The World and Its Inhabitants is an impressive publication by Paul Lincoln, an English artist living in New York. It consists of a flip-top cardboard case containing twenty-four cards each showing an ‘inhabitant’ of a microscopic, idealised ‘world’.
The inhabitants are chosen from different historical periods and depict ideas as well as people. Paul Lincoln has invented twenty-four small, animated structures to represent each character; these are pictured with a detailed description on the reverse. An illuminating biography of the character or idea completes the picture. The case also contains a booklet which describes the first performance of The World and Its Inhabitants with drawings and photographs relating to the project.