GULLIVER'S TRAVELS: An Illuminated Edition

An oversized, slipcased art-book edition of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS — Jonathan Swift's fantastical travelogue and savage satire of human folly and imperialist pretension — newly illustrated by the celebrated Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti, with original essays from author and comedian Patton Oswalt and scholar Elizabeth Bellamy.

A surgeon turned castaway, Lemuel Gulliver sails into the absurd and the sublime. Shipwrecked among the six-inch citizens of Lilliput, he watches an empire wage war over which end of an egg to crack. Cowering beneath the Brobdingnagians, he becomes a curiosity, his proud account of England met with disgust. He debates the useless philosophers of the airborne island of Laputa, then recoils from the brutish Yahoos who share a country with the Houyhnhnms — horses more rational than men. Each voyage peels back the illusion of civilization, exposing the hypocrisy, pride, and foolishness in human nature and the constructions of society. What looks like an adventure tale is an x-ray of the pomposity of enlightenment European culture, and of humankind itself.

Mattotti renders Gulliver's journey across more than sixty-five illustrations animated by wonder and strangeness — Lilliput and Brobdingnag rendered not as curiosities but as genuinely disorienting places, beautiful and unmoored. 

A new entry in Beehive Books' Illuminated Editions series, this volume is printed on uncoated acid-free paper in an oversized 9×12″ trim and housed in a die-cut, sculpturally embossed slipcase.

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was an Irish satirist, essayist, and Anglican cleric best known for his biting political and social commentary, especially in works like Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal. A master of irony and parody, Swift used sharp wit to critique the absurdities of his time, targeting politics, colonialism, and human nature. He served as Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin and remains one of the foremost prose satirists in the English language.

Lorenzo Mattotti is a visual artist, cartoonist and filmmaker from Brescia, Italy. He is a an indelible graphic voice and a multi-talented creator, publishing illustrations for the press (Le Monde, Télérama, many covers for The New Yorker), children's books (Grand Prix de Bratislava for Eugenio), and graphic novels. His works include Feux, whose colors made him a highly sought-after illustrator and painter, Stigmata (with Claudio Piersanti), and The Raven, a collaboration with Lou Reed.

Patton Oswalt is an Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian, actor, and writer known for his sharp wit, pop culture commentary, and roles in shows like The King of Queens and A.P. Bio, as well as voicing Remy in Pixar’s Ratatouille. He has released multiple acclaimed stand-up specials and authored several books blending memoir, humor, and cultural critique. Oswalt is also recognized for his candid reflections on grief, resilience, and the role of comedy in the human condition.

Liz Bellamy is the author The Language of Fruit, Commerce, Morality and the 18th Century Novel, and Jonathan's Swift's Gulliver's Travels. She teaches English at City College Norwich and the Open University.