Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the fictional autobiography of a hapless anti-hero, subverted the rules of novel-writing very early in the history of the genre, using all the devices at the disposal of contemporary book production – missing sections, blacked-out pages, proliferations of glyphs such as asterisks and dashes – as well as bespoke visual emebllishments in the text (in one famous example, an intricate swash indicating the way a character flourishes his stick in the air).

Wishing to produce a sumptuous volume such as Sterne intended for his tale, The Folio Society have recently commissioned Tom Phillips to design and illustrate their new edition of this inventive novel : with his long experience of processing books to enhance text with stylish and witty visualisations, the artist is uniquely well placed to carry out the task and has produced what the Society calls "the perfect pictorial counterpart to Laurence Sterne’s comic masterpiece".

For further details or to purchase a copy, vist the Folio Society's online shop.

New painting by Tom Phillips: Two Roads oil on canvas 158 x 107cm

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019 is now open each day until 12th August 2019 from 10am - 6pm with late opening until 10pm on Fridays.

You can also browse and buy online at the Summer Exhibition Explorer site.