Nag Hammadi Bookbinding

Leather books were found in the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945 with Coptic writing from the 4th Century, one containing the Gospel of St. Thomas; housed in the Coptic Museum in Cairo.

From The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding by J.A. Szirmai

In a Nag Hammadi Bookbinding workshop I learned how to make the book from Jana Pullman at the Focus on Book Arts in Oregon. We created a replica using tooling techniques on the leather cover. Jana referenced this book: The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding by J.A. Szirmai.

I cut the outline from a piece of leather, and wet it to emboss the design with a butterfly leather stamp from Tandy Leather. 

I used my Japanese Book Drill for the turquoise mat board to show through the design.

In the class we glued several papyrus sheets to make the cover boards. At home mat board worked - covered with bookcloth - adhered to the back of the leather.

The outer side glued first, then the top and bottom tabs. I was going to cover them with end sheet fabric - decided to leave it open. 

 

Next I used my new sewing cradle bought from Missy Bosch last week. I love it! 



Missy sells them on Etsy here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/267511021/bookbinding-sewing-cradle-collapsible?ref=shop_home_active_1

Lastly, I hole punched and sewed the tie plus sewed the text block to the spine with tacket binding making the text block refillable. I am pleased with how it came out too! 

Making the Nag Hammadi did not take me as long as I thought it would. The most time-consuming part was embossing the wet leather. I made additional books with red leather and blue leather covers - for sale on my Etsy site: www.ARTbooks.Etsy.com

Please let me know if you tried any type of historic bookbinding. Makes me feel connected to the 4th century!

Writing Zines

A few weeks ago I talked about my Zines. When I teach people how to make Zines I use creative writing techniques. These self-published magazines are really fun to make! 

This week: suggestions for what to write about; next week learn how to design your magazine.

Suggestions for writing themes:

• Rant & rave, let the world know what ticks you off.
• Create characters and an interesting story line; make it visual with artwork.
• Pretend you are from outer space; give mundane earthly items a new purpose.
• Trends: Fashion, home decor, jewelry…pick an era.
• Choose one letter of the alphabet or one number, base your writing on that choice.

More writing themes:

• Interesting signs: snap photos of them. Some are really fun to write about.
• Bring song lyrics to life with photos or drawings.
• Use interesting fonts or lettering with your quotes or poems.
• Write about things that make you happy or sad and why.
• Describe an odd dream or daydream you had and your interpretation.

One of my creativity books is Michael J.Gelb's “How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci.” An exercise balancing your logical and creative side is: Think of different uses for a scarf. I’ll start you off: use as a belt or necktie. Next week I’ll include 20 more uses.

If you are in the Houston area, remember Zine Fest is happening at The Lawndale Art Center on November 19th. - In the Comments below, let me know what books or techniques you use to get your creative juices flowing.

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Creating a Clamshell Box

I finally made another Clamshell Box! I learned how to make a Clamshell Box in an Austin workshop in 2012. I made another box from the pre-cut boards as soon as I arrived home.

A Clamshell Box is a custom made case for historically important books in museums or libraries, offering protection against light, wear and tear.

This week I made my box from start to finish: cutting the boards, gluing; making sure my book fit the box. I gathered my supplies:

• right edge ruler, plus smaller ruler to get in tight spaces

• scissors

• bone folder

• pencil

• brushes

• PVA glue

• Davey board - thicker than mat board

Not pictured: 

• X-Acto razor, 11 blade to cut board - I use my CARL Cutter to cut smaller pieces

• paper or book cloth to cover your box

First, I measured my Link Binding Book: 6 5/8 x 10 1/4 plus the depth is 1 inch. I needed 11 pieces of board: the lower tray does not fit the book perfectly since 1/8 inch of the board thickness, two on the length and one for width, are added. The top tray goes over the lower tray plus 3 sides - remember the 1/8 for all the sides, then 3 boards - looks like a cover for a book. 

The sides are glued on top of the tray. Then roll the glued sides of each tray on the paper. Remember that your finished box will depend totally on the size your book. Mine was 10 3/4 by 6 3/4 for the lower tray. And 11 x 7 x 1 1/8 for the upper tray.

I used the paper Debbie gave me for my July workshop, 1 1/2 sheets of  20 x 30 inches. My order of gluing after rolling the sides: bottom back, front tray sides, top sides, then top back.

Remember to cut the sides in v shapes so your paper is not clumped up. It really is fold over, measure and cut as you go. Your amount of paper will depend on the size of your book.

I made the books for the Austin Clamshell Boxes to fit inside. I recommend making a box for your book instead. My recent box took hours to make but was a fun challenge too. 

Let me know if you have questions and be sure to tell me about your experience with making boxes for your books.

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Bookbinding in Los Angeles

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

I like to take a class when I travel. I found Charlene Matthews Bindery in Hollywood when I visited Los Angeles during Halloween 2010. We emailed to come up with a day when she had a workshop. Turned out I was the only student!

Charlene’s bindery is a storefront on Melrose Avenue where you can see the famous Hollywood sign. Charlene has bound books for movies such as Indiana Jones. We had a whole day - including lunch - of bookbinding. I was in heaven! 

Charlene showed me around her fabulous shop and asked me what I’d like to learn. Even though I was bookbinding for a while I look for alternatives to use. Charlene let me know she was using something new: a fine mesh screen-like material for pages and covers. 

Charlene demonstrated, covering the fine mesh with paper; we each made covers. We made the spine pieces, figuring out which paper to wrap around them; we hole-punched the signatures using lovely watercolor paper, and sewed the text block through the mesh onto the spine.

Since I made two spine pieces Charlene suggested I make another book with a leather wrap-around cover. I learned that the thread does not need to go through every station (hole) that was punched. It was a revelation to me!

I love these variations of the Tightback Longstitch Bindings taught by Charlene. I had not used spine pieces before and the books open flat for art journaling.

Charlene sent me home with some of that fine mesh material which I’ve since found at Ace Hardware. Recently I bought a whole roll of it and I'll use it too.  

Traveling Skewer Book

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Taking a trip by car, boat or plane? During down time - you can think great thoughts or have interesting conversations with Questions from the Traveling Skewer Book.

Supplies:

Arnold Grummer Paper Making Kit
Arnold Grummer How To Make Paper 

Two pieces of wrapping paper or handmade paper - 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches

Two pieces of color coordinated paper -  5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches

Two 6 inch bamboo skewers 

2 pieces of ribbon - 15 inches each

Bone folder, hole punch, double sided tape

Road Trip rubber stamp

Twelve questions to ask while traveling - see below.

Prepare two signatures: 

One piece of handmade paper and one piece of coordinated paper each.

Punch holes in both signatures an inch from the top and bottom.

Place a skewer inside each signature.

Thread the ribbon from the outside into the first signature, around the skewer and out.

Repeat for the second signature using the same ribbon.

Snug up the ends, creating a tight tension.

Tie a knot, make a bow.

Repeat for the other hole.

Snip sharp ends of the skewers.

Use double sided tape to adhere

your questions, such as:

What do you daydream about?

What are your favorite crayon colors?

Did you have something funny happen on a trip?

Which author living or dead would you like to meet?

What would you like to sell in a TV commercial?

What do you miss the most when away from home?

What was your all-time favorite vacation?

If you opened a restaurant what is your house specialty?

What's your favorite fast food meal?

Which would you give up - if you had to - pizza, hamburgers or hot dogs?

What would you perform in a talent show?

Would you rather live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or San Francisco?

Actually I prefer Houston, Texas!

Skewer Books are quick to make! Interesting quotes you find make a nice gift too.