This book testifies to a love of, and also a degree of obsession with, the very phenomenon of the book.
This book is packed in a very serviceable cardboard box which has an extra hinge allowing it to fold out when opened. There’s a definite need for such a protective case, as the book’s handsome, fragile exterior is easily damaged. Its hard case consists of nicely thin boards and is covered with vulnerable black uncoated paper printed in silvery white and orange ink. The case is barely any larger than the book block. This is truly a model of the art and science of bookbinding, so perfectly has it been executed. One effect is that lovers of art and nature will not be the only ones to be seized with acute covetousness.
The interior is characterized by a simple columnar grid, with the images arranged systematically based on content. Within that scheme they are so well positioned that they never become boring – just as well, given that even though the whole thing is largely carried along by the inherently fantastic pictorial matter, the approach is not that of your average account of historical illustration.
In the introduction it says ‘we have made this book as a work of love’. We believe it.