James Gurney
Discovering the Book  1992

The story of Dinotopia begins in a grand university library where Arthur Denison's leather-bound sketchbook is first discovered by artist James Gurney, who pictures himself there.  A fictional explorer, Denison reveals his fantastical experiences through a series of journal entries that begin on November 10, 1862, shortly after he and his son Will were shipwrecked on the lost island .

"The drawings showed people and dinosaurs living side by side. But this was an impossibility," Gurney observed after paging through Denison's book.  "Dinosaurs had disappeared from the earth nearly 65 million years ago, long before mankind evolved."

Illustration for Dinotopia: A land Apart from Time
Oil on board

Link to image of plaque at Norman Rockwell Museum