THE
CREATION
from
the
Book
of
Enoch
(Five
and
a half
hours
in
Paradise)
1992.
42
X 33cm
Edition
of
12
of
which
only
two
copies
are
in
colour,
similar
but
not
identical.
For
these
two,
I first
coloured
the
Velin
d'Arches
paper
before
over-printing
the
deeply
etched
aquatint
plates
in
black.
The
text
is
printed
from
zinc
relief
plates
which
deeply
emboss
the
paper,
making
the
words
appear
to
float
above
the
surface.
One
of
the
colour
copies
is
bound
Coptic
style
in
mahogany
wooden
covers
which
I carved
and
painted.
It
was
acquired
by:
Herzog
August
Bibliothek,
Wolfenbüttel,
Germany.
The
other
colour
copy,
consisting
of
the
38
double
leaves
held
in
a decorated
box,
was
acquired
by:
Rijksmuseum
Meermanno-Westreenianum
(Museum
of
the
Book),
The
Hague,
Netherlands.
The
rest
of
the
edition
comprises
the
38
plates
printed
in
black
on
white
Rives
paper,
held
in
a solander
box
with
an
etching
printed
in
copper
metallic
ink
on
the
lid.
Copies
are
in
private
collections
and
these
public
collections:
Kohler
Library,
Wisconsin.
Tutt
Library,
Colorado
College,
Colorado
Springs.
Nielsen
Library,
Smith
College,
Massachusetts.
It
was
in
1989
that
I discovered
in
a secondhand
bookshop,
in
a volume
titled
The
Lost
Books
of
the
Bible
and
the
Forgotten
Books
of
Eden
(Alpha
House
1926),
the
little-known
apocryphal
Book
of
The
Secrets
of
Enoch.
I
was
bowled
over
by
this
alternative
and
to
me,
more
imaginatively
stimulating
version
of
the
story
of
Genesis,
and
decided
to
illustrate
eighteen
extracts
from
it
to
produce
this
livre
d'artiste.
In
powerful
and
poetic
language
the
Creator.
speaking
in
the
first
person,
gives
His
scribe,
Enoch,
an
account
of
the
first
eight
days
of
creation.
Here
is
a sample
quote:
“For
before
all
things
were
visible,
I alone
used
to
go
about
in
the
invisible
things,
like
the
sun
from
east
to
west,
and
from
west
to
east.
But
even
the
sun
has
peace
in
itself,
while
I found
no
peace,
because
I was
creating
all
things,
and
I conceived
the
thought
of
placing
foundations,
and
of
creating
visible
creation.”
Above
is
one
of
the
double
pages
from
the
black
on
white
version.
I used
the
sugar-lift
technique
and
aquatint
to
obtain
deep
black
brush-strokes,
allowing
the
plates
to
acquire
a rough
pitted
surface.
I wanted
to
suggest
the
effect
of
time
and
forces
of
nature
as
well
as
the
immediacy
of
the
message.
One
copy
of
this
version
available.
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Copyright © 2002 Natalie d'Arbeloff