Where Books and
Travel, Collecting and
Conversation Collide
Meet Nigel Beale
My life is about books mostly (and now magazines too). Travelling, trying to find them — trying to figure them out — buying them, collecting them, reading them, talking about them
From the backrooms of bookshops in Buenos Aires to the lounges of hidden libraries in Leipzig, canal-side flea-markets in Milan to the chateaus of essayists in Bordeaux, I stalk book people, and paper, in places where print culture lives.
What else?
I’m a writer, interviewer, biblio-tourist who treks the globe on a quest to understand, and bear witness to, our absurd human condition by collecting — books, conversations, literary experiences, magazines, the odd teapot — in an effort to impose my version of order on the chaos.
I’m best known for a podcast I host called The Biblio File which features long-form discussions about books and print culture (words and graphics, content and containers) and examines the roles that authors, poets, publishers, booksellers, editors, book collectors, printers, scholars, literary critics, graphic designers, publicists, literary agents, and others play along Robert Darnton’s ‘communications circuit’ — inside the book trade and out — from writer to reader.
Join me on my adventure.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
THE BIBLIO FILE PODCAST
Conversations
to bookmark
“…your knowledge of the story of publishing, the current questions facing publishers, and specifically the long and recent history of Faber & Faber, bears testament to your expertise, vocation and deep interest in the story of reading and writing…”
Stephen Page, Chair of Faber & Faber
from a panoramic overview of print culture
The Biblio File is where I interview ‘best practitioners’ in the book world — authors, publishers, designers, sellers, critics, readers, and bat-eyed bibliophiles — I talk to them all.
Consisting of more than 650 long-form interviews, the archive represents a comprehensive, panoramic overview of book and print culture at the turn of the 21 century: the art, the business, the obsession.
You’ll hear lots. From the challenges of creating, to the secrets of craft, the risks of big print-runs to the mechanics of production, the tactics of bookselling to the intricacies of indexing; the power of design to the necessity of close reading; the thrill of the kill…and way more.
As for guests, I flatter, cajole, confront, and cavort with them - whatever it takes to get to “the truth” about books and publishing.
Think of this podcast as an ongoing discussion about what books are, how they work, who makes them, who values them, who benefits from them, why they still matter — and why they always will.
ARTICLES, ESSAYS, CRITICISM, REVIEWS
Where mind
meets matter
Reflections on communication, place, art, and print culture
These writings include essays, reviews and feature stories that have been written over the years on topics of interest: books of course, communication, print and visual culture, propaganda, travel, collecting. Part personal commentary, part cultural critique, mostly they explore the influences that literary places, people and ideas have had on me; how authors, publishers, designers and cities have affected my way of thinking; how books and their looks, magazines and their designs, cities and their buildings have shaped my way of seeing the world. All very subjective. Every effort a result of close reading and observation, written in hopes that you the reader will find in them something of interest or use.
Oh, to the right? From a production of Macbeth that took place in a park in Montreal some years ago. One of the best I’ve ever seen. And yes, it’s the three witches.
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Words about the Words
"I wanted to thank you for your many generous and intelligent words about my new book How Fiction Works (and other stuff)... I get great pleasure from reading your blog."
— Critic, James Wood, The New Yorker
“You can find very bad writing and sloppy impressionism in literary blogs, but also incisive, fresh, thoughtful criticism from voices unencumbered by the politics of Grub St. I would put your blog in the latter category, which is why I’m responding here… Congratulations on a very fine blog."
— Scholar, Dr. Ronan McDonald, author of The Death of the Critic
EXPLORE THE SHOP
Vintage magazines
& ephemera
Why buy these magazine?
We collect and sell the vintage magazines we sell because, frankly, they’re gorgeous. That’s the main criteria. We look for innovative art direction, evocative illustration, and talented writers. We particularly love fashion and design magazines, because they often spearheaded changes in visual culture. Celebrities are interesting too. In fact, we’re after pretty much anything that looks great, as you’ll see.
We look for excellence: striking covers, strong typography, excitingly choreographed, stylish page layouts, dramatic, eye-catching provocative photographs, skillful illustration, outstanding prose, alluring, persuasive advertisements full of Wow! We’re after the complete package.
Excellence and condition. Every issue we buy is, at minimum, in Very Good+ condition
If you od on the feel of smooth paper between your fingers, get turned on by exciting visuals, and are curious about design and cultural history — this collection is for you.
“How many cities have revealed themselves to me in the marches I undertook in the pursuit of books!”
- Walter Benjamin, Illuminations: Essays and Reflections
Travel for the
learned soul
My little journeys through bookshops, libraries, and bookish lives.
Being a “literary tourist” can mean many things to many people: browsing used bookshops, participating in book festivals, visiting authors’ homes, haunting special collections libraries, attending plays…
For me, it’s all of this — plus the pleasure of meeting and interviewing exceptional people who write, make, sell and/or revere books.
These posts document such travels and encounters, providing the backstory to my Biblio File podcasts. They express, for example, the joys of scouring bookstore districts in Tokyo, connecting with genius printers in Vancouver, learning about the history of bookbinding in San Francisco. They’re travelogues for book lovers — part memoir, part cultural anthropology, love letters to the world of print.
Curiosity Is Contagious
Subscribe for fresh posts, conversations, and dispatches from The Biblio File.
Get on the list and I’ll send you updates about new podcast episodes, essays, and whatever else I think might catch your fancy as I travel the world in search of print and profundity.