Once Upon a Time There Was a Book

The literary world has been enchanted by the art and poetic gesture of a mysterious book sculptor. At the beginning of March 2011, the first of seven intricate paper sculptures was anonymously left at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh (guardian.co.uk). By the end of August, six other literary venues and entities had received similar gifts “in support of libraries, books, words, ideas” (News.scotsman.com).

Photographer Chris Scott is chronicling the mystery, updating his blog post with each new appearance.* He notes that the nesting dragon sculpture left for the Scottish Storytelling Centre in July has “perhaps the loveliest tag so far”: “Once upon a time there was a book and in the book was a nest and in the nest was an egg and in the egg was a dragon and in the dragon was a story...” Not unlike altered-book art itself, it’s a beautiful, powerful image of how the life of a story lives within the layers of its tale.

Editors are no strangers to the layers that live within writing or to the art and science of helping to shape and reveal that writing. In some cases, the editing can seem more akin to surgery than sculpting, like much of Brian Dettmer’s book art. Authors may balk at the cutting. They may be disturbed by it, as was a commenter on an NPR article featuring Dettmer’s art for World Book Day 2011. It may take some reassuring words, some gentle reshaping, some slow and precise incising to win the author’s confidence. A clear vision and a steady hand are a must. As Sandi Pratt, who artistically repurposes books, says, "I do it as a craft... So first you have to get over the stigma of cutting a book. That's the thing" (mvtimes.com).

Sound familiar, editors?

* Update 09/30/2011 The sculptor remains a mystery but has brought the story to a lovely end, delivering a note of explanation with the last of ten sculptures. "'You need to know when to end a story,' she thought. Often a good story ends where it begins. This would mean a return to the Poetry Library. The very place where she had left the first of the ten." See Chris Scott's blog post for the full update, including photos. 

Image of ad for Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," set design by altered-book artist Su Blackwell, is from the Autumn 2011 Rose Theatre brochure