It’s an unusual publication in an unusual format – and the perfect Christmas gift for people interested in Guernsey’s indigenous language.
The World Is Your Ormer is a small but perfectly-formed handmade limited edition book which features a local saying on each page.
‘It was created with help from the Guernsey Language Commission,’ said Extraordinary Editions’ Martin Morgan. ‘Yan Martel and Jo Dowding have been brilliant.
‘The commission has been working really hard. Now, when you get off an Aurigny flight, they say “A la perchoine” before you disembark.’
Martin explained the book’s format.
‘It’s called a leporello, which has pages that are accordion-pleated, also known as a concertina or accordion book. The name comes from Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni. Leporella is Don Giovanni’s manservant who produces a list of his master’s mistresses and it’s so long it unfurls all the way to the floor.
‘It’s highly unusual and can be read backwards and forwards and upside down and unfurls into a sheet of paper.’
As the endpaper instructs: ‘Read this book from the front to discover some Guernsey wisdom and read it from the back to discover some global truths. Use a little Guernesiais every day and you will get better at it’.
There are sayings such as: ‘Qui veurt apprende a periai, qu’il aouche en maire’ – He who wishes to learn to pray, let him go to sea; ‘Chatcheun bat sa maraie’ – Each chooses their own tide; and ‘Vivaiz vivement au Fulaon’ – Live life to the Ful(on).
‘There are 47 phrases in Guernesiais, all of them old Guernsey sayings (and three non-Guernsey sayings). They are then spelt out phonetically, to aid pronunciation, and finally translated into English,’ explained Martin. ‘The thinking behind it is if people aren’t going to learn a whole language, then they can have fun learning a little at a time.’
Extraordinary Editions' other publication that is out now is the Sark-set novel Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake.
‘I did Toilers Of The Sea with the Folio Society in 2013 and then The Book Of Ebenezer Le Page with illustrations by local artist Charlie Buchanan in 2022. Then I thought “What is the next great Guernsey novel?” And it had to be Mr Pye.’
Mr Pye was written in 1953 and tells the story of Harold Pye, who lands in Sark with a mission to convert the islanders into a crusading force for good, but when his struggle between good and evil becomes personal, he is forced to embark on a campaign of unparalleled sin.
Peake was also known for writing the Gormenghast trilogy, Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959). He lived in Sark from 1946 to 1950 and wrote Mr Pye shortly after he left the island.
In 1986, the book was adapted into a four-part series for Channel 4, starring Derek Jacobi, and was filmed almost exclusively on Sark, with many of the island’s inhabitants taking roles as extras.
Martin was given access to the original manuscript, which is in the British Museum.
‘I worked in conjunction with Mervyn’s son, Fabian, who’s an artist, and daughter Clare, who is a writer. The book includes a map of Sark in the endpaper and a self-portrait by Mervyn Peake. Fabian did a wonderful illustration for the frontispiece of a tree in Sark, and Clare and I wrote the introduction.
‘I did Toilers of the Sea with the Folio Society in 2013 and then The Book of Ebenezer Le Page with illustrations by local artist Charlie Buchanan in 2022. Then I thought “what is the next great Guernsey novel?” And it had to be Mr Pye’
‘The wings on the cover have been designed by Charlie Buchanan and concrete poetry is also used, with the print following and reflecting the rhythms of the text.
‘Mervyn doodled when he wrote so there are some wonderfully simple line illustrations we’ve used.
‘While I was in the British Library I found an alternative ending, considerably different from the original published version, which is really exciting. The alternative ending has been added, but the pages are sealed with a sticker, so it’s entirely up to the reader whether they see it or not.’
Mr Pye is available to subscribers and comes in three different editions – The Sark Edition, £65 each (150 copies), The Leather Edition, £295 each (74 copies) and The Exemplary Edition, £1,150 each (26 copies).
‘It’s a fabulous book but it never achieved the commercial success Peake wanted,’ said Martin. ‘It defies categorisation. It’s very moralistic – not so much anti-religion, more anti-missionary zeal. The Times Literary Supplement called it “an oddity”.
‘It was the favourite book of my late wife, Maureen. We worked on Mr Pye together throughout last year while she was ill. She never saw it published. With Fabian and Clare’s blessing, this edition of the book is dedicated to Maureen.’
Mr Pye can be ordered from mm@extraordinaryeditions.com. The World Is Your Ormer is £24 and available from Writer’s Block in the Commercial Arcade, St Peter Port, Sula Framing and Gallery at L’Islet, Guernsey Museum shops and also from mm@extraordinaryeditions.com.
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