Unusual books

Lately I've been haunted by the idea of elongated books. I'm trying out new proportions, stretching, distorting, searching for the unusual. The idea came to me after seeing a book with uncommon dimensions in the collection of a friend. It was a prayer book, slender and long as it was meant to be hold in the hand. It felt really pleasant and special to have it in my hand so I instantly wanted to create one like it.

A book made out of a vintage glasses case.

Another, made of some very cracky old leather.

And here's one I just finished. My favorite so far, and pretty unusual I'd say.

This last is made of old leather from a Portuguese chair. I had only a small piece which I got from a friend  and used it as it was. It has beautiful irregular edges and the circles are marks left by the nails used in upholstery.

I'm going to play again with this idea for sure. Perhaps try something on horizontal, don't know yet. I like them as objects but can't help to wonder, are they practical too? I haven't tried one like this yet, so I might just go ahead and keep one for myself...  

  

Medievals

These are probably my favorite three books I've made so far. I think they represents a step forward in my bookbinding practice - they are books with memories, that tell stories even before being written.  

I found this wonderful quote while writing on the endpages of a book:

"The labour of the writer is the refreshment of the reader. The one depletes the body, the other advances the mind. Whoever you are, therefore, do not scorn but rather be mindful of the work of the one labouring to bring you profit... If you do not know how to write you will consider it no hardship, but if you want a detailed account of it let me tell you that the work is heavy: it makes the eyes misty, bows the back, crushes the ribs and belly, brings pain to the kidneys and makes the body ache all over. Therefore, O reader, turn the leaves gently and keep your fingers away from the letters, for as the hailstorm ruins the harvest of the land so does the unserviceable reader destroy the book and the writing. As the sailor finds welcome the final harbour, so does the scribe the final line. Deo gratias semper." 

Colophon, from the "Silos Beatus" (12th century).

   The endpages
  

Just Work

I haven't been up to much lately besides books. Big books, little books, and even teeny-tiny books. Christmas is coming and it's really the best time of the year on Etsy! I just love it!!

 

October SALE

I decided to discount some books in my shop, thus, until the end of this week they are 20% OFF their actual price! One is gone, six have left :)

 

Gromit's Adventures in the Land of Bookbinding

For those who did not recognize yet this character, I introduce you to Gromit, very intelligent dog and companion of Wallace, famous creation from the great comics of Nick Park. Originally they were made of plasticine and filmed with stop motion clay animation. My Gromit here, on the other hand, is made of polymer clay and is an expert in bookbinding inventions. It measures 27 cm from head to toe and it was a present for my boyfriend who is a huge fan. It was custom made by my sister who makes beautiful polymer clay dolls.

So today I got bored of the classic photo set up for my books and Gromit here helped me out with it. I think these are the tiniest books I've made so far!

Books with Painted Edges

These days I was playing a bit more with painted book edges. I thought I'd show you a few pics during the process. I really like painting them, it's fun and relaxing.

 The first thing to do is fixing the book with clamps. It must be as tight as possible so that the color stays on the edge and does not slip between the pages.

Followed by sanding the edge with sand paper of different size, from rough to fine. I use four sizes. 

After this, I apply a thin layer of egg white which I immediately spread on the edge and absorb with tissue paper, polishing the surface until it becomes glossy. This creates a layer that protects the paper from soaking any color.

Applying the color in different layers. This one here is brown decoration 
painted on golden background.

Getting addicted to it :)

  Details

New Experiences

I've always loved books with gilded edges. Their fineness, elegance and preciosity fascinates me. So a few time ago when I received as present a book on how to do it I immediately had to try. It took me a few days to gather the tools and find a workshop that agreed to cut my book blocks with their guillotine, but I was all set up and ready to go. As you imagine, the experience was not at all as I expected.

After a day of work I end up frustrated by several unsuccessful trials but I decided if I can’t gild edges, at least I can paint them. That’s how these two vintage fabric journals came into existence. Now they are two of my favorite books.

The funniest thing is that in my frustration I went to the net to search for more info that could help me with the gilding. This is what I found (first hit in Google!). Hilarious!

Gilder's Lament
By Unknown Gilder ca. 17th Century

My size is prepared,
The leaf is laid out,
My agate is polished and smooth.
The press, it is loaded,
The edge has been scraped,
I feel like I'm in the groove.
I put on the size,
I lay on the gold,
My confidence reaching its peak.
I polish the edge,
Till I see by its shine,
The edge of perfection I seek.
I take the book out,
Fan open the leaves,
My heart stops still in mid-beat.
Where has the gold gone,
I look all around.
As the leaf flakes onto my feet.
Oh, where did I err,
I did everything right,
But the gold, it just didn’t stick.
I love the gilt edge,
But the process is such,
That it leaves me feeling quite sick.

So gilding book edges has been a pain in the ass for more than 3 centuries. Why would I even be surprised by my first experience?!

In the Mood for Books

I’m back in my workshop after being away for like 5 months...? And I have such a mood for making big solid books!! These are my latest creations. I’ve been thinking on how to put them together for a long time. During these last months I’ve been accumulating -- searching and gathering all hardware I could find to use on my books. But it’s really difficult to find vintage fittings that would suit best, so for these two books I mostly used new hardware with antiqued appearance but why not? I’m quite happy with the result.