Narratives That Illuminate Design

A picture of Edith Wharton on the terrace of Castel Sainte-Claire, which I foundduring a trip to the Beinecke Library at Yale to comb through their archives.

If you believe that design-centric coffee table books contain nothing more than visual surveys of portfolios, I am out to change your mind today. What has prompted this quest? Two intelligently written books in Rizzoli’s holiday catalog—both of which were published earlier this year.

Books That IlluminateDesign

You will find visual sensu...