A Humument

The final edition of the late Tom Phillips's 'defining masterpiece of postmodernism'.

In 1966 the artist Tom Phillips discovered A Human Document (1892), an obscure Victorian romance by W.H. Mallock, and set himself the task of altering every page, by painting, collage or cut-up techniques, to create an entirely new version. Some of Mallock's original text remains intact and through the illustrated pages the character of Bill Toge, Phillips's anti-hero, and his romantic plight emerges.

First published in 1973, A Humument - as Phillips titled his altered book - quickly established itself as a cult classic. From that point, the artist worked towards a complete revision of his original, adding new pages in successive editions. That process is now finished. This final edition presents an entirely new and complete version of A Humument. It includes a revised Introduction by the late artist, in which he reflects on the 50-year project, and 92 new illustrated pages.

'Simply astounding ... and addictive' - Stephen Fry
'One of the most original, fascinating and lovely books of all time' - Brian Eno
'The closest thing a book has come to being an art object' - The New York Times
'Sly, humorous, erotic and endlessly fascinating' - Edward Lucie-Smith, Sunday Times
'A teeming world of humour, sex, sadness and art' - London Review of Books
'Turns a forgotten work into a thing of rare beauty' - Bernard Levin, Sunday Times
'Intricate, philosophical, romantic ... and often funny' - Michael Kustow, Guardian
'One of the freshest and most original pieces of art literary work you are likely to see' - The Spectator

Tom Phillips CBE RA (1937-2022) was a painter, writer, translator and composer. Collaborators included the filmmaker Peter Greenaway (A TV Dante), the novelist Salman Rushdie (Merely Connect) and the composer Tarik O'Regan (Heart of Darkness). Informing Phillips's work for half a century, A Humument appeared in many guises beyond book and exhibition form, including operatically in Irma, digitally as an app and aurally, read by the artist himself. Phillips held a 12-year-long position as chairman of the exhibitions committee at the Royal Academy in London, and also served as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum. He was appointed CBE in 2002.

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