London's BookBench Sculptures

London sprouted fifty delightful book-shaped benches last week. The 'Books about Town' installation--reminiscent of the Cow Parade art project--was launched on July 2 by the National Literacy Trust and Wild in Art to celebrate literature with a splash of color, and, indeed, a place to sit and read. Local artists created benches based on a range of titles, from Bridget Jones's Diary to Great Expectations to Peter Pan, all stories with a link to London.

It's impossible to pick a favorite, but this Mrs. Dalloway bench, inspired by Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel and designed by Fiona and Neil Osborne of One Red Shoe, is certainly among them. It is, of course, located on the Bloomsbury Trail, one of four literary trails where benches are geographically clustered. While on the Bloomsbury, you can also visit the 1984 bench or the The Importance of Being Earnest bench. Other trails include the City Trail, the Greenwich Trail, and the Riverside Trail.

Here's the best part -- after the summer installation is over, all fifty sculptures will be sold at a public auction on October 7. Proceeds will be donated to the National Literacy Trust, an organization dedicated to promoting childhood literacy in the UK.

Image via Books about Town.