We have recently restocked this concertina book by Angela
Lorenz first published in 2002. It is a short history of the Cabinet of
Curiosity, written as a poem and lavishly illustrated with etchings and
watercolours inspired by archive and museum material.
Described on the back cover as a ‘pop-up museum housed in a
magic lantern’ If a cabinet of curiosity could morph into a book then this
would be its form. The cover mimics the wooden panelling of a display case,
central to which is a ‘stained-glass window’ depicting one of the curiosities (a boy with webbed
feet and dog-head knees, curious indeed!).
Lorenz takes us through the rise and fall of the cabinets, collected
by Kings and noblemen, wealthy merchants and early scientists (or natural
philosophers as they were then known) to entertain visitors and prove their
grasp of the world.
Along the way we are provided with beautiful illustrations
of unicorns, lobster claw flutes, giant-headed men and two-tailed lizards.
The Theater of Nature
or Curiosity Filled the Cabinet costs £25 and is available in the
Bookartbookshop now.
- Jon Lander
It gives me the impression of the painstakingly hand-crafted theater props back in the day. The paper productions are also being showcased at royal albert hall box office.
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