To mark Banned Books Week 2025, the Dawit Isaak Library in Sweden, together with BBDO Nordics, has created the world’s first double-bound book: a special unreadable edition of George Orwell’s 1984.
The book is bound shut on both sides. And though it holds all the chapters in print, it can’t be opened. It can’t be read. But it’s impossible to ignore.
“We wanted to create a symbol that would be integral to the library’s fight against censorship. We crafted the book to induce anxiety and anger first, followed by action—to speak out and read more,” said Karan Nair, copywriter at BBDO Nordics.
The edition is a symbolic protest against the alarming rise of book bans and censorship. While this copy has been sealed by design, thousands of other books around the world are becoming unreadable through bans, removals, and silencing.
“When a book is banned, it becomes a closed world. By sealing one of the most influential works of literature ever written, we want to make censorship impossible to ignore,” commented Jasmina Dizdarevic Cordero at the Dawit Isaak Library.
The exclusive edition of 1984 has been received by authors including Stephen King and Nobel laureate Herta Müller. Jila Mossaed, a member of the Swedish Academy—the institution responsible for selecting the Nobel Prize in Literature—is a strong advocate for the freedom to read and has already voiced her support for the Bound Books Project.
The library has also set aside a copy to be circulated among the 1,000 plus libraries and bookstores participating in Banned Books Week Sweden, inviting them to start their own conversations about censorship and the freedom to read.
The project marks the beginning of The Bound Books Project—using design as a protest tool, transforming a literary icon into a striking piece of communication that sparks conversation around the world.
