A page from Codex Seraphinianus, first published in 1981, an encyclopedia of an imaginary world.
Dangerous Minds interviews Rizzoli publishing house chief Charles Miers about a forthcoming new edition of "Codex Seraphinianus" and about Serafini himself. Mr. Miers is a long-term fan of the Codex and of Serafini's work. So are we.
In October Rizzoli will be republishing what is regarded by many to be the strangest book in the world, the Codex Seraphinianus. The Codex is unlike other historically well-known strange books (such as the Voynich Manuscript), in that the author of the book is not only known (Luigi Serafini is his name), he's still alive. But the book is just so damned strange that it has accumulated a veritable industry of speculation about its meaning, deeper origins, and whether the language in which it is written actually has any syntax or not. Serafini has said relatively little about it himself over the years, and denies that the script has any meaning, but no one really believes that, including me.
Read the rest of Dangerous Minds' exploration of this strange book, and their conversation with the guy behind its re-publication.
And previously on Boing Boing (2011): "Codex Seraphinianus: semi-licit copy of a semi-legendary book of the weird"
Update: Reader Phil Dokas points out that The entire Codex is available on Flickr. Part 1, Part 2.
