Natalie Raymond

I went to the New York Public Library on Tuesday. They have an exhibit filled with all kinds of various book related materials; the walking stick Virginia Woolf's husband found floating in the river after she drown herself, the glasses Jack Kerouac wore, the Koran Malcom X prayed with...

My favourite- a huge letter opener that belonged to Charles Dickens (Tuesday was his 200th birthday), whose handle is made from the taxidermied paw of his much loved cat.

It's incredibly bizarre. Like something from a sideshow. The fur faded ivory to match the blade...

It looks more like a sword. But perhaps he needed it that way...

I mean, I have no idea what kind of letters Charles Dickens had to open. They could have been quite large....

[journal 07.02.2012]