Scottish book sculptures

The Scottish book sculptures are a group of book sculptures that were contrived to be "found" in Scotland between 2011 and 2013. The sculptures are on topics mostly concerning Scottish literature and poetry, and are made out of old books by an anonymous female paper sculptor.

The initial group of book sculptures was a group of ten elaborate sculptures that were left around various cultural locations in Edinburgh, Scotland, between March and November 2011, as gifts to the cultural institutions and people of the city. The identity of the artist is unknown, although notes with some of the sculptures referred to the artist as 'she'. The sculptures were made from old books and were accompanied by gift labels which praised literacy and the love of words, and argued against library and other arts funding cuts. An eleventh sculpture was presented to author Ian Rankin, whose works featured prominently in many of the other sculptures. The ten Edinburgh sculptures were toured through Scotland in an exhibition in late 2012.

The sculptor was then commissioned to produce five more book sculptures to be hidden in secret locations around Scotland as part of Book Week Scotland, which commenced in November 2012. Despite the commission, the artist has maintained her anonymity.

The sculptor also made another gift sculpture in December 2012, which she anonymously presented to the Scottish Poetry Library, already the previous recipient of two of her earlier works.

In May 2013 a new sculpture, featuring three eggs in a paper nest in a cardboard birdbox, was left in the Scottish Poetry library; this was followed by three baby birds in a nest, left at Leith Library. In 2014 a flutter or swarm of butterflies from an open book sculpture was left in aid of the Macmillan charity. This sculpture was bought privately but is intending to tour for a not-for-profit basis in 2015.

These are listed in the order of their discovery. In the first ten cases, the person who deposited the sculptures was not noticed, and some of the sculptures were found several days after they had been put in place. The eleventh was a gift to author Ian Rankin.

The first sculpture was found on Tuesday 2 March 2011 on a table in the Scottish Poetry Library. It comprised a tree with intricately fashioned branches and leaves, standing on a thick leather-bound old book. At the base of the tree was a paper egg, broken in half and with the inside lined with gold, in which were a scatter of individual words, which could be put together to make "A Trace of Wings", a poem by Edwin Morgan. It was accompanied by a tag, addressed to @byleaveswelive, the name of the Library's Twitter account. "By leaves we live" is a Patrick Geddes quote about the idea that you reap what you sow.

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