The Edinburgh Mystery Book Sculptures
Above the threshold of the Scottish Poetry Library there is a stone carving of oak leaves and the words "by leaves we live", taken from a phrase by Patrick Geddes. Here is where it all began. On a day in March 2011 the librarian found on a table an exquisite paper sculpture, a paper tree coming out of the book.
Number 1: The Poetree
Next to the tree there was a golden egg shell with the lines of a poem by the Scots Makar (Scotland's National Poet) Edwin Morgan. Next to the sculpture there was a card that said: "It started with your name @ByLeavesWeLive and became a tree... We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books... a book so much more than pages full of words....This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas..." That was all, nobody had any idea of who was responsible for this beautiful gift.
(Remember to click on a picture to get full size).
(Remember to click on a picture to get full size).
Number 2: Exit Music
In June 2011 the second sculpture appeared in the National Library of Scotland. The book used was "Exit Music". the book that marked the retirement of John Rebus, Ian Rankin's famous Edinburgh detective. The tag that accompanied this sculpture read: "For @natlibscot, a gift. In support of libraries, Books, Words, Ideas.... (and against their exit)"
Number 3: The Filmhouse
A few days later, during the Edinburgh Film Festival, the staff at the Filmhouse were delighted to discover another sculpture, this one dedicated to the magic of cinema. Horses and riders are coming out of the screen and among the audience is Ian Rankin holding a beer can. The words on the screen are a quote from Francis Coppola and the tag said: "For @filmhouse- a gift- In support of libraries, Books, Words, Ideas.... @all things magic"
Number 4: The Scottish Storytelling Centre
The fourth sculpture appeared in July, a dragon coming out of an egg. The book used was Ian Rankin's first novel Knots and Crosses.
Numbers 5 and 6
In August 2011, during the Edinburgh Book Festival two more sculptures appeared in the Festival home in Charlotte Square. One was for the Book Festival, a teacup on a stand and a cupcake next to it.On the teacup are the words: "Nothings beats a cup of tea (or coffee) and a really great BOOK" next to cake it says:" except maybe a cake as well". The second sculpture, gifted to the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust represents a figure "lost in a book" The book used for this sculpture is a Scottish Classic, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg.
Number 7: Edinburgh Central Public Library
Just as the Festival was about to finish, staff at Edinburgh's Central Public Library discovered another sculpture, hidden among books on a shelf. The words on this one are from a poem by Edwin Morgan. The tag read: "For Central Library - a gift- This is for you in support of libraries, Books, Words, Ideas... LIBRARIES ARE EXPENSIVE" But the E in "Expensive" had been scored out and replaced by and A, which turned it into "Expansive".
Number 8: Gifts
By this time the story had spread and many people were familiar with the mystery sculptures and some journalists even claimed they had discovered the identity of the sculptor, but most people didn't want to know. One day, back at the Poetry Library where it had all started, the staff were alerted to a new gift by a comment left in the visitor's book. This new set of two sculptures was based on the poem "Gifts" by Norman MacCaig:
You read the old Irish poet and complain
I do not offer you impossible things –
Gloves of bees’ fur, cap of the wren’s wings,
Goblets so clear light falls on them like a stain.
I make you the harder offer of all I can,
The good and ill that make of me this man.
You read the old Irish poet and complain
I do not offer you impossible things –
Gloves of bees’ fur, cap of the wren’s wings,
Goblets so clear light falls on them like a stain.
I make you the harder offer of all I can,
The good and ill that make of me this man.
Accompanying the sculptures was a letter from the artist explaining some things but still leaving her identity a mystery. It seemed to be the end, but the tag said 10/10 and only 8 had been found. Where were the others?
Number 9: T Rex
This one appeared in the National Museum of Scotland, Tyrannosaurus Rex coming out the pages of "The Lost World", by the Edinburgh born author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Number 10: Jekyll and Hyde
The eighth sculpture was the last to be discovered, hidden among many other exhibits in the Writers' Museum, in Lady Stairs Close just of the High Street in Edinburgh's Old town. The book used is Ian Rankin's Hide and Seek, which also deals with the theme of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel.
The end of the story?
Not quite. Another sculpture was gifted to Ian Rankin and sent to a bookshop near where he lives.
Then all the sculptures were taken on tour around Scotland in 2012 and shown in several venues. The tour ended in the Poetry Library where people had a chance to see them all together. Then on 7th December another sculpture arrived. A little girl reading, sitting on Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verse.
Book Week Scotland
The Scottish Book Trust commissioned the sculptor to make some sculptures based on Scottish classics for Book Week Scotland. A sort of treasure hunt took place, the sculptures hidden in various locations around Scotland and people getting clues to find them through Twitter. These were the chosen works:
Lanark, by Alasdair Gray
This shows Alasdair Gray sitting on the Glasgow School of Art. It was hidden in the library.
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
This one was hidden in the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick.
Peter Pan, by J M Barrie
This one was hidden in J M Barrie's birthplace, Kirriemuir.
Tam O'Shanter, by Robert Burns
This one was hidden in the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway
Whisky Galore, by Compton Mackenzie
This one was hidden in the Am Politician pub on Eriskay
Edinburgh Book Festival 2013
On the 30th anniversary of the Book Festival people were delighted to find in the grounds of the festival, especially in the bookshops, 30 cages containing 30 bird sculptures. The cages had keys to open them and the tags gave instructions as to what to do with the birds. Some had specific instructions. The Guardian, as sponsors of the festival got a magnificent peacock. There was also a crow for the Book Festival, in memory of Ian Banks who had died just before the start of the festival, but many just had instructions such as " Leave in a place where there are lots of books..." "Take to a place far away from here..."
Any more?
The book sculptor continues to surprise and delight us. Her identity is still a mystery,because that's how she wants it to be. Her gifts even more precious because she doesn't want recognition or financial rewards.
She sent a bunch of poppies for Remembrance day to Napier University. The Craiglockhart Campus used to be a War Hospital, where the war poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon met. You can see the poppies and read the whole story HERE
Another sculpture of butterflies coming out of a book was donated to Macmillan Cancer Support and it was sold by auction. You can see the sculpture and read the (email) interview with the artist HERE.
You can also buy a charming book which includes pictures and more information about the sculptures and also a message from the artist and instructions to make your own Poetree. Available HERE.
She sent a bunch of poppies for Remembrance day to Napier University. The Craiglockhart Campus used to be a War Hospital, where the war poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon met. You can see the poppies and read the whole story HERE
Another sculpture of butterflies coming out of a book was donated to Macmillan Cancer Support and it was sold by auction. You can see the sculpture and read the (email) interview with the artist HERE.
You can also buy a charming book which includes pictures and more information about the sculptures and also a message from the artist and instructions to make your own Poetree. Available HERE.
Edinburgh Book Festival, August 2016
Another sculpture appeared in the Book Festival. This time the artist had got children from primary schools to make the butterflies that take the place of leaves in the tree.