What better way to celebrate my new Leica Q, than an afternoon with V&A librarians and their choice of favourites from the National Art Library’s collection of historic photographically illustrated books and contemporary photobooks? They've been collecting since 1852 after all. Particularly loved Vítězslav Nezval alphabet book for grownups. The avant-gard always wins me over.

We examined seminal early works by Henry Fox Talbot, Charles Thurston Thompson and P. H. Emerson, explored the influence of Modernism, and witnessed the development of the modern Photobook from the mid-20th century until the present day. This tour offered an unprecedented opportunity to explore 174 years of interaction between photography and the book.