Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

I own the world’s most beautiful book, and I’m about to show it to you! 

But first, a little background.  I purchased this book in the gift shop of the Cathedral of Ste. Chapelle, in Paris.  Ste. Chapelle, is a BEAUTIFUL cathedral, known for its stained glass windows.  The cathedral was built by Louis IX in the 13th century.  (He was the only French monarch to be sainted:  Saint Louis.)  Ste. Chapelle was originally built to house the Christian relics belonging to the Cathedral of Notre Dame, just around the corner.

After viewing the soaring arched ceilings and colorful windows, I made my way to the gift shop.  And there it was:  a book with no color.  No black even.  Just beautiful white pages that were embossed with images from the cathedral. 

This is what I saw:
Click any image for a larger view

Wow!  I hope the photo does it justice, because this embossed page is magnificent! 

Because of the way the book was displayed I could only see one page, but I knew I had to have it.  I told the cashier, in my very pathetic French, “I want the book with the white pages.”  She asked “Something in French that I didn’t understand????” and I answered “Oui.”  Soon, I was walking out with the most beautiful book in the world.

I was amazed by the creativity of such a book.  “Who had the idea to make such an exquisite representation of this cathedral?” I wondered.  I was impressed with that vision and with the publishers who acted upon it.

Later, I got to pull out my new prize and study it.  I found that each page featured a different architechtural aspect of the catherral:  exterior, arches, window images, or lead work.

This page shows the circular window for which the cathedral is best known.  
The shapes used in it were a new style, which looked somewhat like flames. 
This is the origin of the term flamboyant.

Eventually, I figured out why the book was all white:

Yes, braille!  Finally, it made sense: a book for the blind.
But just look at how beautiful the transparent braile page was!

Even the braille itself was wonderful!

So, was I right?  Have you ever seen a more beautiful book?

Ellen Lindner