Book Alteration, From Ancient Greece to Kodiak in 2017

logo-w-sunburstKayla Desroches/KMXT

The craft of altered books takes old books and gives them new life as a work of art.

A craft session Saturday at the Kodiak Public Library will focus on book alteration, which can mean anything from fantastical scenes carved into the pages themselves to simple projects using markers. Library Director Katie Baxter says the only rule is that a book must be involved.

She also says book alteration goes back to ancient Greek times, when people would scrape off the old text or design and replace with a new text.

“So, in various archaeological digs, manuscripts have been found that have been altered by this scraping of text and then a reworking of a book.”

Baxter says Victorian families also re-purposed books, perhaps ones they inherited or their children outgrew.

“Those books would be used as I say, for making gardening journals, daily journals, perhaps using paint or different inks or being very subtle and taking one piece of paper and adhering it through a glue or a wax to an older velum to create a new surface.”

The craft session will prepare participants to enter into the Kodiak Arts Council’s Altered Books Art Show in February. Submissions for that are due February 1. Meanwhile, for those interested in submitting to the show or just interested in altered books, the craft session will be Saturday at the library starting at 1 p.m.

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