Colorful Lettering Patches

In the world of lettering patches, this is a rather colorful collection. Normally, there is more accord in an edition. But in this case, it seemed appropriate. The client provided me with the entire collection of Tintin books, some 23 in all. The covers were stripped, they were each disbound and then were resewn in four separate volumes. They were resewn so that I could physically attach the book covers to the pages using the cords each signature was sewn onto. Whenever possible, I avoid cased bindings where the cover is built off the book and then simply glued onto the textblock. I prefer the more robust and long-lasting laced binding, especially with a collection like this that will likely be read for generations.

Sherlock Holmes in Leather

Something about Sherlock Holmes calls out for a leather binding, so when a client inquired about binding his set, I thought it would be a good idea to bind my copy as well. This is his, mine being a single, larger volume. The endpapers are made of maps of London featuring Baker Street. Reading these next to the fire on a rainy day feels rather Victorian, and I half expect a knock on the door by some fellow in a top hat and morning coat.  

Making a Facsimile Cover in Leather

A local scientist wanted one of his many contributions to the study of moths to be leather bound. We decided to do a facsimile of the original paper cover in Siegel's fair goat. The front was fairly straightforward (if time consuming) work on the stamping press using a variety of foils and fonts. The spine was more difficult. I build the majority of my covers on the book which means all spine work must be done by hand. I printed out the text and then used my handle letters warm to impress each individual letter through the paper onto the spine. I then went over these impressions with the foil. I had to be gentle with the tool, using a light hand to allow the tool to nestle into the impression before applying the pressure necessary to print. I quite liked the final result which reminded me of old French paperbacks.

Jefferson Rebind

Nearly six months ago a client brought in several boxes filled with books: the complete writings of Thomas Jefferson. The text blocks were solid but nearly all of the bindings suffered from red rot and were really not salvageable (at a reasonable price). The client wanted to actually read them so we decided on an economical quarter binding. Part of the economics is that I work on them when things are slow in the shop, which has been less and less these days. Fortunately, the last 10 have been stripped and cleaned and are ready for rebinding.