Mussenlust

Sparrows may seem like everyday birds, however, there is nothing ordinary about them. Peter Vos (1935–2010) thought so as well, he recorded the sparrow hundreds of times. The most beautiful and remarkable poems on the sparrow are brought together in Mussenlust with Vos’s excellent drawings. While Vos was drawing, scans were made of his work which recorded the process beautifully, from pencil sketch via pen drawing to colourful image. The book measures 20×28 cm, corresponding with the format of the drawings. Bilo suits the sparrow’s self-evident presence, just as unusual and just as idiosyncratic.

“What makes this book a true gem,” says Geelen, “is the execution. Different types of paper have been chosen for the often previously unpublished drawings by Vos. He drew in three phases: first non-colored pen drawings, then a first stroke of watercolor, then the definitive watercolors. (…) Using different types of paper (a type of tracing paper), these three versions overlap each other. This way, you see both the three intermediate stages and the end result — Den Haag Centraal

Mussenlust has been selected as a Best Dutch Book Design 2018.