E.W. Cole: Chasing the Rainbow
What:
E.W. Cole: Chasing the Rainbow, by Lisa Lang
Where:
Foyer at the State Library, 328 Swanston St
Readings, 309 Lygon St, Carlton
Online at Arcade Publications
How much:
RRP $14.95
Edward Cole, creator of Cole’s Funny Picture Book, was not a conventional Victorian fellow. An entrepreneur and idealist, he took it upon himself to spread love and rhetoric to all who might pass through the doors of his Bourke Street Book Arcade. In line with its proprietor’s progressive attitude to living, Cole’s was several floors worth of whimsy and readables, complemented by an in-house brass band, a hall of mirrors, a tea salon and reading chairs that would put the modern-day book barn to shame.
Fond of a good pet monkey and of racial equality, E.W. Cole’s legacy has now been immortalised by Arcade Publications in mini-book form. Find out more about the man who patented the rainbow and married a woman he met in the classifieds (who very much enjoyed wearing rainbow-shaped brooches), here.
By Kirsten Law
Win:
We have one li'l copy to give away! To enter, email win@threethousand.com.au with the subject line 'patent the rainbow'
Format: Book
Motivation: Improve your dinner conversation
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