A Humument

A Humument is an altered book created by British artist Tom Phillips through the transformation of a Victorian novel. Phillips worked on this artistic reimagining from the 1960s through 2016, using W H Mallock's 1892 work A Human Document as his canvas. The process involved painting, drawing, and collaging over the original pages while strategically preserving select words and phrases beneath. The resulting text follows a new character named Bill Toge through a non-traditional narrative structure, with Toge's name appearing only when Phillips could extract it from the words "together" or "altogether" in the source material. Multiple editions of A Humument were published between 1970 and 2016, with Phillips continuously revising and replacing pages. Each new version incorporated contemporary references and fresh artistic interpretations, making the work a decades-long evolution of both visual art and textual narrative. The work stands as an exploration of the relationship between text and image, examining how meaning can be extracted, obscured, and transformed through artistic intervention. Through its unique approach to storytelling, A Humument challenges conventional boundaries between literature and visual art.

Readers appreciate the experimental nature and visual artistry of Phillips' painted/collaged pages, with many noting the book rewards repeated viewing to discover hidden details and connections. Art students and visual poets reference it as inspiration for their own work. Readers highlight the clever wordplay and how Phillips extracts new meanings from the source text. Several reviewers mention feeling compelled to keep the book on their coffee table to share with visitors. Common critiques include difficulty following any coherent narrative and feeling the concept works better as an art piece than a readable book. Some find it pretentious or gimmicky. A few readers expected more traditional poetry and were frustrated by the abstract nature. Ratings: Goodreads: 4.19/5 (500+ ratings) Amazon: 4.4/5 (50+ ratings) LibraryThing: 4.1/5 (100+ ratings) "Like discovering a new way to read" - Goodreads reviewer "Beautiful but exhausting to actually read through" - Amazon reviewer

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🎨 Tom Phillips worked on A Humument for over 50 years, creating more than 1,000 unique altered pages before completing the project in 2016. 📚 The source novel "A Human Document" was purchased for threepence (about 1.25 pennies) at a London furniture store in 1966 - Phillips selected it randomly from several books priced the same. 🖼️ Each page of A Humument exists in multiple versions, as Phillips would periodically revisit and rework pages, creating what he called "novel about a novel about a novel." 🎯 The name "Toge," the book's protagonist, could only appear on pages containing the words "together" or "altogether" - an arbitrary rule that shaped the entire narrative. 📱 The final edition (2016) included references to modern technology like smartphones and the internet, despite the Victorian source material, showing how the work evolved with contemporary culture.