(Roughly) Daily

Bulgarian designer Mladen Penev reminds us that books engage us in uniquely powerful ways.  See the photo essay in full at Toxel.com.

As we renew our library cards, we might recall that it was on this date in 1694 that a Royal Charter was granted to The Governor and Company of the Bank of England– known today simply as “the Bank of England.”  Scotsman William Paterson syndicated a £1.2 million loan to the then pecuniarily-challenged British government, in return for which he and his shareholders received the Charter, extending (among other privileges) the right to issue bank notes.  Within a century, the Bank of England had become manager of the National Debt, “the banks of banks” in England– and the model on which most large central banks have been based.

B of E’s Threadneedle Street headquarters