Steinbeck and Gertrude Stein (who’s also pictured with her poodle, Basket).
Whether you’re a fan of literature, history or dogs — or, preferably, all three — you’re going to appreciate this collection. It’s playful, wise, revealing and provocative, much like a dog.
“All knowledge, the totality of all questions and answers, is contained in the dog,” Franz Kafka, one of those quoted in the “Everyday Dogs” calendar, once said.
He was right, I think, with the possible exception of today’s date.
For that you need a calendar. Or two.
Posted by jwoestendiek December 8th, 2011 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, bancroft library, black and white, books on dogs, calendar, cloning, date book, dog books, dog calendars, dog inc., dogs, emily dickinson, everyday dogs, gertrude stein, heyday books, jack london, john muir, john steinbeck, literary, mark twain, mary scott, perpetual, perpetual calendar, pets, photographs, photos, quotes, susan snyder, travels with ace, travels with ace calendar, university of california, vintage