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Today we look at the Codex seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini.
Written and illustrated during 30 months, from 1976 to 1978, the book is a visual encyclopedia of an unknown alien world, written in an alien script and language. The first section describes the natural world, dealing with flora, fauna, and physics. The second deals with the humanities and the various aspects of human life: clothing, history, cuisine, architecture and so on. The illustrations are often surreal parodies: bleeding fruit; a plant that grows into the shape of a chair; a lovemaking couple that metamorphoses into a crocodile. Others depict odd, apparently senseless machines.
The Library's Special Collections include a number of rare or valuable titles, some dating back to the sixteenth century. These titles are mostly held in the Mackintosh Library. Because of the value of these items, special access arrangement are in place, with viewing strictly by appointment only with our Academic Liaison Librarians.
