We recently announced our upcoming Kickstarter campaign, an anthology of illustrated books of the Bible. For this project, we have chosen "Illuminate" as the title.
Literally, illuminate means to light up, to shine a light upon, as by the sun in the morning or by a flashlight in a dark room. Metaphorically it has the sense of bringing clarity or understanding. And theologically it is the work of Christ, whose incarnation, death, and resurrection, brought the full revelation of God. “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). We aim to do all of this in our illustrated books: to bring vivid light and color to the Biblical text, to use the illustrations to bring out its meaning, and to highlight the revelation of God in the saving work of Christ.
Illuminate also is a reference to the art-form of “Illuminated Manuscripts,” which were Biblical and liturgical texts hand written and illustrated in the high middle ages. First developed in monasteries around 1100, these manuscripts incorporated illustrations directly on the page of the text, allowing the typography and the visual figures to inform one another. The point was not only adornment; it was also to help readers interpret and understand. The visual was both beautiful and theological.
At Fish Coin Press, over the last two years, we have experimented with a modern application of the illuminated form with our editions of Solomon and John, illustrated respectively by Jared Boggess and Stephen Procopio. Our illustrations truly illuminate the Biblical text by using multiple techniques, including highlighting narrative structure, drawing out thematic motifs, accentuating characterization, representing literary parallelism, incorporating historical and geographical context, expressing Biblical cross-references, and fleshing out Christological typologies. The result is two books whose quality, as illuminations, have exceeded our expectations, and point the way toward a complete Biblical program.
That program we now begin in earnest, with five new books of the Bible by five artists:
Ruth, by Dorothy Leung
The Elijah Cycle (1 Kings 16 - 2 Kings 2), by Jared Boggess
Jonah, by Matt Chinworth
Malachi, by Stephen Crotts
1 Peter, by Stephen Procopio
We combine scholarly research into the literary and theological dynamics of each text with the faithful artistic insight of our award-winning artists, and the result is a providential work to reignite a passion for the Bible in our day.
Join us as we begin this journey of illumination.
Sign up today for updates on the launch.