Siddhartha Illustrated

Siddhartha Illustrated is the project of Leo Levy, and was created as his Capstone during his time as a senior at Philadelphia's Science Leadership Academy in 2016. The ultimate goal of Siddhartha Illustrated is to independently publish a fully- illustrated English edition of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha.

"One of the most influential books I’ve encountered is Herman Hesse’s 1922 classic Siddhartha. Siddhartha was first published in the U.S. in the 1950s, and became one of the defining texts of the countercultural movements of the 1960s. I first read this transformative text in the fall of my Junior year. As I followed Siddhartha’s travels on his quest for understanding, a fire of curiosity in me was sparked. The book initiated a period of introspection and contemplation that has not sputtered out yet.

Siddhartha is full of messages that would resonate with my generation, if they would just pick up the book and read it. It has also never been illustrated. Illustrations can augment the content of texts, creating new depth through the dialogue between the visual and the literary. They also have the power to make otherwise obscure texts more accessible. I decided to create a set of illustrations that would bring Siddhartha into the cultural conversation of the 21st century."

- Leo Levy