John Howe - Cathedral (English)

About the book:

High above the city, which was just waking up, stood this immense cathedral woven of stone lace and gargoyals. This morning, as the misty dawn still envelops its spires in ribbons of mist, a young boy, Nathaniel, sets out to climb its staircases, one after the other...

Cathedral is a tale. For children? Yes. Just for children? Of course not!
Now, let’s get back to the story behind the book…

I believe in the importance of encounters, especially now, in a world of ever-increasing virtuality. The encounter between two unique entities – you – and any work of art or nature, is always to be sought after. In this case, it happened one misty midnight, astride a borrowed bicycle in an unfamiliar city on a new continent. In a fog so dense I lost my way, rounding a corner, I found myself at the foot of a vast and lofty gothic façade that disappeared upwards into the glowing mist. I was enchanted. That enchantment has never faded.

I marveled that the wind-worn sandstone volutes of Vancouver Island’s shores could so powerfully evoke the gothic interlace I discovered half a world away.
I wondered if ravens spoke a universal raven-tongue. Like Nathaniel, I clambered over every portion of the cathedral, even to the very top of the spire. I too spent time conversing with the gargoyles, was deafened by the gigantic bronze bells, and waited out thunderstorms under ledges, watching those same gargoyles vomit dozens of sudden waterfalls.

The experience was so much out of a storybook that it became a storybook. (I also wrote two more stories, one inspired by the marvelous castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg, and another by the cathedral of Vezelay, but I fear both are lost as well.) In the end, that’s where it all comes back to: telling stories. The cathedral is a vast vertical book of stories, full of tales that most of us no longer know how – or can be bothered - to read. This book is to remind us of that.

Stories are not just entertainment, they are encounters, invitations to look again at the things we take for granted. Stories are the points of contact and resonance, the kingdom of what-if and might-have-been, realms where justice and truth are poetic, and the marvelous always just around the next corner.

It’s always all about the stories we tell.

John HOWE

Cathedral was first published in Strasbourg (in French) in 1987 by a small French publisher, Bueb & Reumaux. Featuring 24 color illustrations, it was reprinted several times but, strangely, never got the chance to travel beyond the shires of Alsace!

However, nearly 40 years after its creation, Cathedral is FINALLY available to English-speaking readers! We have worked hard to make this book everything it deserves to be. Skilled illustrator and experienced book designer, Armel Gaulme, has redesigned it from scratch, adding a new cover and new endpapers. And… this is the result !

GET IT SIGNED!

This book was released as a crowdfunding project in February 2024. On this occasion, John HOWE was kind enough to sign some copies, and the icing on the cake is that you can still get a few copies of those!! To do so, select the 'Signed' option on the top-right part of this page. Isn't that GREAT!!!

About the author:

A master of fantasy illustration, John Howe is famous for having brought the world of J. R. R. Tolkien to life, both in film and in prestigious editions of The Lord of the Rings. As a young Canadian who came to Strasbourg to study drawing, he simultaneously discovered gothic architecture and the Middle Ages when he saw Strasbourg cathedral. These have continued to inspire him ever since and are evident in his images that have become popular around the world.