Inspiration: Griffin and Sabine

 The Griffin and Sabine stories are a series of beautiful epistolary novels written and illustrated by Nick Bantock. They are a story told through the correspondence of two individuals, Griffin Moss and Sabine Strohem, who have never met but who share an otherworldly connection. The design of the books is ingenious, with one side of the page containing the front side of the envelope or postcard and the other containing either the postcard's message or the back of the envelope with its flap open so that the reader can remove the letter contained within. One notable aspect of the series is how the artistic style of the two characters remains so distinct even though all the illustrations were made by the same person, giving a true sense of a back-and-forth written conversation. Though fictional, the lush designs of the correspondence is a great source of inspiration for anyone interested in the medium of mail art. The initial series consists of three books, Griffin and Sabine, Sabine's Notebook, and The Golden Mean, written between 1991 and 93. (Ten years later, Bantock followed with The Morningstar trilogy which includes The Gryphon, Alexandria, and The Morning Star. Bantock concluded the series with a final book The Pharos Gate, in 2016.)