The Infinite Library

About this work

An endless library of golden bookshelves and candle-lit galleries spirals upwards into a glowing spiral galaxy. High on a tall ladder, a lone reader searches for one more book. The shelves seem to rise until the books give way to stars. It is dark, quiet and full of small detail, the kind of picture you keep discovering.

The idea of a library without end has a strong literary history. In 1941 the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges published The Library of Babel, a story about a universe made of a vast, perhaps endless, library of galleries holding every possible book. Real libraries have long been built as places of awe too, with tall galleries and ladders reaching shelves beyond easy reach. The Infinite Library joins those two ideas and carries them into the night sky. The spiral galaxy at its top turns the search for one more book into a search without end.

This is a piece for everyone who has ever got lost in a book. It belongs in a study, a home library, a reading corner or a book lover's bedroom, on deep green, navy, oxblood or dark wood walls. Pair it with The Starlit Library for a library wall, or with The Door to the Stars for more night sky. At 300 dpi the file prints sharply to roughly 75 cm on the long edge.