Angels from different angles

Thanks to "The Book of Mormon," (the show, not necessarily the religious tract itself), I've heard a few people discuss angels and the term "angelology." Back in the day (OK, 1990), I thought Sophy Burnham, author of A Book of Angels, had made up the term. But, lo! Avi Steinberg,brilliant young scholar and writer and author of Running the Books, used the term when revealing his next project (which will involve The Book of Mormon and much, much more.

Ben Wiseman's clever date-stamped portrait on his illustration and design for Running the Books's jacket is wickedly witty and a heavenly concept.


On the other hand—and oxymoronically—the jackets and covers for many of the angels books—Burnham's as well as the me-too tomes sport jackets and covers with less-celestial concepts.


For lovers of angelology or angels themselves, Burnham, the woman who put angels-in-publishing on a modern map, discusses her belief in angels with Penguin, the company that has taken over Burnham's angel tomes from Ballantine Books. Burnham and Steinberg come at angels from opposite religious traditions. Having read Burnham's books (while designing them), I look forward to reading Steinberg's next book, and perhaps even The Book of Mormon to get a sense of that angel named Moroni.