A weekend of productive bookbinding here in the shop. After making a crop of Coptic-stitch books over the winter, I turned my attention to hardcover books, remembering again that, although they are finicky and involve considerably more glue-wrangling, they are infinitely more satisfying to have created, in part because it feels like mere mortals should not be capable of such things.
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I am Peter Rukavina and this is my blog. I am a writer, letterpress printer, and a curious person.
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Comments
That's very impressive.
That's very impressive.
Peter....you really made me
Peter....you really made me smile today. Almost 60 year ago, at a Teacher Training College in Brighton, England my 'Craft Major' included Bookbinding. ( As well as calligraphy, pottery, puppetry, fabric printing, and sculpture. Over the course of three years, one day a week. Hard to believe these days!!!)
I still have several books I bound, including both a trial thesis, bound in my my own hand-printed fabric, AND the real thing. This thesis is 100 calligraphy and illustration - filled pages of beautiful green ingres paper, expounding the virtues of 'The Horse in Chinese Art'. It is bound in black and green leather, with leather inlays.
It's 15 ins x 15 ins, and weighs in at 6 lbs!
I look at that every now and then and - like you - I marvel that I was ever able to make such an incredible and beautiful thing! All that work...all that sewing of sections, and assembly, and gluing. Sigh.
You have made me want to start bookbinding again....where to start? Oh my.... LOL!
When we return to PEI for our month in August/Sept (Please oh please, ye gods, let it happen...) maybe I can come and take a refresher course with you? I love your books! How lovely to keep that wonderful tradition alive. Do you offer courses ? It would be SO popular...
Cheers, Peter....and thank you for prompting my trip down memory lane. I trip merrily (if perhaps a little awkwardly) into my eightieth year this week. Who ever thinks they might become so old....but we do.
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