The Well at the World’s End(Annotated)
You’ve got to hand it to anyone who can diss a public domain work in new and unexpected ways.
The Well at the World’s End(Annotated)
You’ve got to hand it to anyone who can diss a public domain work in new and unexpected ways.
This one I really extra-specially don’t get because in normal aspect it’s actually book-cover-size (while still being a dubious choice of art and typography)
This cover is a form of visual performance art, in which, as we scroll down, we fall farther and farther down an ancient well.
As we keep scrolling, we begin to believe the well has no bottom, we feel the need to call for Lassie to come rescue us. But we eventually do reach the bottom, where a punchline reveals that what we’ve experienced was like a roll of wallpaper unraveling before our eyes.
The well must have been dry. We seem to have sustained a concussion, if the appearance of the text is any indication. Is that an ASCII apostrophe in a caricature of Mr. Goudy’s type design in a caricature of Mr. Morris’s book? We are delusional, as well.
What is taking Lassie so long?
Clap. Clap. Clap.
And not only that, ruin an image by one of history’s best illustrators.
Atrocities like this committed against loved and respected writers and illustrators whose work has passed into the public domain does make me wonder if perhaps we ought to rethink copyright laws.
Or dueling laws.