We’ve recently pulled a selection of calendars and almanacs as source material for a top-secret* creative collaboration.
*It’s not actually that secret, but “as-yet unpublicized” doesn’t sound quite as thrilling.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) from 10-1, during our weekly Art//Archives visual research open hours, we’ll have these books on display for your reference and enjoyment.
The most visually stimulating of the bunch is undoubtedly the 1866 The Life of Man, Symbolised by the Months of the Year in a Series of Illustrations by John Leighton, F.S.A. and Pourtrayed in Their Seasons and Phases, with Passages Selected from Ancient and Modern Authors by Richard Pigot.
The oversized book has an illustration for each month of the year:
I’m a real sucker for the wings of time-themed frame. Also, look at that emaciated wolf-like animal and the “tender offspring” who is completely lacking seasonally-appropriate attire, presumably as he was just “rescued from the snow”.
Each month’s facing page shows the corresponding age of man:
These are followed by a selection of seasonally-appropriate quotes and poems set in a variety of type faces:
Here’s a particularly good wintry poem:
The January chapter ends with this impressive seasonal crest of sorts:
Stop by tomorrow if you’d like to see what typographic and artistic delights the other 11 months hold!
Notes For Bibliophiles 