Much of a muchness

I was inspired by Dennis Yuen’s lovely web site Cailun.info to dig out my bookbinding equipment and try to create one of his ribbon mounted books. I did an informal bookbinding course a couple of years ago run by Sue Lewington, a West Country artist who paints beautiful illustrated diaries. Some of these are available to buy as books on Amazon as is some of her original artworks at the Great Atlantic Map Works Gallery I had all the equipment I needed mostly bought from Shepherds in London, or online at John Neal Booksellers in the US, a web site which is full of wonderful calligraphy books and materials, bookbinding equipment and art supplies. They also publish the ‘Letter Arts Review’ a full colour journal devoted to lettering arts and Bound and Lettered a quarterly magazine about bookbinding.

Anyway, I digress. I started by sewing the text block, using linen thread to hold together the cut and folded cartridge paper.

It always seems a shame that the intricate herringbone stitching is hidden under the book cover although there are bookbinding techniques which do leave it exposed.
I then made the cover, using book card for the front and back covers and the spine and then covered this with a Japanese paper which contrasted nicely with the yellow ribbon, I had stitched onto the spine of the text block. I covered the inside of the cover with a sheet of plain yellow paper and made slits for the ribbons to pass through.


I was fairly pleased with the finished book, so I am now going to have to go and buy more lovely paper from Falkiners which is a good excuse to head up to London next week.