Transcript
Book 1, Prologue, Pages 13 and 14
We’re then transported across progressive eras of authors and artists at work. We begin by looking at the desk of a 3rd century CE Roman scribe copying a version of the original Alexander Romance, kept company by his cat; then the workstation of a medieval Turkish miniaturist, working on the ground with an easel on his lap; then a Victorian writer at their desk, surrounded by sheets of paper, their typewriter and a stray movable type; followed by an illustrator who just rolled a layer of black ink on top of his woodblock drawing; leading onto a collection of Victorian magazines and zines featuring cartoons and comics.
And finally, the author of this webcomic’s messy workspace, a Macbook displaying Photoshop, surrounded by an iPad, a drawing tablet, a Moleskine, a sketchbook, and a copy of the modern English translation of the Roman scribe’s copy of the original Alexander Romance. As if to say, there’s a past, present and future shared by all of us who write and illustrate books for popular culture.
Author’s Voice:
I’m but a newcome voice
to a legacy, 2000 years young.
A keeper of pearls among treasures,
strung by poets and painters myriad
from lands east and west
of many gods
and the one God.
Manyvoices tongued
and manycolours handed,
now together,
you and I –
with all who came before
and all who will come after –
we shall partake again
this time, once more
in the countless lives
and ageless deeds
of our manifold hero.
Prologue 013-014
This is in my opinion the heart of the prologue. And one of the cores of this webcomic!!
The line “A keeper of pearls among treasures, strung by poets and painters myraid…” pays homage to Nizami Ganjavi (one of three major contributors to the Persian Alexander Romance). He refers to the collection of legends, myths and ?historical? anecdotes which formed the Romance tradition as ‘pearls’.
Additionally, Nizami’s author’s preamble in his poetic epic is very much a source of inspiration for my prologue – the other being the invocation of Muses found in ancient Greek poetry. I’ve fused the two together into something like an invocation for the reader from the author, to take part in this storytelling journey that’s not just about this king, but the authors and artists who made him a legend that endured across memory.
A major reason why I took on the Alexander Romance was because of this… this connection to a long, almost unbroken chain of artists and authors in conversation with each other, across times and cultures and places. It’s humbling and sweet how artists dealing with Alexander share similar creative experiences across centuries. I’m very grateful to be the latest part of the tradition, to be exploring this heritage once more and retelling it for the 21st century, in a new medium, as both scribe and illuminator, author and artist, online. ;;
Footnotes:
Roman Era Glass Inkwell
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249364
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/249048
Turkish penbox and inkwell
https://art.thewalters.org/detail/39988
Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c. 1600–1900
Portrait of a medieval Persian artist at work
Portrait of the writer Abd al-Rahim and artist Daulat at work making the Khamsa of Nizami – Walters Art Museum MS W.613
Illustrator Fred Mason’s woodblock drawing for The Story of Alexander (1894)
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