Book #243

Zhen Xian Bao, Pattern Book

I have made another Zhen Xian Bao (Chinese Thread Book) for today. This one is quite different than the first one that I showed (Book 204). This one has added pages and is bound along the spine using a typical 5-hole stab sewing, reinforced with a split dowel. Ruth Smith refers to this type of Zhen Xian Bao as a Pattern Book. There are eight folded pages in this book and they would be used as large pockets to hold patterns or other pieces of paper or fabric that are too big for the little boxes. The centre spread is built up with layers of boxes similar to the first book that I showed. Traditionally, the pages and all the boxes were elaborately and colourfully hand decorated with flowers and geometric patterns. Including the eight folded page pockets, this Zhen Xian Bao has 34 compartments.

Book #242

Loose-Leaf Book

Today's book might not be considered a book because it is not a codex. In "Books, Boxes and Portfolios," Zeier considers collections of loose pages to be books and defends their status as true books in spite of contrary opinions elsewhere. My example is a traditional Japanese case that I made specifically to house a collection of art prints.

Book #241

Tight back Rebinding

This book is another rebound book. The original book already had a round, so I didn't need to create a fake one like I did with yesterday's book. So this version is a tight back, with false raised bands. Split boards, quarter leather, and some more of my marbled paper.

Book #240

Hollow Tube Rebinding

Today's book is another example of a rebound perfect-bound paperback, this time made with a hollow tube to create a rounded spine. False bands, split boards. Quarter leather and my own marbled paper.

Book #239

Split Cover Pamphlet

Today's book is the last of the bindings that I am going to use from my Pamphlet Binding book. This variant is called a split cover, because the front and back covers are two separate pieces of paper, rather than a continuous wrapper. Bookcloth is wrapped on the spine.

Book #238

Hardcover Pamphlet 4

As promised, this is the hardcover version of the slit pamphlet binding that I introduced yesterday. It does work better with a hardcover.

Book #237

Slit Pamphlet

I am making up names for some of these things. My Pamphlet Binding book does not actually assign names to all the binding variations. The pamphlet that I made for today is bound using another technique suitable for one or two thin signatures. Slits are stabbed near the fold and tapes are passed through the slits. I made this one with a paper cover trying to keep it simple, but I still had to add a folded endsheet and paste the tapes down between the cover paper and the pasted endsheet. A lot of steps for a pamphlet with a paper cover. I suspect this binding will make more sense in a hardcover case - which I will try for tomorrow.

Book #236

Hardcover Pamphlet 3

Using the same side-sewing technique as yesterday's pamphlet, this version has the addition of tipped-on endsheet folios and a harcover, full cloth with inset label.

Book #235

Side-sewn Pamphlet

Today's pamphlet binding is intended for use only with thin signatures made up of large pages of thin paper. This restriction makes perfect sense, really, since the signatures are actually stabbed and sewn together near the spine - rather than being individually sewn through the fold. My example has three slim signatures, stabbed and sewn about 1/8" from the spine. Pasted into a paper wrapper.

Book #234

Hardcover Pamphlet 2

Today's book is another binding from my Pamphlet Binding book. This is a 2-signature pamphlet but rather than the signatures just being sewn together, they are sewn through cloth. Again, with a hardcover in full cloth with inset label.

Book #233

Hardcover Pamphlet 1

Still working from the Pamphlet Binding book that I mentioned yesterday, this is a paste-bound pamphlet bound with a hardcover. Full cloth with an inset label.

Book #232

Pamphlet Binding:
Sewing Two On

I have been reading a book called Pamphlet Binding from 1925, which details the making of pamphlets in a production bindery. There is some discussion of how machines are taking over many of the tasks in the bindery but it also details various ways of binding pamphlets by hand. The little book that I made today is made using one of the techniques described in this book, simply referred to as sewing two on. It is a technique intended for a thin 2-signature pamphlet: the signatures are stitched, the spine is reinforced with muslin, and a paper cover is pasted on.

Book #231

Saw Kerf Binding

This method is suitable for binding single sheets or rebinding books. I used it to rebind one of my favorite books, of which my only copy was a tattered perfect-bound paperback. Now it looks much cooler redressed in its hardcover suit and Ann Muir marbled paper.

There are instructions for this saw kerf binding in Pauline Johnson's book, "Creative Bookbinding" (which has a few useful bookbinding tidbits but is mostly just a wonderful 1960s time-capsule).

Book #230

Paste-bound Pamphlet

I have a few bindings on my list reserved for days when I have very little time to do this blog update. Today is one of those days! So, I made a paste-bound pamphlet for today. I read about these being made in a bindery; a piece of binder's board was cut to the height of the pamphlet, dipped in the paste and then used to quickly apply a thin line of paste into each fold very quickly. I just used a brush since I was making only one book, but it does sound like it could be efficient if you have only a few folios per book.

Book #229

German Paper Binding 9

Today's German Paper Binding is the last one that I am going to do. I could probably mix and match the various structural features and come up with more, but I probably should move on to something new! The one I made for today is done with a full cloth cover, which is a variation that I wanted to try before I put these away. It also has a tipped-in single-folio endsheet and the spine is lined with muslin.

I also posted a new photo for Book #221, the first German Paper Binding that I made. I was not entirely happy with the first one so I made a new one that turned out much better.

Book #228

German Paper Binding 8

Another variant of the German Paper Binding today. This one has a leather spine, which was attached separately from the boards. It also has hooked endsheets and a hollow spine (no tube!) Attaching the spine and boards separately like this gives the book quite a different appearance, compared to my previous variants. Using leather also gives it a more refined look that I like. Thank you to Peter Verheyen for all the information he has shared about these bindings.

Book #227

German Paper Binding 7

Another German Paper Binding variant today, and this time the difference is something I can show in the photo. Today's book was made with a hollow spine - which you can see in the top photograph. (I used a tube to make the hollow -- but upon further investigation, the tube is not typical on this kind of binding.) Otherwise, most of the structural elements are the same as previous versions. I like this refinement; this might be my favorite.

Book #226

German Paper Binding 6

Yes, I realize that my books have been a tad redundant this week; but, each one differs in construction to some extent. Today's version of the German Paper Binding is made with unsupported link stitch sewing and tipped in endsheets. Still the same cloth spine, paper-covered boards (using my own marbling), and trimmed flush at head and tail.

Book #225

German Paper Binding 5

I made another of these German Paper Bindings, with some variations. This one is sewn on tapes with an abbreviated stitching pattern, otherwise the construction is nearly the same as the two previous books. And this one has some of my paste paper, rather than marbled paper.

Book #224

German Paper Binding 4

Today's German Paper Binding is very similar to the one I made yesterday, but the sewing is done differently. Today's book is sewn with an unsupported link stitch. Everything else is the same.

Book #223

German Paper Binding 3

The book I made for today is another German Paper Binding, made with a simple unsupported sewing which Peter Verheyen calls geholländert. A single-folio endsheet is hooked around the first and last signatures, cloth spine, and paper-covered boards (using some more of my own marbled paper), head and tail are flush.

Book #222

German Paper Binding 2

Today's book is another German Paper Binding. This one is an adhesive bound structure with a cloth spine and paper-covered boards, trimmed flush at the head and tail. I was reading about this on Peter Verheyen's blog and he wrote that it works well as a binding method for documents printed on stacks of loose sheets, so that is what I did here. And he is right, it did work very well.

Book #221

German Paper Binding 1

For today, I made an example of a German paper binding, of which there are several variants. This particular example is the German Stiffened Paper Binding, sewn on tapes, with covers made of thin board covered in a paper wrapper, then trimmed at the head and tail (although I do not have access to a guillotine, so they were shorn by hand as well as I could manage). The cover wrapper is some of my own marbled paper.

The photo below is the book that I originally made for today's post. I was not entirely happy with it, though, especially after I made all the other variations of the Pappband. So I made a new one (the green book, above) using all the same techniques and I think it turned out much better.

Book #220

Beethoven's Fifth

This is one of Smith's 3-section bindings using uneven bars, which he calls Beethoven's Fifth.

This journal is available in my Etsy shop.

Book #219

Crossed Snowshoes

Today I attended a screen printing workshop which was really fun. I did a few different prints, including the red print on the cover of this book. I was not particularly happy with this print, but after I cut it up and turned it into a book cover, I like it more. The binding that I used today is another one from Keith Smith's book, and this is a 2-section binding that he calls crossed snowshoes. I modified it a little bit, if you are comparing, because I was not happy with the way he anchored the first two snowshoes. I found that his method made it very hard to keep the shape of the first cross and my little modification will keep them in position more effectively.

Book #218

The Twist

One more quickie binding while camping. This is another single-signature stitch called The Twist in Keith Smith's book. Also, like the previous two days, this little book was made out of papers that I found on the road, brochures and maps and such. Photographed at Whale Cove Campground, Nova Scotia.

Book #217

Bow Tie

Today I made a single-signature pamphlet using a running stitch with a pearl, and in Smith's book he calls this a bow tie stitch. Photographed at Balancing Rock, on Long Island, Nova Scotia.

Book #216

Broken H

So, obviously this is a terrible picture of the little book that I made today. But I took the little book with me on a whale watching boat and tried to get both in the same photo. Which is hard with a phone in one hand and a book in the other and the whales just doing their own thing. But there is a humpback whale there in the above photo - and she was far more impressive than my little 3-section binding. But here also is a better picture of the book with the "broken H" binding, sans whale. Photographs taken somewhere in the Bay of Fundy.

Book #215

Tridents

Bear with me as I try to stay on top of my blogging while on the road and camping with my family. Today's book is a quick 3-section binding from Smith's book. Photographed at Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia.

Book #214

Sempūyō

Another Japanese binding today. This is the sempūyō binidng, or Flutter Book. Like most Japanese bindings, this structure was originally Chinese. This one remained more popular in China than in Japan. The pages form an accordion, again not made from one long sheet but rather from a series of folded sheets that have been adhered at the peak of each mountain. The cover wraps around the spine of the book, but leaves the spine free to flutter open. The cover of this example is a sheet of Moriki Kozo, which is super lovely paper if you ever have a chance to work with it.

Book #213

Double-Leaved Album

Today's book is another Japanese accordion album structure. This format evolved in Japan because the Japanese papers have a "right side" and a "wrong side" - so the right side is on the front of the accordion and the wrong side is on the back of the accordion. With this double-leaved structure, the folded sheets are adhered "wrong side" to "wrong side" so that the finished accordion has the "right side" on both sides. I hope that made sense!