How I Found The New Journal

by James Gurney

SOME YEARS AGO in a university library I stumbled across a sketchbook by a little-known explorer named Arthur Denison. Like many other travelers in the Victorian Age, he documented the landscapes, people, and animals that he encountered as he journeyed to remote frontiers of the globe. What sets Mr. Denison apart is that the island he described, called Dinotopia, no longer appears on modern maps of the world. Not only that, his sketchbooks portray a society where humans live alongside a race of wise and intelligent dinosaurs.

I have been searching for a long time to find out more about Mr. Denison. My breakthrough came recently when I found the following listing: "FOR SALE: Nineteenth century journal. Cover stamped with footprint-like letters and dinosaur motif. Novelty binding."

I tracked down the dealer who had placed the ad and visited his shop. The book stood in the front window alongside other dusty volumes of travel and adventure. Weathered brass plates protected the corners of the book, and an antique lock clamped shut the pages. The cover was stamped with the unique alphabet known only to Dinotopia. I tried to contain my excitement as I purchased the book and brought it home.

During the last few months, book conservators have studied the journal, and the Smithsonian Institution has displayed the original artifact in Washington, DC. For the many people who have written me letters asking for further evidence of Dinotopia, I offer the following account, written in Arthur Denison’s own hand, of the marvelous new things that he witnessed during his trek in 1869 across the "land apart from time."