Tom Phillips, Half-Title. © Tom Phillips
The Bodleian Library, home to over 8 million volumes and a large number of manuscripts and rare printed books, has added an unusual archive illustrating Dante’s vision of Hell to its world-renowned collection.
Dante’s Inferno by Tom Phillips RA is thought to be one of the most important artist’s books of the 20th century and the Library has acquired it for £18,000, enriching its collection of materials associated with the arts of the book and boosting its holdings related to Italian studies, one of the strongest foreign collections of the Library.
An Oxford Graduate, Tom Phillips is one of the most prominent artists working today and his work is represented in most major collections of modern art around the world.
Inferno XXI: Bugled Fart. © Tom Phillips
The archive contains his preparatory work (c.1976-86) on the Talfourd Press edition of Dante’s Inferno, which the artist translated and illustrated himself.
It includes all the surviving original artwork, the proofs and trial sheets, bound and dis-bound versions of the final production, and correspondence with other artists - including a substantial section with Frank Auerbach. It also features specially bound copies and a section dealing with the TV production for Channel 4 based on the book, undertaken in collaboration with Peter Greenaway.
“The Bodleian Library is delighted to be able to add the archive of one of the greatest Artists’ Books of the twentieth century to its collections,” said Richard Ovenden, Keeper of Western Manuscripts and Special Collections, Bodleian Library.
Tom Phillips, Inferno XXXI: King Kong. © Tom Phillips
“It will be a major resource for Art History, Literature, Film Studies, and Modern Languages researchers. Students and scholars alike will have access to this extraordinary archive in Oxford.”
Dante’s Inferno represents the first and most famous part of the Divine Comedy (1308-21) and tells the story of the three realms of the dead. It is full of the gruesome punishments meted out to the unfortunate souls sent to Hell - as observed by Dante as he travels through the circles of Hell with his guide, the Roman poet Virgil.
It is considered to be the central epic poem in Italian literature and one of the world’s greatest literary works.
Tom Phillips, John Sulston, Study. © Tom Phillips
Curiously, Tom Phillip’s take on this classic almost met a catastrophic end in flames after a fire destroyed everything in a publisher’s studio. The project was subsequently abandoned until a surviving set of proofs was discovered and Phillips’ own Talfourd Press published a version of The Inferno as a limited edition of 100 in 1983.
It became one of the most renowned and important private press books to be published in the post war period.
The archive has been bought directly form the artist with the aid of funding from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Friends of the Bodleian and a £9,000 grant from leading independent art charity the Art Fund.
Tom Phillips, Inferno XXII: Devils Fighting. © Tom Phillips
David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund, said: “The Divine Comedy is one of the few undisputed masterpieces of European literature and Dante’s poetic vision inspired Tom Phillips to create one of the most remarkable artist's books of the twentieth century.”
“I am delighted that The Art Fund was able to play such a major part in helping the Bodleian to acquire it. It will be a rich resource for students of the work of both Phillips and Dante, and will, I am sure, also be a revelation to the wider public.”
Part of the archive will go on display as part of the Library’s summer exhibition ‘Italy's Three Crowns: Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio’ (June 19 - October 31), timed to coincide with a major Dante conference to be held in Oxford in September.
The collection will then be available by appointment for examination and study in one of the library’s reading rooms.
