I apologize for the lengthy absence. I am apparently falling into the habit of neglecting my blog. Like a sweet garden, this blog needs love and attention. I am here to water and love up the blog.On that note, here are some loverly books.
These babies are meeting with your eyeballs courtesy of the Designer Bookbinders International Competition (2009). The theme here is water. How apt for this occasion.
Bookbinder: George Kirkpatrick. Photo Courtesy of Bodleian Library.
Bookbinder: Yukiko Uchida. Photo Courtesy of Bodleian Library.
Bookbinder: Alain Taral. Photo Courtesy of Bodleian Library.
Bookbinder: Jenni Grey. Photo Courtesy of Bodleian Library.
Sorry I have been totally AWOL. I promise that it is for the greater good.
I recently was offered a full-time job that I could not pass up. With a long commute every day and books to make after work, I have not prioritized my time as well as I could have.
However, if you are in the Vancouver area you should come visit me at the Roundhouse Urban Artisan's show and sale this weekend. Come see what I have been up to!
Location:
Roundhouse Community Centre 181 Roundhouse Mews Vancouver, BC V6Z 2W3 Canada
Remember using card catalogues at the library? I cannot say that I miss that. I remember going to school with a girl who took extreme pleasure in messing up the order of the cards in our little library. I imagine she was the only kid who was ever banned from her elementary school library.
Looking back she was some kind of proto-anarchist who was probably trying to take down "the man". Or "the woman", as was actually the case. The thing is that our elementary school librarian was one of the meanest people I have ever met. I will just call her Mrs. V. She was a real pill. Nonetheless, my love of books persevered.
What I DO miss about libraries is the old due date cards. I am a nerd for ephemera, especially when it contains the handwriting of people I do not know. So I was very stoked to find this!
Property of the Miskatonic University Library Orne Special Collections
It got me thinking about how to incorporate this into my own home library. I have been bad with lending books and then losing track of them over the years. I want to stop that from happening again, and the solution hit me like a ton of books. (As I prefer books to bricks).
Why not use library sign-out / due date cards in my own books? Turns out they are not hard to find online. Bonus: They are totally cheap. Or even free!
You can use this free template from the lovely folks at Love vs. Design. It seems to have a little owl image embedded, but it seems that all the cool kids on Etsy are loosing their shit about owls these days. Impress your friends! RIGHT HERE
Well what about those little envelopes? How do you get a hold of those? Look no further than Mel Stampz's blog where she provides the templates for OVER 100 KINDS OF ENVELOPES. FREE. Yeah, that's right. FREE. RIGHT HERE
Are you among the many who love the look of raised bands on book spines? This is usually a feature of Medieval books, although the technique is still used in contemporary bookbinding.
There are multiple ways to achieve this look.
The traditional method is called sewing on raised cords (or one of the many variations of that name, like pack-sewn bindings or double-pack when there are two cords creating each raised area on the spine. The photos below are of double-pack as there two cords side by side at each station that are sewn together.
When you look close up you can see something surprising - I had always assumed that with double-pack stitching it was necessary to loop around the two cords in a figure 8 to hold them securely. It appears that it is possible to bind this way by using a straight loop that encompasses both cords.
The point is, how the heck do you do that? This is one of the times when big league tools are handy. Particularly a sewing frame. This is a frame that allows you to stretch and hold the cords taught while adding and sewing the book sections.
The following 4 videos are in Italian (which I do not speak), but you can easily get the gist of the information. This is why I love well photographed or well-shot videos of masters at work - the craft transcends language.
First we fold and tear the paper into signatures. Then we set up the sewing frame using 'keys' that hold the string (cords) into place. Then add the signatures one at a time and start assembling the book. Note that this bookbinder is not using particularly heavy cord, and that a more pronounced banded profile can be achieved with thicker cord secured in the sewing frame.
Are you still there? Okay let's wrap this up and get on to finishing.
Okay, now what? These steps leave you with a naked bookstack or textblock. How do you finish the binding? Beware, this uploader thought you may also like Thievery Corporation as much as he does. Prepare to hear his music in the background.
In terms of sewing the cords, another variation is to saw deeper v-shaped channels into the bookspine, and lay the cords into the little troughs (also called kerfs, 'cause arts love synonyms). This creates a flat (or flatter- more like a 1/4 round) profile on the spine. This allows for a very strong bind that will likely outlast the leather binding. As is the case with this sweet book below. Never look down your nose at a ruined binding, as this is one of the most valuable sources of binding information. How often do you get to see a great artwork with the technical steps exposed? Rarely.
Sorry this next shot is mega blurry. I want to show you how different the profile is on this baby. Smooth!
So what about this false binding thing? It is a bit of a misnomer as the book really is bound, but does not actually need to be sewn on to cords. The raised bands are created on a separate spine piece and the book is assembled in more of a case bind style.
For some reason I am not able to show this video on my blog.
Are you familiar with the Codex Gigas? It is the world's largest Medieval manuscript. This is one amazing text and an even more unbelievable bind. Not to mention the element of mystery and possible deals with the Devil involved. Curious? Here is a view of the cover.
Image property of Stockholm National Library
Looking good so far, am I right? Well it gets better. In this case there is so, so much more to love.
For one thing, it is insanely gigantic. Remember that this is a Medieval manuscript made by hand. Debatably by a single human being.
Image property of Stockholm National Library
Are you salivating for more info? It is actually possible for one person to have created this book? Would you like to watch a sensationalized and slightly trashy documentary on the subject? This is still a very informative and exciting piece of drama-cumentary film. You are in luck.
Back at the Word on the Street event I had the pleasure of meeting the artist Charles Mayrs, who is a writer, illustrator and photographer whose books are letterpress printed.
While it would not be possible to actually bring the machinery for letterpress and demonstrate the process, there was a nice variety work showing the results. Mayrs' work ranges from text to imagery and even maps. Viewers were encouraged to ask questions about the process and actually handle the work! This is an awesome and rare opportunity as these books are housed in the archives or rare book sections of libraries and require special permission for handling. Also they cost about $750-$1200 bucks a pop and are created in extremely limited editions.
Here are a couple of good videos from YouTube. I do not own the rights to any of these videos and they remain the property of the individual artists.
This first one is really informative about the whole process from making type to actually printing. However I do find the narration ill-fitting and overly intense.
This next one shows more about how to set the paper in place and create a guide for accurate alignment. I am surprised how fast the paper gets changed out and replaced with a new one.
One last video showing a much more heavily inked plate.
Now that we have seen some of the process, take a look at Charles' work.
In this first photo we see a mix of text and an image, with the page printed in black, red and yellow. As we can see from the videos there is only one color printed at a time, so this page is the sum of three different runs through the press. At first glance I totally assumed that the black would have been the first color printed. It looks to me like the black would be a great way to create a guideline for the other colors. It turns out that it was actually printed in red first, then yellow, then black last. Charles pointed out that the large red letter S as well as the red hair were printed at the same time.
Imagine these pages coming out of the press between stages. The first one would be only the large letter I and the negative space in the face and neck, separated by white spaces. Next the three yellow details in the nose and shoulders. Finally the black text and all the black lines that unify the image. What a magical feeling it must be to see the work come to life in this way.
To make things more complex, this next page boasts four colors.
In another publication Mayrs includes his stunning landscape photography. The photos are beautifully printed in luminous color and add to the feeling that the books are something special.
One book even contained a map pertinent to the story. The black details are letterpress printed. Afterwards Charles added tea stains and burnt edges to add to the aged and used feel of the piece. I love to mix up your media and do a lot of finishing after the first stage is complete. I always admire the various stages of detailing in artwork.
In other volumes more complex imagery starts to appear.
I was told that these images are a combination of black letterpress details and hand-colored finishing using Prismacolor pencil crayons. That means that each edition is really one of a kind!
And then things just get crazy. I love these amazing pieces! Again we are looking at a combo of black letterpress and hand applied pencil crayon. These are not prints, each piece is a unique iteration of the work.
And for bonus points Charles has a beautiful, simple business card that I totally love. Naturally, the business card is letterpress printed.
I have to say the portrait of Charles it is pretty true to life. Wouldn't you say? Here he is in the flesh.
I am not sure whether the striped shirt is a coincidence or some kind of trademark. I guess the goatee is a new addition.
Hope you have enjoyed this little ditty about letterpress. Google some images or search YouTube to learn more if you are feeling inclined. You may get hooked.
Hey, check me out on the Roundhouse Facebook page for this year's Urban Artisan's Fair!
There's three of my books right there at the bottom! Awesome!
I am so totally stoked as this is my first show in Vancouver since moving here in August. What are you doing on November 24th and 25th? I suggest you come for a visit!
Okay I am so totally exceptionally excited today!
Here is why:
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For more info check out the CBBAG website: http://vanbookarts.wordpress.com/ If you are in the Vancouver area, I hope you drop by! I will be back tomorrow with reviews of the workshops Hope you have a great day! xo Laura
It is with a huge boner that I present this 13th Century binding in the Byzantine style. Take a good look at those endbands. Seriously. And the way the leather is folded around the head and tail edges of the boards? Amazing.
So we can all agree that this binding makes the short list of hottest binds of all time. Also I imagine I am not the only person who wants to learn how to do this. Guess what I found?
I plan to follow these instructions and then review or amend them as needed. I can see that there are handwritten notes in the margins but I have a hard time reading them. Most written instructions can use a little tweaking to make them clearer - and these ones are not clear to me without trying the project.
I have yet to find a tutorial on Greek endbands, which is apparently the style used here. Help a sister out if you find one!
Finally, THIStotally beautiful adaptation of Byzantine binding created by Perkolator Press.
Image Property of Perkolator Press
Notice the use of straight up white thread for the endbands, letting the stitching take center stage. Some of the components of these endbands are similar to the first book, but there are some interesting differences.
For one thing, the two cores (the cord or rolled paper that thread is wrapped around to create the bands) used by Perkolator Press appear to be the same size. The 13th Century book uses cores of two different sizes.
Another difference is in the appearance of beading along the endbands. No, this has nothing to do with seed beads or other beads in the strict sense. Beading refers to an extra row of stitches in addition to the core or cores used to create endbands. This extra row is created by the repeating pattern of crossing the threads over each other as they are moved forward into different signatures of the book. There are methods that have no beading at all, as well as beads appearing on the front of the work (front beading = in front of the core) or on the back of the work (back beading = behind the core), depending on whether the needle is inserted first from the foreedge or the spine of the work. Perkolator's endbands also have no front bead - meaning there either is no bead here or the stitches are back beaded. Beading is visible in the 13th Century book as the last row of stitches on the left of the bookspine - this is in front of the core, so it is front beaded. The center and far right rows of stitches are wrapped around cores.
I love seeing master craftspeople working. There area number of techniques we can learn about from the images in this little film.
I assure you that this is in fact a steaming pile of goodness. The first thing we see is a little tip related to tooling leather. This is a process of applying heat and pressure to the surface of leather, leaving gold or other colored impressions. Here we see Don cooling a tool after removing it from the heat source. It is very important to make sure it is the proper temperature. If the metal stamping surface of the tools are too hot the leather surface will burn or warp, etc. One will often witness bookbinders touching the surface of their tools with bare fingers as it is said that the ideal temperature is still tolerable to the touch. I have not tested the accuracy of this theory, please let me know if you have insider info to add about the proper temperature.
The interesting thing about this photo is Don's setup - he appears to be using a large sea sponge in a dish with water to control the temperature of the tool. Other setups can include cotton or other absorbent fibrous materials in a shallow bowl with water. When you are tooling you do not want the surface of the tool (the part that comes in contact with the leather) to get wet as this can damage the tool over time. The solution is to roll the metal cylinder band that attaches the metal stamp to the handle.
It starts to make more sense here, where we can see the whole setup: on top there is a little specialized stove for heating tools, and below there is the cooling station.
This photo belonging to Pat and Rosemary Keough of ANTARCTICA and LABYRINTH SUBLIME shows a finishing stove much more clearly. View their website at: http://www.keough-art.com/tome_passion_blog/tome_passion_blog_24.php
If we look at this stove, we can see that there are two distinct sections. The disc at the center is a hot flat surface for heating the face of the tools. The outer ring supports the wooden handles of the tools while keeping them a safe distance from the heat source. Note that there are little groves all along the edge of the outer ring to keep the tools stable.
Back to Don - we have seen him heat and cool the tool, and now he touches the tool to the gold foil, which is layered on top of the leather.
When the excess foil is removed, a crisp line remains.
Another way to work with gold leaf or gold foil is with the aid of specialized machines you find in professional binderies. I totally, totally wish.
While gold leaf or gold foil are very popular, gorgeous results can be achieved simply allowing the leather and the patterning to stand alone. This is referred to as stamping.
This style of decorating is called blind tooling. I imagine that this is because it is often performed freehand or by assembling small simple line stamps into large and complex designs.
Stamps with full designs are available, and can be used on their own or with gold leaf for good times.
BONUS INFO: Shot of a professional paring leather. A sharp specialized knife is used to shear a portion of the backside of the leather away to make it thinner while still remaining strong. This is critical on all turn-in areas of leather in order to keep the profile smooth. If the leather is folded without being pared, it is bulky and creates a bulbous profile for your book. Notice how he is holding the knife - they cut better when approaching from an angle than they do straight on.
DOUBLE BONUS INFO: Cuttin' corners. I hope you can forgive me for that pun. In order to make your corner turn-ins meet flush rather than overlap, you must cut the leather before folding. Depending on the thickness of the leather, start approx 2 mm out from the corner, then measure 45 degree angles relative to the to the corner. After some time you will be able to measure this by eye as Don seems to be doing here.
Do let's get started, shall we? I make books. Actually I make a lot of stuff but lately the focus has been on books. By lately I mean the least few years, but who is counting. When it comes to learning a craft well, it often takes far more than a few years. I am totally self-taught, which is not as awesome as it sounds. Although, did you ever notice that bookbinding workshops tend to be hundreds of dollars? Kind of a turn-off. I tend to rely on internet tutorials and books for reference and to learn new techniques. I will be sharing and reviewing a lot of these references for you.
Which leads me to the following complaint: where is a good tutorial on French endbands, ughhhh?Throw me a bone, or at least a rolled paper cone. That would be funny if you were also trying to learn French endbands. The photo above is an example of my latest attempt at French -style endbands with a double roll and front beading. The process for this is a modification of simple endbands but made on rolled paper cores rather than cord. The upside is that the threads move very cleanly along the core when you are wrapping, leading to a smooth finish. The downside is that paper lacks the flexibility of cords and therefore the endbands don't conform as well to the curvature of the book spine when it is closed. I still like how they look, but I want to learn more. Good old trial and error, here I come. Unless I do end up finding a good resource. You will be the first to know!
These pictures are of my latest book, available here https://www.etsy.com/listing/109725651/skeleton-hands-book-hardcover-leather
