Abecedarian of Obscure Sorrows

This book features 26 invented words by John Koenig describing feelings that well known but aren't associated with any words. Each word's definition is displayed with a corresponding hand illustrated image on the opposing page. The book itself measures: 9" x 5"

Page spread for the letter F and its word Fitzcarraldo. Which is defined as an image that somehow becomes lodged deep in your brain—maybe washed there by a dream, or smuggled inside a book, or planted during a casual conversation—which then grows into a wild and impractical vision that keeps scrambling back and forth in your head like a dog stuck in a car that’s about to arrive home, just itching for a chance to leap headlong into reality.

Page spread for the letter R and its word Rubatosis. Which is defined as the unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat, whose tenuous muscular throbbing feels less like a metronome than a nervous ditty your heart is tapping to itself, the kind that people compulsively hum or sing while walking in complete darkness, as if to casually remind the outside world, I’m here, I’m here, I’m here..

Other Illustrations that are featured in the Abecedarian.