Capolan: Travels of a Vagabond Country Artbox

By Nick Bantock

When the Capolanian government wanted commemorative stamps and postcards created in honor of their 650th anniversary, they turned, quite naturally, to artist and writer Nick Bantock. Who better to capture the mythical nation's enigmatic spirit? The result is a sumptuous treasure box of history, legend, and fantasy. Inside, the curious will find the very postcards and stamps Mr. Bantock created for this commission, along with a book -- not much larger than a passport -- in which he introduces the history, philosophy, customs, and traditions of this mysterious nomadic tribe. Visit griffinandsabine.com

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811815455
• ISBN13: 9780811815451
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.6" x 1.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Truly amazing stationery!

Nick Bantock is a genius. He is a both a gifted writer and artist. He inspired my own creative musings in the world of digital collage over 10 years ago and each work of art is a rich puzzle that gives you new visual clues every time you revisit. I recommend any of his box sets and books. Capolan, in particular, is a wonderful introduction to Bantock's work as it showcases some vividly imaginative stationery in addition to telling the story of the fictitious lands of Capolan. If you know someone who collects unique stationery, this will take their breath away. It's almost too beautiful to put to use.

wonderful artbox

this is a wonderful artbox. the postcards and the stampsheet make it even more beautiful. love the story as well.i am planning to give this as a xmas gift to my friends.

This is not your typical story

After reading the reviews available for this title, I decided to pass on this book when it first came out. However, when I received it as a gift this past Xmas, I felt extremely foolish for allowing others to influence my decisions.Nick Bantock is my favorite of all modern authors because, after reading his work, I always feel a liberation from the "face value" of things, or ordinary-ness, and a return to thinking of things in terms of the plausibly extraordinary."Capolan" is a superb vehicle for inducing this sort of thinking, and I know I will be using it often as the mental jump-start I occasionally need to avoid "coloring within the lines.""Yeah, yeah...but is it any good?" I've heard several people ask since I read this book.Well, that depends on whether you can appreciate things that could be, but more than likely aren't, yet still should be. Confused? Then buy the book and discover for yourself. For me, Bantock's books have always been about suspending one's disbelief from the rafters until it's blue and quivering, and "Capolan" is no exception. Thus, it's a wonderful book for me, and it's been a wonderful book for others to whom I've gifted it.

A beautiful and unusual treat for the art lover/Bantock fan

This unusual "artbox" was a joy to discover. It's filled with stamps, artcards, and contains a little (literally) book about an imaginary country, "Capolan". It was really like nothing I'd seen before, and was really visually spectacular. I really liked the odd nature of the book-- written in such a serious tone, yet so obviously about things not of this world, I was at a loss what to believe...a country that (as we learn at the book's end) that has voluntarily agreed not to exist? Fascinating. I bought this as a gift to myself-- but it would also be a perfect gift for an art lover or one of the many Bantock junkies out there