La science de Dieu ou La création de l'homme (The Science of God, or The Creation of Man)
Published 1900; rebound 1930-1942
Mary Reynolds (American, 1891-1950) Written by Jean-Pierre Brisset (French, 1837-1919)
France
In this ambitious display of Surrealist bookbinding, Mary Reynolds utilized unorthodox materials and imagery that complement the book’s text, Jean-Pierre Brisset’s “The Science of God, or the Creation of Man.” Brisset was a prolific “outsider writer” and self-taught linguist in 19th century France. He became popular posthumously for his self-published theories on the French language, in which he claimed that humans evolved from a lost race of frogs. Although publicly scrutinized by some, his writings were admired by the Surrealists for their humor and wordplay.
The foundation of the binding is a weighty cover composed of three layers of board, tiered in a step pattern that is almost architectural. On the front cover and back, Reynolds secured the flayed and pressed skins of two enormous toads. These flattened skins fill the visual field and extend to the edges of both covers. Green scale-like patterned endpapers unfurl upon opening the book, reinforcing the amphibian design scheme.
Heavy boards covered with calf, green outside and black inside; on the front and back are onlays of frogskin; inside boards are reinforced with secondary boards in green with gold lettering, with facing leaves of decorated paper simulating frog skin; the spine is black calf with vertical lines in blind stamping; original paper covers bound in