About Me
I'm Ali, a London based
creator, curator, hoarder
and explorer.
Kuriosas is my portal for
cherishing, celebrating and
archiving oddball artefacts
and vintage graphics I
come across, documenting
unusual people and places,
and musing over visual
culture past and present.
My work as an artist,
photographer and
illustrator can be found here:
www.aliwinstanley.com
More about me>>
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aliwinstanley@gmail.comSign up to Kuriosas!
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Studio visit: Jurri Arrak
Lithuanian Children’s Books
Surreal 1970’s Hungarian Book Covers
1960’s psychedelic illustration
East German 1970’s geometry book
Lviv Book Market: Soviet children’s books
1950’s Swedish songbook
Lviv Book Market, Ukraine – Soviet Book Covers
Soviet graphic design
Soviet building postcards
Latvian puppet postcards
East German cat brooches
Soviet pin badges / Tallinn Russian market
1930’s Portugese illustration
1920’s German silent film making book
Schminke Modernist House, Germany
1940’s Jumping Gnome illustration
Soviet Christmas postcards
1960’s Latvian illustration
1950’s interior design article
1915 Czech pig riding postcard
Estonian Abstract Art
1960’s psychedelic poetry books
Romanian puppet postcard
Early 20th century surreal postcards
1970’s czech greetings card
1960’s Japanese plastic dog brooch
Lviv Book Market, Ukraine – More Soviet book covers
Soviet illustration postcards
1960’s psychedelic bib
Category Archives: BOOK COVERS
1970s Gaelic Book cover illustration

Beautiful book cover illustration from 1970 ‘Gaelic without Groans’ by John Mackechnie. Love these strong purples, magenta and turquoise, the late 60s / early 70s had the best colour schemes. Found in a second hand bookshop in Edinburgh, visiting lovely … Continue reading
Posted in ART, BOOK COVERS, DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION
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Vintage Finnish book illustration – Outi Markkanen

During my time in Finland, scouring charity shops or ‘kirpiis’ I was hoping to find some odd publications to blog about so was thrilled to come across this beautiful children’s book ‘Kurnau ja Kamaluu.’ Typing that into a translation tool … Continue reading
Posted in BOOK COVERS, DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION, TRAVEL
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1970s Cook Book – Lots of Fun to Cook

I found this wee artifact of 1970’s insanity in a junk shop in Victoria Park, Hackney in London, many moons ago now. It reminded me of a similarly nutty retro cookbook I actually had as a kid, with all sorts … Continue reading
Posted in BOOK COVERS, DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION
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Studio Visit and Artist Interview: Jüri Arrak

I first came across the work of Estonian artist Jüri Arrak through friends of Kuriosas 50 Watts in the US who unearth all kinds of beautiful and crazed book illustrations from around the globe. These images of Arrak’s children book … Continue reading
Posted in ART, ARTIST INTERVIEWS, BOOK COVERS, DESIGN, EASTERN EUROPE, FILM & ANIMATION, ILLUSTRATION, TRAVEL
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1920’s German Silent Film-making book

I came across this wonderful original film tome from the 1920’s on a recent trip to Berlin I spotted it nestling at a Kreuzberg fleamarket and was drawn in by it’s cover, finely crafted using delicately cut out paper With … Continue reading
Posted in BOOK COVERS, DESIGN, FILM & ANIMATION, ILLUSTRATION, TRAVEL
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1940’s Funghi Book covers

I came across this cheeky duo at the market I run recently and was so charmed by the bold, pop graphics and supreme colour scheme I had to manhandle a customer who’d already bought them and ask if I could … Continue reading
Posted in BOOK COVERS, DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION
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1930’s Portugese Maths Book

One of my favourite recent finds – fantastic magentas on this pretty charming 1930’s illustrated times tables pamphlet. Found in a junk shop in Porto, Portugal – (if you like this, also worth looking at my other post from there … Continue reading
Posted in BOOK COVERS, DESIGN, ILLUSTRATION
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