Serial Doodler: Danbury? Meet Brookfield!

Ok, so you’re looking at the defacing of a very old book...but wait! Before you prejudge, an explanation is coming.

While it is rare to find books printed before the Civil War, the ones that are fairly common are the compendiums of the magazines of the era. This book is volume IV of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine. The spine has come unglued and been repaired by a large piece of black cloth tape. The pages are beginning to be overcome by a spotty stain called “foxing.”

Purchased as part of a pile of books from a sale near Tarrywile Park in Danbury, I didn’t notice at first how rare it wasn’t and how decrepit it was, but there was something about the paper.

I left it alone until a few months ago when I flipped it open while holding a dark charcoal sketching pencil. I was amazed at how the quality of the paper held the color of the pencil. Not only have I doodled on 50 or more of the pages, over the summer as I participated in the New Milford Art festival “Paint The People,” I invited everyone who visited my booth to pick a page and do the same.

See more sketches from this book by - Clicking Here.