Event Info
This two-day, in person workshop takes place at the Grolier Club on Saturday, January 18th from 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET and at CBA on Sunday, January 19th from 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET
- Saturday, January 18th, from 1PM to 2:30 PM ET (Taking place at the Grolier Club)
- Sunday, January 19th, from 1PM to 3:30PM ET (Taking place at Center for Book Arts)
Please Note: Registration for this workshop closes on January 4th, at 11:59 pm.
About the Workshop:
This in-person class at the Center for Book Arts and the Grolier Club is taught by instructor Reid Byers.
Imaginary Books are simulacra, parodies of books that are either lost, never were finished, or only appear in stories in other books. The making of an imaginary book is a creative project that is one part literary, one part artistic, and one part theatrical. It results in a liminal object that separates us only by a thin line from the door into Wonderland.
This course consists of two sessions, the first at the members’ exhibition space at the Grolier Club (47 East 60th St) for a tour of some 100 imaginary books, and the second, the following day, at the Center for Book Arts for a planning and design session for the students’ own projects.
Students are asked to find (or invent) an idea for an imaginary book (preferably a book referred to in a novel or play). We will go through the literary process of documenting the book bibliographically and the artistic process of planning and designing the appropriate simulacrum.
We will examine the many options available for instantiating the idea as a book object and select one for each student project. The discussion will conclude with an outline of an appropriate theatrical process for displaying and presenting the imaginary book as well as other kinds of fictive art
Required Materials:
- An idea or two for an imaginary book that the student would like to see realized
- Paper and pencil or pen, or ipad, tablet, or laptop, or whatever you are most comfortable writing and designing with
All other materials will be provided by Center for Book Arts at no additional cost
About the Instructor
Reid Byers, bibliophile and collector of books both real and imaginary, retired as a Master IT Architect at IBM. A longtime member of the Grolier Club, he currently serves as president of the Baxter Society and as convener of the Living with Books group of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies. His recent book, The Private Library (Oak Knoll, 2021) was listed by the Washington Post among the best non-fiction of the year. Reid’s exhibition Imaginary Books, a post-structuralist conceptual art installation, is on show at the Grolier Club, 47 E. 60 St., New York, from Dec 5 – Feb 15.
All images courtesy of the instructor.
Class size is limited to 12 participants to ensure an optimal participant to Instructor ratio. Register now before spots fill up! Registration for this workshop closes on January 4th at 11:59pm. Tuition for this course is $120 + a $20 materials fee. If you cannot comfortably pay tuition but are interested in taking this class, please consider filling out our financial assistance application here. We will notify you if you are selected to receive a scholarship before the start date of the class. To view more information about our current scholarship opportunities, please visit this link.