The Book of Paper

In the first volume of Post Editions's new series on the creative potential of seemingly everyday materials, the subject is paper in amazing depth. This striking book asks nine scholars and artists to take a multi-layered look at paper, from its beginnings in second-century China to surprising contemporary approaches. Essay topics species of wasps and hornets that make paper and cardboard remarkably similar to our own; the 18th-century German clergyman whose life's work was experimenting with various materials to make paper; and Cardboardia, a community of ''visionary architecture.'' Origami master Paul Jackson writes about ''paper music'' - using paper as an acoustic medium, and Chiaki Morita introduces washi, the Japanese art of hand-made paper from the mulberry tree. Stunning black and white photos complete this impeccable package.