I was organizing jpegs for a story today when a thud near my elbow distracted me. The large jiffy bag that made the noise contained a copy of Pictorial Webster's, just in from Chronicle Books.

This was a cause for procrastination! A welcome change from jpegs! An eyeful, a bouquet, and a banquet all rolled into one! I dutifully read the intro to learn that it was compiled by John Carrera, a printer, bookbinder and fine-press artist who unearthed the 19^th century wood engraving blocks used to illustrate the Merriam Webster dictionaries of that era. He collected more than 1500 of them into this chunky and gorgeously printed volume, with the hope that 21^st century readers and browsers would find links between science and art.

A sample of illustrations from Pictorial Webster's. Please note: color is not accurate.

Browsing quietly in my corner, I was soon swept into a world of fantasy and imagination - there's something about small beautifully drawn illustrations of uncommon things that gets my juices going. I noticed right a way that there were lots of unusual creatures, in particular, sea creatures. A loggerhead, which I've always thought was a crossroads that couldn't be navigated (they were at loggerheads), turns out to be a sea creature that looks rather like a flat crab. Nearby was the lobster, not once but twice. Items of more than passing interest are often represented in multiple iterations.

Take fish, for example: The subject heading is followed by two pages of illustrations, in addition to the alphabetical entries which must number in the hundreds. Quite a few objects are represented as visual indexes of their parts. Castle, Upright Piano, Bird (External Parts), and Ship's Rigging are a few.

Unusual plant life is rampant here and when I saw the Screw Pine, I immediately began a search for Artichoke, only to come up empty-handed. No artichoke to be found, but two birds, the Lyrebird and the Hoopoe, made me realize what a boon this book will be for illustrators. There must be a million stories and characters here, ripe for the picking. In fact, I think over the weekend I'll set up the play list for my next book using creatures, places and objects found in Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities.

Editor's note: To celebrate the release of the book, Chronicle is offering a free copy of the Fine Press Edition of Pictorial Webster's. The letterpress edition, hand bound in leather with gold leaf and hand stamped edges, is number three of an edition of 26. Click here for information.

081209 webster's