Paul Johnson’s book art has a childlike openness to delight, wonder, and joy. Those characteristics are signaled in his works’ titles — titles such as Suddenly from the centre of the universe came a symphony of light and The rivers of time carry the music of life down to the sea…. Below, the titles of two of his works in this collection also capture that exuberant spirit — The Sun Showers Symbols on the Earth and Morning Light Showing the World the Way. Some titles such as The Book Chair, Goldilocks & The Three Little Pigs, and The Pop-Up Unabridged History of the World, all also below, signal a quirkiness to be found in the works. And another vein of titles such as Ed Hutchins Studio, New York and Arthur Jaffe’s house, Florida reflects his works’ celebration of friendships, as demonstrated in the first work of Johnson’s to join this collection:

Paul Johnson’s Salem Village Panorama (2014)

Paul Johnson’s Salem Village Panorama (small version) (2014)
Paul Johnson
Pop-up double-sided leporello. H140 x W140 mm (closed), W974 mm (open). 8 panels. Limited edition (unknown quantity). Acquired from Ed Hutchins, 26 January 2022.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Johnson’s good friend Ed Hutchins organized the show at North Main Gallery in Salem, NY. The town historian chipped in with historical sources, and local artist Paula Beardell Krieg announced it here with excited anticipation.

The next three works in the collection display Johnson’s penchant for unexpected and quirky explorations and that tell-tale characteristic of artists’ books: self-reflexivity.

The Pop-Up Unabridged History of the World (2008)

The Pop-Up Unabridged History of the World (2008)
Paul Johnson
Purple slipcase. Pop-up book. Slipcase: H86 x W65 mm. Book: H85 x W55 mm. [6] pages. Edition of 50, of which this is #12. Acquired from Collinge & Clark, 7 November 2024.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Again, title matters in Paul Johnson’s work. How can something so small, crafted from Hahnemuhle Aquarell, Johnson’s preferred paper, contain the unabridged history of the world?

On the very first page, we find we are in a world of fiction, not non-fiction, but is the book the main character is reading fiction or non-fiction? Either could be deepening her mind.

With the turn to the next page, the world’s leaves and the act of folding become as inclusive as the book’s leaves and the act of reading.

And with the turn to the last pages, we have the book she has made: a book within a book within a book.

Goldilocks & the Three Little Pigs (2008)

Goldilocks & the Three Little Pigs (2008)
Paul Johnson
Purple slipcase. Vertical, laddered pop-up. 75 x 75 mm [4] pages. Edition of 100, of which this is #22. Acquired from Collinge & Clark, 7 November 2024.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Hijacking Goldilocks from her traditional story and the Three Little Pigs from theirs leads Johnson’s imagination in a more acerbic direction than in his other limited editions. His softer whimsy still comes through in his changing the usual time frame of “Once upon a time” to “Quite recently, in fact twenty minutes ago”, appropriate enough for the pace of modern life as is his giving the pop-up the shape of a make-up compact.

The Book Chair (2008)

The Book Chair (2008)
Paul Johnson
Blue fold-around slip with illustrated label. A pop-up chair with an origami book on the seat. H136 x W62 x D47 mm. Edition of 50 copies , of which this is #8. Acquired from Collinge & Clark, 17 July 2025.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

The Book Chair repeats the book-within-a-book gambit from The Pop-up Unabridged History of the World. This time the miniature within the miniature, however, treats us to full text that delivers reflection on reflection on reflection. Is the chair the book’s chair, or is the book the chair’s book?

Steps to the Sea (2008)

Steps to the Sea (2008)
Paul Johnson
Purple slipcase. A pop-out staircase attached to covering card. Slipcase: H76 x W57 x D18 mm. Card and pop-out: H75 x W59 x D12 mm (closed), H variable to 550 mm. Open edition. Acquired from Collinge & Clark 17 July 2025.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Steps to the Sea may be based on a garden in Seattle, but if you have ever visited San Francisco and descended Lombard Street or the Filbert Steps, Johnson’s vertical pop-up will recall your vertigo for you.

Wrapped in multicolored ribbon, the next two works in the collection — The Sun Showers Symbols on the Earth and Morning Light Showing the World the Way — arrive like gifts.

The Sun Showers Symbols on the Earth (1988)

The Sun Showers Symbols on the Earth (1988)
Paul Johnson
Notched slipcase with multicolor inked ribbons. Single sculpture pop-up book. Slipcase: H330 x W256 x D28 mm. Book: H319 x W249 x D25 mm (closed); W515 x D340 mm (open). Unique. Acquired from Potter & Potter Auctions, 9 Jul 2026.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Compared with the later works above, The Sun Showers Symbols on the Earth is brighter and more abstract. Still later works, though, such as Serenade to Chaucer (2018), an abridgement of “The Miller’s Tale”, and Dies Natalis (2023), inspired by a cantata for voice and strings composed by Gerald Finzi (1901-56), inspired in turn by several poems by Thomas Traherne (1636-74), deploy colors just as bright. Both of those later works are considerably larger than the two shown here. The use of industrial fabric dyes seems to correlate with the size of the unique works, whereas watercolor correlates with the smaller limited edition works.

View from left side. View from right side.

View of lower edge.

View of left and right sides from above and behind.

Detail at left edge.

Front and back covers.

Morning Light Showing the World the Way (1988)

Morning Light Showing the World the Way (1988)
Paul Johnson
Notched slipcase with multicolor inked ribbons. Single sculpture pop-up book. Slipcase: H330 x W256 x D28 mm. Book: H319 x W250 x D25 mm (closed); W515 x D340 mm (open). Unique. Acquired from Potter & Potter Auctions, 9 Jul 2026.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Johnson’s website refers to the stained glass windows of Norwich, where he grew up, as an influence on his work. In their titles, colors, and construction, The Sun Showers Symbols on the Earth and Morning Light Showing the World the Way fully bear this out. Their cascading tiers also bear out another influence: Hokusai (think of The Great Wave of Kanagawa).

View from above and behind.

Left side. Right side.

Detail of lower right.

Front cover.

The slipcasing of The Sun Showers Symbols on the Earth and Morning Light Showing the World the Way capture another characteristic of Paul Johnson’s work and the man himself — a giving nature — which foreshadows the monumental Dies Natalis, his gift to the Bodleian Libraries in 2023.

Dies Natalis (2023)

Dies Natalis (2023)
Paul Johnson
A gift from the artist, Dies Natalis resides at the Bodleian Libraries.
Photos: Books On Books at the Bodleian exhibition Gifts and Books, curated by Dr. Nicholas Perkins, 19 June 2023 – 29 October 2023.

A birthday gift from the deity becomes a gift from the artist.

Further Reading

“Movables Now and Then“. 31 August 2024. Bookmarking Book Art. For background reading on movables.

“Květa Pacovská“. 19 July 2023. Books On Books Collection. For comparably colorful pop-ups.

Chen, Julie. 2013. 500 Handmade Books. Volume 2. New York: Lark. P. 26, for Johnson’s We Waited with Eyes Lifted (2012).