Waiting for glue to dry …

The major book arts project this week was finally constructing a wrapper for Recomp, a work that I started in 2015. (You can read about it here and here.)

Recomp is mounted in a box that has hinges and a latch. The wrapper needed something to make room for those, so I began by making spacers out of thin book board built up in layers to match the depth of the hinges or latch. (You will note that I used a highly sophisticated clamping system.)

The book board on its own is neither particularly attractive nor smooth. Since the wrapper is meant to protect the surface of the work, I added a paper layer.

Here are the spacers glued onto the inner spine of the wrapper. I used a ruler both to keep them straight and to guide their placement.

The wrapper itself is made from Canal grey flax paper. I chose it for toughness and durability, but it has a rough surface so I also lined the vertical strip with a smooth paper to protect the other surfaces of the work.

Here’s the finished wrapper with the side flaps open.

Here it is with the vertical flaps open.

In case you missed it the first time around, here’s what Recomp looks like inside.

I still need to make a small explanatory booklet. (I have been dithering about that for years now!) I think Recomp looks quite nice in its new ‘jacket’.

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It was another excellent week for mail. I received my IAPMA magazine.

It even has real paper samples inside.

This is the spread introducing me as a new member of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists. I illustrated my text with a work made from my handmade paper.

Late in the week I got an even better treat. Ed Hutchins sent me a copy of Star Gazer.

 

 

You can order your own copy here.

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In other book arts news:

There was a lot of type-related news this week. Steven Heller had two articles that might be of interest.

Do you want to see if an AI can generate a decent typeface? Read more here.

If traditional type design is more to your taste you might want to read this piece.

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If you are looking for something a little more unusual, you can sign up for the Zoom presentation by Adita Bayu Perdana.

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If you would like to learn how a pre-Victorian book introduced punctuation to children, read this article. As well as discussing the text, its images, and how to interpret punctuation when reading aloud, there is some printing history included.