In 1970, artist Tom Phillips published the first edition of his now-classic altered book Humument with London’s Tetrad Press. “A Treated Victorian Novel,” Phillips himself has described the project as combining “medieval illumination, experimental poetry and non-linear narrative with the procedures of modern art.” As seen in this gallery of images from the first edition or this slideshow of the fourth (Phillips continues to expand and revise the project), the results can be breathtaking. The book’s first trade edition in 1980 established it as a cult fave and it remains in-print to this day. Indeed, it is probably the most famous altered book ever produced.
I was reminded of Phillips recently when I stumbled over several projects that clearly owe a debt to his work. Austin Kleon is a cartoonist, designer and writer whose Newspaper Blackout Poems are not nearly as visually arresting as Phillips’ work. But Kleon shares a knack with Phillips for producing uniquely moving texts by paring away the surrounding verbiage.
Altered Books, meanwhile, is the project of numerous artists, each working on a particular book: “Cut the bindings off of books found at a used book store. Find poems in the pages by the process of obliteration. Put pages in the mail and send them all around the world. Lather, rinse, repeat.” The finished pages are posted regularly to the site and many are quite striking.
Finally, the work of Will Ashford most clearly reflects Phillips’ influence. Using predominantly the works of Emerson, Ashford’s Recycled Words approaches the subtlety and sophistication of Humument, but with a quieter and more restrained tone:
