Book #59

Roll

There have been many types of scrolls throughout history and across cultures. I already presented an example of a Japanese handscroll a few weeks ago, but thought I might explore a few other formats as well. The most basic scroll is simply a piece of paper or parchment that has been rolled up. Usually reserved for shorter works and commonly referred to as a roll rather than a scroll.

The photo above shows my work, entitled "A ship in a bottle." The bottle contains an example of a simple roll. The roll is printed with a picture of a schooner ship (Lovely Nelly) on which my ancestors arrived in the New World along with a brief genealogy.

Book #58

Unsupported Blanket Stitch

I bound this blank book using an exposed spine, unsupported blanket stitch. This unsupported binding is best with a small book, not many signatures.

Book #57

Smith's Braided Spine

Keith Smith's 3-section sewing to create this braided spine, is one of my favorites from his books. On this particular example, I had six sections, so I just repeated the pattern to create the two columns of braids.

Book #56

Jacob's Ladder

The technique used to make this structure, called Jacob's Ladder, is also used for children's toys and for making trick box lids and other items. But it does make an interesting book format too. It can be opened like a traditional codex, or like an accordion, or it can be displayed flat. And if you are holding it and drop the pages down, you can make them flip over each other and climb down the ladder.

Creating Handmade Books by Alisa Golden includes directions for making this structure.

My jacob's ladder book in action:

Book #55

Slot and Tab binding

This slot and tab binding involves no sewing and no adhesives, just cutting slots and tabs into each sheet and inserting one sheet into the next. This binding is explained in one of Alisa Golden's books.

Book #54

Hollow Tube Binding

This book was made with a hollow tube binding. Incorporating a hollow tube as part of the spine lining creates an effective opening action.

Book #53

Nag Hammadi Codex

I made this in the style of the Nag Hammadi books. The collection of books known as the Nag Hammadi Library are some of the earliest known manuscripts in codex format and were probably produced during the 2nd Century AD in Egypt.

Book #52

Teabag Book

Little notebooks made from teabag wrappers and boxes, in the shape of a teabag. I saw this idea in Creating Handmade Books by Alisa Golden.

Book #51

Mexican Inquisition Trial Manuscripts

I had an opportunity to take a workshop conducted by Gillian Boal a few years ago. She had studied the structure of the bound trial manuscripts that were produced during the Mexican Inquisition. This is my replica of one of those manuscripts. All the documents from a trial were bound together at the end of the trial and various pieces of evidence were included by binding them permanently into the book. My replica includes some little extra bits of paper, a small booklet, a feather, a noose, and a leather amulet with mysterious contents, all bound in among the pages.

Book #50

Palm Leaf Book

I made this book using the structure of the traditional Indian palm leaf books. It contains the text of "The Ancient Sage" by Tennyson.

Book #49

Cartonnage

Today's book is an example of a book made using the cartonnage technique, where the stiff cover is created by pasting several layers of paper (or papyrus, as it would have been originally). This is a model that I made in a class with Gary Frost a few years ago.

Book #48

Another Tacket Binding

This is an example of another binding using tackets. Here the textblock and covers were created separately, then the textblock was tacketed to the cover.

Book #47

Tackets

For this little journal, I just used three long tackets to bind the signatures directly through the cover.

Book #46

Link & Longstitch Combo

This is a recently completed project, using a combination of link stitch and long stitch for the exposed binding.

Book #45

Origami Heart Book

Happy Valentine's Day! Today's book is an origami heart that folds up to have this little bookish bit sticking out the front!