Altered Books
The definitive reading list for altered-book artists and collectors.
Curator's note
An altered book is exactly what the name says: an existing book that someone has physically transformed into a work of art. Pages get cut, folded, painted over, sewn into, glued together, or treated as a substrate for collage. The practice has its own small canon of how-to manuals and an older lineage in fine art. This page is a bibliography, not a tutorial. The search results for altered books are dominated by Pinterest boards and YouTube playlists, which is fine for inspiration and not much help for working through technique. A reading list still has work to do.
Where to start
Most working artists point new people toward the same two or three books. Beth Cote and Cindy Pestka's Altered Books 101 is the gateway text. It's short and clear, and old enough now that almost every later book in the field is in conversation with it. Terry Taylor's Altered Art covers more ground (boxes, cards, journals) and reads more like a craft survey, with useful sections on history and on copyright. If you want a structured walkthrough rather than a project anthology, Allyson Bright Meyer's Complete Idiot's Guide to Altered Art Illustrated is the most pedagogically organized of the entry points.
Past the basics
Once gluing, gessoing, and basic page treatments feel routine, the field opens up. Bev Brazelton's Altered Books Workshop runs eighteen techniques in workshop format and frames the work as self-expression. Gabe Cyr's New Directions in Altered Books is where the field stops being polite and starts cutting through covers. Karen Michel's Complete Guide to Altered Imagery is the specialist book on what goes onto the page: photo transfer, printmaking, found and manipulated source imagery. Holly Harrison's Altered Books, Collaborative Journals, and Other Adventures in Bookmaking bridges into broader bookmaking, with strong sections on round-robin journals and on integrating photographic and digital source material.
Sub-genres: folded, fabric, sculptural
The umbrella term hides distinct practices. Folded book art treats the closed book as sculpture, working with the fore-edge to spell words or build shapes; Marta Decker's Folded Book Art Made Easy is the current manual and includes patterns. Fabric and textile altered books are their own thing, with binding, batting, and stitching swapped in for paper and gesso. Jan Smiley's The Art of Fabric Books is the standard reference for that side of the practice.
Fine art and the canon
The craft library above sits inside an older art-historical conversation. Tom Phillips's A Humument is the seminal fine-art altered book. Phillips bought a forgotten Victorian novel in 1966 and spent the next half-century painting and collaging over every page. Any serious shelf includes it. For a wider view, Jason Thompson's Playing with Books is the survey to read: a gallery-rich tour of altered books, book sculpture, and adjacent book-arts practices, with enough working artists profiled to double as a directory.
The point of the list is to put the right book on your bench while you work.
Altered books 101
Beth Cote·2000
The foundational beginner manual and the book most working altered-book artists name as their first. Cote and Pestka set the vocabulary the rest of the field still uses.
Altered Art
Terry Taylor·2004
Widely cited as one of the finest craft books in the field. Taylor walks through technique alongside genre history and copyright considerations, which matters as soon as you start cutting up other people's books.
Altered books, collaborative journals, and other adventures in bookmaking
Holly Harrison·2003
Harrison bridges altered books and broader bookmaking, with strong material on collaborative round-robin journals and on bringing photo transfer and digital source material onto the page.
The complete guide to altered imagery
Karen Michel·2005
The specialist text on what goes onto the page. Michel goes deep on printmaking, photo transfer, and found-source manipulation — the imagery side that most altered-book books treat as one chapter among many.
Altered books workshop
Bev Brazelton·2004
Eighteen techniques in workshop format, framed as self-expression rather than craft project. The book most readers move to once Cote and Taylor stop providing new ground.
New Directions in Altered Books
Gabe Cyr·2006
Pushes past beginner technique into experimental and sculptural territory. The book to read once you stop wanting your altered books to still look like books.
The Art of Fabric Books
Jan Smiley·2005
Niche but indispensable for textile-leaning practice. Smiley swaps gesso and paper for binding, batting, and stitch, and shows what an altered book looks like when it's been built by a quilter.
Folded Book Art Made Easy
Marta Decker·2019
The most current title on the list and the standard manual for the folded-book sub-genre. Decker includes patterns, which most folders find indispensable for getting clean fore-edge work.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Altered Art Illustrated
Allyson Bright Meyer·2007
The most pedagogically structured of the beginner books. Heavily illustrated and laid out for readers who want a sequence to follow rather than a project anthology to dip into.
A humument
Phillips, Tom·1970
The fine-art altered book. Phillips bought a forgotten Victorian novel in 1966 and spent fifty years painting and collaging over every page. The art-historical anchor any serious bibliography has to include.
Playing with books
Jason Thompson·2010
The contemporary survey of altered-book and book-arts practice, gallery-rich and full of working artists. Doubles as a directory if you want to follow specific practitioners.
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