Les Riches Heures de l'Alphabet

by Henri Chopin and Paul Zumthor
Editions Traversieres, 1992, 202 pp. ISBN: 2-903551-10-3. 240 FF.

Reviewed by Marc Battier


Based on the simple theme of an illustrated alphabet, this is rare book: having been written by two poets.

Henri Chopin is known for his sound poetry and audiopoems. He is also an active visual artist, and he deals with similar themes in both his sound poems and his visual works. For example, among Chopin's activities are numerous typewriter poems. In the vein of visual poetry, he designs elaborated constructions on his typewriter, each work being devoted to a specific theme. There is always a particular energy channeling through his work, and this book is no exception to that rule. The book was co-authored by Paul Zumthor, a poet and scholar known for his work on medieval literature. Zumthor, with a fascinating virtuosity, chooses words related to the current letter being treated, and in so doing, plays with ideas. All his verses are presented in a visual manner on the page, and often mingled with bits of Chopin's typewriter poems.

Zumthor's work in this book is based on letters, in terms of their alphabetical function). The poems he creates extend the letters into the realm of words and ideas. As a complement to this, Chopin's approach is based on the vocal, or sonic, aspects of the letters. As a result, one familiar with Chopin's poetry performances can almost listen to the printed page.

Les Riches Heures de l'Alphabet should be of particular interest to readers of Leonardo Electronic Almanac and Leonardo Digital Reviews: the book's style -- a mixing of the ancient art of calligraphy and a contemporary display of poetry -- navigates between both visual and sonic aspects of the alphabet.