This book was especially made for the’ Locating Boccaccio’ exhibition at the John Rylands Library Manchester in 2013.
It has patchwork style collaged pages, bound using ‘designating duet’ method from Claire Van Vliet/Elizabeth Steiners book ‘Woven and Interlocking Book Structures’ .
My found poem (a cento) has been taken from a word pool only collected from chapter XCV page 218 ‘On Famous Women’ by Giovanni Boccaccio and Guido A Guarino.
How to approach an artists book
‘ you can sneak up on it from behind or confront it head on,
give it a sideways look or turn it ...upside down.... sniff it,
finger its binding... lift its covers...ruffle its pages ( delicately)...
stroke its spine (gently), meditate on its surfaces... examine its insides.
It will respond according to its nature.
All you need is Imagination, Curiosity and Time.’
Meg Duff