To Row Some Light on E Origin of Species

To row Some Light on e Origin of Species and investigate Kelly Houle’s illuminated manuscript project. " #$$% &'( ()*+,*- in the stalls of London a;ention to books she felt were languishing on November ./, 123. It was a ursday. It sold in obscurity or deserved special treatment. for 13 shillings. One thousand two hundred Her 5rst productions were miniature books, and 56y copies were printed, 377 of them sent o6en with an anamorphic twist. Anamorphic directly to Charles Mudie’s Lending Library artworks incorporate distorted images that for wider distribution (as much as could be can only be seen for what they are from a had, anyway, with so few copies). e book speci5c angle or through the use of mirrors was wri;en by an English naturalist<Charles or special lenses. Portrait of Bashō Q.772R, Darwin. e book shook the foundations of for example, incorporates a portrait of the religious and scienti5c inquiry. His theory, with Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō in a banana compelling evidence for evolution, reshaped the plant, blending Houle’s literary subject with world. e book was On the Origin of Species by her love of art<in particular, botanical art. Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation Houle won an award from the Miniature of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life . Book Society for an edition of Jorge Luis Borges, e book, with its scintillating theories, Poem of the Gi"s Q.772R, but she began to wonder took on a life of its own. A second edition was whether she could be just as successful focusing published the following January, a third edition in on botanical art and, by concentrating on it, 12=1, a fourth in 12==, and a 56h in February 12=. lavish new meaning on her texts. e idea of Now there are countless editions in languages calligraphy and illuminated manuscripts<which that span the globe. It is not just a book of sci- she discovered in Grade 3<was also surfacing ence. It’s a book of the world, for the world. in her mind. And then, in .77, the a;ention It is also a book for Kelly Houle, an Arizona paid to the sesquicentennial of e Origin of book artist with a lifetime’s interest in science Species brought everything together for her. and art. Based northeast of Phoenix on the edge of the Tonto National Forest, Houle established her own imprint, Books of Kell’s Press, in .772. Having spent a decade teaching and tutoring students, she wanted to pursue the book arts more seriously than she had in the past. Working as a science teacher and do- ing lectures at the Lowell Observatory in Flagsta?, Arizona, she had been incorporating her own artwork into her classes. is led to serious study of landscape and wildlife painting. She studied bookbinding. She took to le;erpress. She got an @G' in creative writing. With her press, she wanted to bring Kelly Houle’s Portrait of Bashō. Sheets of the illuminated edition of e Origin of Species BSFBTMBSHFBTUIFVOEFSUBLJOHJUTFMGãǲǲ¤ǳǰJODIFT “I started to think about the book projects Ornamentation is de rigueur in works of this I could do that would merge science and art,” sort, and the quality of the materials will match she says. Darwin centennial events were going the skill required to produce the volume: on at the same time, which suggested Darwin’s Fabriano Artistico paper made in Italy; Winsor Origin of Species . & Newton watercolours and gouache; .\k gold “I had this convergence of thinking about foil, shell gold and interference watercolours (a e Origin of Species and working in the special paint containing small ]ecks of mica to genre of botanical art,” she says. “If you’re make it iridescent). Each sheet will be .. by \7 going to choose a science book to illuminate inches, and the manuscript will be housed in with biological material, botanical art, there a large, decorated handmade clamshell box. seemed to be no other choice. Once “I will design the entire book before I pen a I hit on that idea, it just didn’t let go.” single page, and I will complete the writing on And the idea is an ambitious one. e each page before adding the illuminations,” she volume, by de5nition, will be a manuscript, says. “I look forward to spending the next 5ve to illustrated with Houle’s botanical prints. 17 years creating a beautiful book in celebration of 17 Cards with illuminated illustrations of beetles were part of the appreciation contributors to Houle’s fundraising campaign received. nature and human endeavour.” She estimates the before taxes) from 1_. supporters. Supporters total cost will be between ^377,777 and ^_77,777. received art cards and prints celebrating Darwin’s In addition to the main volume, Houle plans work and her own, and the orders have been to produce 1. full-size reproductions of her keeping her busy through the winter. She’s also work featuring hand-embellished giclée prints. working to have the title page and other elements Subscribers will receive .7 to /7 ready by summer, but ful5lling pages as each chapter completes, or orders from the fundraising cam- 13 instalments delivering the book’s paign has delayed her progress. 1/ chapters, prefatory material and “Freedom of thought is Bearing this in mind, she is glossary. Houle admits, however, best promoted by the re-evaluating the project’s schedule. that she has never undertaken an e 5rst three chapters are tenta- gradual illumination illuminated manuscript before. tively set for completion in .71/, Despite learning calligraphy in of men’s minds, which a few months later than planned, Grade 3<well enough to prepare follow[s] #om the while completion of the entire work certi5cates at her school<she has will likely be the early .7.7s, rather never tackled anything quite as advance of science.” than .71 as originally hoped. Now long as a monograph. /\, she’ll be well into her 37s by e audience for her work has —|)'}+*( ~'}& the time the project completes. also been small; while her minia- While critical a;ention to the ture books were issued in editions project is slow in coming, one of \7 to \77, she candidly admits that sales of her group enthusiastic in its support of Houle’s art<by which she means her botanical prints< work are the stalwart advocates of evolution. were limited until she began raising funds for e America may be a melting pot, but the ques- Origin of Species . Using the fundraising platform tion of human origins nevertheless inspires Kickstarter, Houle raised ^13,713 (a6er fees, and 5erce debate. Houle, ironically, 5nds herself 11 Houle (le") expects to work long hours in her studio (right ) producing the illuminated manuscript edition of e Origin of Species over the coming decade. caught in the cross5re. Although the arts may Bible, and that illuminating a manuscript well be called areligious, Houle o6en 5nds would only reinforce that perception.” herself encountering a charge that she’s mak- She herself disagrees, noting that monaster- ing e Origin of Species into a sacred text. ies illuminated manuscripts that were neither “Some people say it’s not a good idea,” scripture nor liturgical works: bestiaries and she said. “ ey see it as making e Origin of herbaria, for example, as well as early works of Species into a Bible, which it isn’t. But there’s science. “ ere’s a history of illuminating secular always that criticism that scientists have their manuscripts that people probably don’t know about,” she says. “But there are illuminated science books and it seems to be the direction, historically, that these books were going.” “When on board H.M.S. ‘Beagle,’ is is the foundation on which she is as naturalist, I was struck with building<selecting, if you will<as she certain facts in the distribution marries her natural strengths in a work of art that applies illuminated illustration and of South America, and in the calligraphy to a contemporary text funda- geologic relations of the present mental to our understanding of the world. “ is seems like the logical next genera- to the past inhabitants of that tion,” she says. “As our science understanding continent. ese facts seemed to improves, this would be the next kind of me to throw some light on the book you would want to celebrate.” origin of species$that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by Jonathan Shipley is a freelance writer based one of our great philosophers.” in Seattle, WA. He previously contributed to Amphora 159 on English-language printing and — |)'}+*( ~'}& publication in Japanese internment camps. Peter Mitham is editor of Amphora. 1..

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