In 1859 Brittish naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin published his book, On the Origin of Species, with its world-changing theory of evolution of mankind and all living things. This was certainly one of the gateways of modern thinking and has affected the approach to science and many religious philosophies ever since. This week's book-of-the-week alludes to Darwin's book while also spotlighting a significant time of year. The book-the-week for Week 51 is titled, On the Origin of Christmas.
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| the cover... tied with an organza bow |
On the Origin of Christmas is a carousel book.. sometimes called a star book... made with two layers of accordion-folded black archival construction paper. The cover boards were covered with hand-marbled paper in
Christmas colors of red and green which also express a vibrant life-force appearance... as if looking into a pot of primordial soup. The title plate, the only text in the book, was letterpress printed in red ink with Wedding Type typeface onto handmade Japanese mulberry paper. Red organza ribbons were attached to both coverboards for a bow closure. Closed, the book is 4½ inches tall by 5 inches wide. When the ribbons are untied, the accordion book can be stretched to 30 inches wide.
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cover and title plate
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Each of the five folios depicts a two-layered whimsical view of a stage of the evolution of Christmas as cut-paper silhouettes on a moonlit starry night. On the back series of folios, tiny yellow stars were letterpress printed... with clouds and moon hand painted in white gesso. Each letterpress star was pierced with a hole to let light from behind further illuminate the black paper sky. Black and red-dotted bookcloth strips were used to attach the folios, thus creating each of two accordion strips. The rear accordion strip (with the sky and stars) was attached to the forward accordion strip (with the cut-paper silhouettes) by means of a three-hole pamphlet stitch sewn with black waxed linen thread. This is essentially how the book was created. Once the covered boards and ribbon closures were glued onto the ends, the fabrication was complete.
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| opened up |
This is the story...
On the Origin of Christmas
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| Page 1, the earth was here... |
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| Page 2, plant life grew... |
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| Page 3: people came together... |
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| Page 4: religions began.. |
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| Page 5: Santa Clause! |
Whether we have come back to magic or never left it, the many definitions of Christmas certainly confirm its multi-dimensional effect on so many aspects of our community... perhaps even, our world. From spirituality... to economics... to fellowship... to art... to tradition.. to joy.. to hope... and just belief in magic. Just as there are two sides of a coin, good and bad, Christmas is a complex phenomenon. This little book lets the reader decide which way to read it.
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| a Christmas train... |
The book can be stretched out like a Christmas train... chugging around the Christmas tree.
Or twisted around like the five-pointed star of Bethlehem...
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| Christmas star |
After the book is viewed and it's time to put it away, the little book can be tied with its two ribbons and slid into its green pastepaper-covered slipcase...
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| in it's slipcase... |
And it looks just like a present.
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| All wrapped up |
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Charlemagne the cat on Christmas morning....
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