The Art of the Book

Save the Words

2010-04-22T15:44:00.012-04:00

I was immediately attracted by Save the Words website—lots of color and typographic variety and a humorous audio track. If you are a lover of words, you will be too. Each year hundreds of words are dropped from the English language, I learned, leaving us with only 7,000 words for 90% of everything we write. The mission of the website creators is to save those words that have fallen by the wayside.

Clicking on a word brings up a definition of the word and an adopt this word option. Alas, my one criticism of the site is that there is no pronunciation guide. I hope one will be added in the future, audible preferred. By adopting a word and promoting it in one of the myriad, often humorous ways suggested, such as in a meeting (instead of encouraging attendees to think laterally, how about think outside the nidifice), as a pet name (Ictuate, go fetch!), as a tattoo or graffiti (!), or in your next game of Scrabble (creating endless arguments and debates using words such as pudify or stagma), you can keep these words alive and in the English language. If you are a real logophile, you can sign up and have a new word emailed to you every day.

There are other sites with collections of obscure words. One I found interesting but have not explored in depth is International House of Logorrhea, an online dictionary of weird and unusual words. Check out their Compendium of Lost Words.

Exhibit: A Castle On the Ocean

2009-07-02T10:26:00.009-04:00

It took Wataru Itou, a young art major at a Tokyo university, four years to construct this amazing castle, complete with electrical lights and a moving train, made completely of paper!

Beautiful Old Libraries

2009-06-29T10:01:00.049-04:00

The libraries of my childhood were two. One, a modern affair, was a 10-minute walk from my home, situated on a corner of the neighborhood public park. I was 12-years old when ground was broken for this library. I remember watching it being built and the thrill, when it opened, of getting my first library card, and subsequent visits where I would pull a little stool, on which to sit, up to a bookshelf to browse and select the books I would carry home. Later, in high school, I discovered the main library, downtown, with its rooms of dark wood shelving, sturdy tables and chairs, and its distinctive books scent. I spent many a date with my high school beaux doing homework in this library.

I still use the library, a lot. At least once a week, I drive to my local branch to check out movies and pick up the books I have reserved and directed to this branch through my library's online site. I rarely buy novels or audio books because I rarely reread or relisten to them so I am grateful to have a source of "free" books, but I do buy lots of reference books on topics such as gardening, cooking, beading, bookbinding, and dog training, to name a few. I use the library to make decisions about these types of book purchases. So, you can imagine my dismay when I learned a week ago that on Friday, June 19, the Governor of the state of Ohio, in an effort to balance the state budget, had proposed a cut of 50% for Public Library Funding and that voting on this proposal would be June 30!

The effects of this cut will be devastating. We all know that libraries educate and promote literacy, something that is good for our society. Libraries also contribute to the safety of our communities. A child who likes and uses the library is unlikely to become a delinquent or grow up to become an adult criminal, and is far more likely to graduate from high school and continue his or her education. And in these hard economic times, we need our libraries more than ever. In my city, library use is up as the unemployed use computers to search for jobs and borrow books and movies they cannot afford to buy. If this budget cut is passed, half of my city's branches, 20 of 40, will be closed permanently, and 250 library personnel will lose their jobs.

Fortunately, library patrons across the state sprang into action, sending emails to and calling the governor's office and their state legislators. In my city alone, library supporters sent 35,000 emails to legislators and the governor and deluged them with phone calls. Almost all members of the Ohio General Assembly issued statements in support of libraries. Now we await the vote.

All of this is preamble to linking you to a blog entry of beautiful libraries at Curious Expeditions. What memories do you have of the libraries of your youth?

Photos (in order):

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Boston Copley Public Library, Boston, MA

Widener Library, Harvard, Cambridge, MA

Cornell Law School Library, Ithaca, NY

Mass Production Bookbinding

2009-06-10T18:19:00.024-04:00

An industrial film, ca. 1961, showing the work of bookbinders and the final steps in the process of manufacturing printed books. From the "Americans at Work" series. Courtesy of The Prelinger Archives.

After experiencing the slow process of making a hardbound book (codex) by hand, I was fascinated by this film and how the various processes were mechanized. The collating of book signatures was my favorite. I could not help thinking what a mess it would be if one of those ladies lost her rhythm, and was reminded of the Lucille Ball candy factory episode.

Exhibit: Once Upon A Book

2009-05-29T15:28:00.007-04:00

Wish I lived close by and could see this exhibit. The San Francisco Center for the Book exhibit, Once Upon a Book, May 4 - Aug 07, 2009, is their second in a series of children's book exhibitions. This show explores the creative process in the work of six critically acclaimed illustrators: Elisa Kleven, Remy Charlip, Maira Kalman, David Macaulay, Chris Raschka and Brian Selznick.

I love these videos in which the illustrators talk about their creative processes. But, be careful, they might lead you to other YouTube videos on the bookarts.

Origami Documentary: Between The Folds

2008-03-08T17:13:00.011-05:00

A high-resolution version of this trailer can be seen here.

While looking for information about folded book forms I came across this trailer for Green Fuse Films' current documentary project, Between the Folds (working title, Exploring Origami). They have wrapped primary shooting and are in post-production. A special sneak preview will be showing May 31, 2008, at the Parrish Art Museum:

This feature-length documentary illuminates the beauty, complexity and powerful duality of origami in the 21st century, and the unexpected lives it shapes. Viewers will travel far beyond conventional child's craft to discover unforeseen directions in origami that decidedly blur the line between dizzying science and dazzling art. With world-renowned master-artists as guides – many with extensive backgrounds in the advanced sciences – the film sheds light on how origami uniquely fuses form and function, science and sculpture, ancient and new. Produced and directed by Vanessa Gould. Running time approximately 60 minutes.

In the meantime, here is another little film, 6 Artists: On Origami, 13-minutes long, specifically created by Green Fuse Films for the Mingei International Museum in connection with their origami exhibit in 2007.

Sites of some of the featured artists in the film:
Michael LaFosse
Eric Joisel
Paul Jackson
Robert J. Lang
Tom Hull

Book Arts & Copyright

2008-03-03T13:21:00.010-05:00

Good grief! Where does the time go? I am referring not only to my absence but to the time I have spent today reading about a subject with which I have a basic knowledge but about which I never had the desire to deeply research, and to be honest, I still do not, due to all the legalese. However, a posting on the Handmade Book Community Forum on the issue of copyright led me to a three-part posting on Lee Kottner’s blog, Spawn of Blogorrhea. The posts are rather long, so you will need to set aside a bit of time, but it will be time well spent.

After reading the posts, I just happened to look over at the sidebar and low and behold, there was a listing for this blog. How embarrassing. Five months have passed with no posting here. That lit my fire.

So, if you have ever wondered if you are stepping on any legal toes when you use work other than your own in your book creations, this is a good place to start:

Book Arts & Copyright, Part I: Reuse, Repurposing, or Just Plain Stealing?
Book Arts & Copyright, Part II: Finding Legit Sources
Book Arts & Copyright, Part III: Don't Be Evil

Perfect Binding

2007-09-16T12:00:00.001-04:00

No, perfect binding does not refer to a flawlessly bound book but rather to a method of securing loose leaves into a solid text block by means of an adhesive rather than by sewing, stitching, etc. It is an easy binding to do. Photojojo has a nice how-to video of Judy Lee, owner of Five and a Half, a bookmaking and design studio specializing in journals made from sustainable materials, showing you how to make your own perfect-bound journal using two 4×6 photos for the cover, some paper, glue, and a few other tools.

Book Chair

2007-09-15T22:00:00.001-04:00

Interesting idea, but I cannot imagine being comfortable in this chair, especially when loaded with books ... books hitting the back of one's legs and where does one rest one's arms? I think of this more as a conceptual chair.

Digital Book Design and Publishing

2007-08-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

This is the first book I bought on digital publishing. Even though it is not a recent publication, it is general enough to still be a good introduction.

FROM THE FRONT FLAP

CONTRARY to futurists’ predictions that computer culture would mark the demise of the book, electronic technologies, by changing the way books are produced and distributed, are creating a renaissance in book culture. At least as significant to print publishing as Gutenberg’s moveable type in its time, electronic, or desktop, publishing has brought the tools of book production to anyone who owns or has access to a personal computer. Add a scanner and printer, page layout and image processing programs and you have, at your desktop, a means to work with typography, images and page design undreamed of fifteen years ago. This book covers all the essentials of digital bookmaking for photographers, artists, designers and for writers who want to move beyond the manuscript to the page. Based on his years of work as a photographer, bookmaker and teacher, Douglas Holleley has developed a clear and considered approach to “Digital Book Design and Publishing.” You will find a progression through the process of bookmaking, from a consideration of maquette and materials through printing and bookbinding, as well as a step-by-step guide to page layout and image processing software. A rich and varied selection of reproductions from historical and contemporary illustrated books and artists’ books places digitally produced books in a historical continuum.

Noriko Ambe: Linear Actions & Cutting Project

2007-07-19T14:24:00.003-04:00

Noriko Ambe meticulously cuts, and layers hundreds of pieces of Yupo, a synthetic, translucent paper made in Japan, her biggest work having a depth of 1300 sheets of paper. The shapes that emerge call to mind topographical maps, the annual rings of trees, the vastness of space, landscapes, erosion, canyons, aerial views and the passage of time as both subject and process. While many of her works involve unmarked white paper, some involve altering carefully chosen preprinted materials ... because printed matter conveys a message automatically ... such as newspapers, reference books and magazines.

Pop-Up Cards to Make

2007-07-18T10:39:00.001-04:00

Need a very special card for someone? The Canon 3D Papercraft site has a number of nice pop-ups that you can make. Just download the free instructions, print out the parts and get to work. No need to figure out how to do it yourself . The site also has downloads for gift boxes, animals and origami. You can even print your own Chiyogami (origami paper).

Altered Books: Markings

2007-07-15T20:39:00.002-04:00

There are many ways to alter a book. One of the most basic is marking. Most of the pages on the Altered Books site have been altered in this manner, using basic mark-making tools and materials such as pencil, pen, ink, crayon, paint. The result is often poetic. It is not as easy it might appear. Take a look and check out the links to other sites that feature altered books.

House of Books

2007-07-14T12:31:00.002-04:00

A book lover's dream house, Casa di Libri. Created by sculptor and carver Livio de Marchi, all the furniture, the tables, beds, desks and chairs, incorporate carved book forms. Even the exterior is compiled of wooden books.

Flickr: Coptic Binding

2007-06-24T21:59:00.001-04:00

I recently discovered these beautiful examples of coptic stitch and caterpillar binding, by tussenpozen, on the Flickr website. I was surprised to read in her profile that she is ... a young, creative, legally deafblind, zenbuddhistic woman. See her work here.

CBAS: An Afternoon of Papermaking

2007-05-26T22:00:00.003-04:00

An "arty" collage of several photographs of most of the people who attended this get together at CBAS member Margaret Rhein's papermaking studio, Terrapin Mill. Several people from the Indiana Book Group made the 100-mile trip to spend the afternoon with us in what was described by one attendee as "paradise," referring to our hostess's beautiful garden and koi pond, a tiny bit of which is visible in the background of this photograph.

Before getting down to the fun of papermaking, we had two important pieces of business, getting to know each other and lunch! We gathered on the deck and those who brought book-related materials, and books they had created, shared them with the group.

The potluck lunch was fabulous!

Margaret, beginning her demonstration, the skylight above shining a spotlight on her presentation. We will be using mini papermaking frames, not the larger one she is holding.

Top left: Couching the very wet pulp onto a felt. A mini frame can be seen in the shadowy foreground.
Top right: Showing how to create an embossed effect.
Bottom left: Bottles of colored pulp.
Bottom right: Drawers of hand-dried plant material, most from Margaret's garden, which she uses in her paper and which she generously shared with us.

Everyone is really concentrating on creating their own unique mini works of art.

The final step, stacking all our felts and pressing out excess water.
Top left: Stacking felts.
Top right: Board placed on top of stacks and waiting to be pushed into the hydraulic press.
Bottom left: Pumping the press. Note the water flowing out.
Bottom right: Removing damp paper and placing on blue paper towels for transportation home and drying.

Voilà, paper!

Folk Typography

2007-05-24T22:00:00.001-04:00

Flickr is a wonderful photo sharing website. Many of the photos are organized into groups or pools. This one, Folk Typography was created to gather together photographs of surprising, original letter forms created unselfconsciously by people who are not designers, typographers, calligraphers, or graffiti artists-- in other words, people outside of all traditional schools of typographic influence.

CBAS Study Group: Alice Balterman's Altered Books

2007-05-19T22:00:00.003-04:00

Everyone loves to visit artist studios and Alice Balterman's studio, the site of the CBAS study group's May meeting, was no exception. The well-know Cincinnati collage and altered book artist shared examples of her work and suggested some techniques we might use if we wanted to try altering a book. Alice said she saves everything, pictures, postcards, paper, letters, stamps etc. How she keeps track of it all is a mystery but she always finds just what she needs when she needs it.

Two other group members, Ruth and Nikki, shared examples of their work and explained their altered book processes. Nikki is still working on her first book, a fairly large one and suggested that first timers start with a small book. She also suggested sewing or gluing pages together to reduce the number of pages that need altering. Ruth found a Japanese book on dogs and some band-aids in different shapes and colors (some printed with doggie images) in a dollar store. Inspired, she cut and arranged the band-aids into dog shapes and was on her way to creating her humorous altered dog book.

Our three talented book artists, Ruth, Alice and Nikki.

A table with some of the many books Alice has altered. The open book is Ruth's. She has a wonderful sense of humor.

Alice's work area and some of her tools and supplies. She works on one project at a time, finishing one before starting another. Wish I could do that.

Here, we looked through a selection of books from her library and wrote down titles of books we would like to add to our libraries.

Exhibit: Hand Bookbindings, Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious

2007-05-10T21:56:00.001-04:00

The craft and art of binding books by hand was vividly chronicled in an exhibition at Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Entitled Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious, the exhibition ran from November 10, 2002 through April 20, 2003 in the Library’s main gallery. While conventional wisdom holds that books cannot be judged by their covers, visitors had a chance to do just that from the most humble of volumes to the most luxurious; from the monastic manuscripts of the twelfth century to the special editions of the twentieth.

Now that the exhibition has run its course, it has been turned into an online display of over two hundred beautifully photographed bindings, divided thematically into twenty-six categories. All the photographs can be enlarged and for even closer inspection, there is a magnifier (the square in the lower right hand corner of each book). Simply click and move it over the area you want to view.

The twenty-six categories:

Introduction - The Early Codex and Coptic Sewing - Early European Sewing and Board Attachment - Later Sewing And Boards Labor-Saving Methods And Materials - Endleaves - Endbands - Edge Decoration - Clasps, Furniture, and Other Closures - Blind Tooling - Panels And Rolls - Gold Tooling - Binding Waste - Aldines - Italian Bindings - German Bindings - French Bindings - British Bindings - Temporary Bindings - Onlays - Bindings For Collectors - Binders' Marks - Modern Conservation Binding - Large And Small, Fixed And Portable - Embroidered Bindings - Bindings From Early Americ - Twentieth Century English And American Bindings

Exhibit: Bookworks 8 (LitChick Blog)

2007-05-08T22:00:00.001-04:00

The Cincinnati Book Arts Society (CBAS) is holding its 8th annual exhibit of traditional and contemporary handmade books in the Atrium of the Main Branch of the Cincinnati Public Library from May 2 to June 25. Check out this blog for more photos: LitChick: Art of the book celebrated in new exhibit.

Pictured Artist: Margaret Rhein

Exhibit: Bookworks 8 Opening

2007-05-06T22:00:00.002-04:00

Family and friends turned out today, for the official opening reception for Bookworks 8, Cincinnati Book Arts Society's (CBAS) annual book arts exhibit. It's a highly recommended visit and, if there is a copy of the artists' statments around, I encourage you pick it up and read it. It will enhance your enjoyment of the exhibit.

Dr. Sylvan Golder and his wife, Faith, study daughter-in-law Margaret Rhein's See Me, See You, one sheet books created from prints of primates made during a monoprinting workshop.

Cecie Chewning's Too Much Information, is her creative and humorous response to the piles of unsolicited catalogues she receives in the mail on a regular basis.

Karen Hanmer's Bluestem was inspired by Willia Cather's My Antonia: Everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, there was nothing but rough, shaggy, red grass ... And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be moving.

Beth Belknap Brann, London Underfoot: A Pure Photographic Alphabet. In the summer of 2001, Beth spent a month in London, much of her free time walking through neighborhoods photographing random letter forms formed by accidental arrangements of materials on sidewalks and streets which she printed and assembled along with ephemera and notes collected and written during her stay.

Alice Balterman's Little Black Book is made from her storehouse of African-American Collections. Using only black and white prints, she collaged and assembled them in an old children's book originally entitled Seeing.

Cody Calhoun, Imagine. The whimsical imagery and text reinforce the belief that "when nothing is sure, everything is possible." Polymer clay and ATC's (artist trading cards), rubber stamped, collaged, and bound with coptic stitch.

Penny McGinnis, While I Slept. Inside each of the four pockets rests a soft cover book of the artist's poems on the four seasons. Handmade paper, Japanese 4-hole binding, embroidery.

CBAS Study Group: Six-Needle Coptic Binding

2007-04-28T22:00:00.004-04:00

I have been traveling the last two months and, regrettably, have missed the last two study groups, the second session of Interlocking and Woven Book Structures, covering Slit/Slot & Other Paper Hinging Techniques, (see Piano Hinging for part one), and most recently, Potato Print Papers.*

No photograph can convey the simple beauty of the potato print papers that were produced during this last meeting. Even so, I thought I would include one here. As you can see in the photograph above, many of these papers were used in today's project.

Here's a photo of our eager-to-learn group. All that was required of us was that, prior to our meeting, we pick up our precut book boards, covers for the book we were going to make, and cover them, preferably with the decorative papers made the month before.

Our first task was marking and making holes in the book signatures. For this, we used a hole punching cradle, a device to position the signature for accurate hole making.

Here is a closeup of both sides of the cradle, top and bottom. This one is made with medium weight binder's board.

Cran is instructing the group on how to accurately mark their covers for punching so the resulting holes will line up properly with the holes in their signatures.

Jeanne is sewing her first signature to her back cover. Coptic stitch can be done with one needle but we used six needles, worked in pairs. Once we got started, it was pretty easy going. If you are interested in this stitch, check out Keith Smith's Non-Adhesive Binding, Volume III: Exposed Spine Sewings. We worked from one of the diagrams in his book.

I didn't have any stamped paper so I used a paste paper I made in a workshop last year. The term refers to a method of decorating the surface of paper with acrylic or tempera paint mixed in a paste medium. I'll be writing more about this in a future post.

A closeup of the stitched binding. What is nice about the coptic stitch technique is that, once you catch on to the stitching, it is fast, it uses no adhesive (except for what is needed to attach decorative paper to the cover boards), and the book opens flat (nice for sketching and/or journaling).

*Red potatoes were said to be the best.

Cynscribe Calligraphy Directory

2007-03-11T14:42:00.001-04:00

I was searching the internet for paper guides I could download on which I could practice my calligraphy when I came across this site. One link leads to another. It’s a resource worth bookmarking.

Cynscribe Directory is a resource for calligraphers, lettering artists, papermakers, typographers, graphic designers, paper decorators, scrapbookers, rubberstampers, greeting card makers,book designers and artist bookmakers. It also includes suppliers, conferences, exhibitions & events, galleries, guilds, libraries, museums, and schools.

Inventing Kindergarten: Early Concertina Books

2007-03-09T12:31:00.001-05:00

Kindergarten was created by Friedrich Froebel in the 1830s and grew to become what is now one of the most familiar shared milestones throughout the world. Froebel's kindergarten involved play with so-called "gifts," a series of educational toys, including building blocks, parquetry tiles, origami papers, modeling clay, sewing kits and other design projects, intended to foster curiosity and teach young children about art, design, mathematics and the natural world.

For more teaching aids and early concertina books, visit The Institute for Figuring’s online exhibit, Inventing Kindergarten.

photo: Astonishingly intricate paper weaving workbook by Ms. F. Wegerich, Germany, c. 1880. Very fine strips of paper woven into complex patterns- 19th century predecessors to the digital revolution.

The Toymaker

2007-02-20T12:08:00.001-05:00

The Toymaker is Marilyn Scott-Waters, a graphic designer, author and illustrator who has a web site of over 200 downloadable paper toys, holiday cards, valentines, sun boxes, baskets and bags, origami and ephemera... all for you to make. Just print them out, cut, glue and enjoy ... or buy the book. Included among the toys are some simple book and moveable structures:

A Fairy Book (concertina book)
Two Rabbit Friends (popup card)
Cupid on Valentine's Day (sliding window card)
A Little Book About The Circus (one-sheet star book)
Dream Theater (tunnel book)

Alphabet Mosaics

2007-02-14T12:59:00.006-05:00

Fire Poi Typography- Letters
Originally uploaded by Nir Tober

As you can probably tell, I like unusual alphabets. Flickr has a lot of alphabet groups. Here's one with which to start.

Non-Linear Books

2007-02-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

For most of us the word "book" presents a visual image of multiple planes, covered and bound together on one side and viewed by turning one page at a time and reading the text from top to bottom and left to right. This is not how it has always been, nor, necessarily how it will be in the future.

The nonlinear visual book has been a part of communication history since the beginning of human life. In terms of the visual transmission of ideas, there are many examples. Before codified systems of writing, objects were decorated or modified in such a way as to communicate a message.

Thus begins the introduction to a fascinating and inspiring journey through non-linear book structures and a discussion of how the presentation of text affects the way we interpret it. The author also shares some thoughts about the future of text and the book in the new electronic age.

What Are Artists' Books?

2007-02-05T17:00:00.001-05:00

There is no official definition of what is meant by the term, artist book, nor is there any agreement on when it was introduced historically or where artists’ books fit in the Craft vs. Fine Art debate. The most that can be agreed upon is that they are visually expressive objects that function like a book in the conveyance of information which may or may not be of a textual nature. Simply put, they are works of art realized in the form of a book. For a scholarly essay on artist’s books see Johanna Drucker’s first chapter, The Artist’s Book as Idea and Form, from her book, The Century of Artists’ Books.

What is it about the book form that attracts artists? I would say, everything. The definition of a book from the artist’s point of view is very broad indeed, ranging from the traditional codex form to books that could be described as sculptural. It would appear that almost any art form or technique can, with a certain degree of adaptation, be used in the creation of book structures and the content within.

Artists' books are a hybrid form. Artists make them for all kinds of reasons, and with different intentions. Artists' books may be rich and fancy, or they may look as common as supermarket circulars. There is no one look about them.

The simplest definition of artists' books is: "books made by artists." Though bordering on the tautological, this is a good working definition for a rich and complicated genre.

One of the reasons discussions of artists' books begin with efforts of definition is that they are a subset of a medium: the book. Paintings don't exist outside of art, but books do. All paintings are made by artists (arguably of varying degrees of talent and professionalism; trained elephants and schoolchildren notwithstanding). Defining what is meant by the term artists' book is a necessary requirement for a form whose related (non-fine arts) members include TV Guides and the Bible.

It's important not to confuse artists' books with art books, or books about artists (monographs, for instance). In the last several decades many artists have made books, and used the book form as a primary tool of expression. This movement into a relatively unexplored medium or genre needed a new descriptor. Artists' books is the result, and though its definition is not entirely fixed, it is the term most often used to describe recent or contemporary book productions by artists.

Thinking of the artists as being responsible for both the text and the physical realization of that text as a book may be a helpful construct in understanding the field. The difference between an artists' book and a book illustrated by an artist has to do with intentionality and degrees of control. The illustrator may be one of several subordinate collaborators who is responsible for one aspect of the book's realization. In general, the book artist conceptually controls the whole publication.

What is it about book form that attracts artists? The books' physical nature is one inducement. Structurally, the book is a gathering of bound, usually printed, pages. The properties of portability, sequence, and containment are of particular interest to visual artists. Other allures of the book form that have been exploited by artists have to do with function: readers invest books with authority; their use is known, and their presence is ubiquitous.

Tracy Honn,
Silver Buckle Press
Artist's Books: Highlights from the Kohler Art Library

photo, William Blake, The Temptation of Eve, perhaps the earliest example of a book artist in the modern sense.

CBAS Study Group: Piano Hinge Books

2007-01-28T13:00:00.003-05:00

The Cincinnati Book Arts Society to which I belong has a study group. We meet at a local library, nine times a year, on the third Saturday of the month.

Being a member of the study group means being willing to participate by being in charge of a program. It’s not as scary as you might think. We are a friendly, informal group and you do not have to have a background in the topic you want to share, just agree to learn about it and pass along what you have learned to the study group members. It is also fine to have a joint presentation with another study group member and while most of the meetings are about book structures, this year we are also planning a field trip to a member’s studio.

Our last program was the first of a two part demonstration of interlocking and woven books structures, specifically the piano hinge structure. The image at top left, Crown of Thorns by Tennille Shuster, believe it or not, is just such a structure. The one at top right by our program presenter, Cody Calhoun (who, incidentally has a book in the online Flag Book Bind-O-Rama Exhibit), is the more traditional format. Here is a free tutorial. Don’t be confused by the name, skewered book. Skewers are often used in the construction of this type of book, but piano hinge is the traditional name.

Origamic Architecture: Intricate Pop-ups

2007-01-20T23:00:00.001-05:00

Origamic architecture is an amazing paper art. It involves the three-dimensional reproduction of architecture, geometric patterns, and everyday objects, on various scales, using cut-out and folded paper, usually thin cardboard. Visually, these creations are comparable to intricate pop-ups.

Like origami, origamic architecture originates from Japan. Tokyo Institute of Technology professor Masahiro Chatani is credited as the art form's creator, a practitioner of it since the 1980s. While his website showcases some incredible examples of his work, the website, Willem’s Origamic Architecture. from which I obtained the images in this post, pairs a photograph of the actual architectural model with the origamic rendering. The models are pretty impressive. To get a feel for what is involved, download one of the models that the site offers and make one yourself.

Himeji Castle, Himeji, Japan, 1333, rebuilt 1601

Flag Book Bind-O-Rama Winners

2007-01-14T19:51:00.001-05:00

Have you been wondering who the winners of the Flag Book Bind-O-Rama challenge are? Wonder no longer. The twenty-eight winning books are being featured in an online exhibit on the Book Arts Web. And, as promised, the exhibit also appears in the latest edition of the Bonefolder (Volume 3, Number 1), which I highly recommend downloading and reading, even if it takes a long time for those of you with dial-up connections.

It was hard to chose which books to feature here, they are all wonderful in different ways. Content, materials, and structure are important elements in all but what I found is that usually one dominates and because it does the book makes a statement.

Starting at the top and working down, Hedi Kyle, originator of the flag book technique, uses the traditional structure that she developed, but the very untraditional material of mica to capture the play of light and shadow that has captured her interest. “I often envision the flag book as a movable screen to define space,” she says in her statement. Marcia Ciro’s book compares the man-made car environment with the natural environment. As successful as the comparison may be, the placement of the car side mirrors and their repetition reminds me of clasped hands and interlocked fingers with the mirrors representing fingernails. In Esther Kibby’s book, the Native American story, How Porcupine Got His Quills, is used to explore flag shapes that become a sculptural book. Finally, I could not resist, Sheila Cunningham’s book, Shut Your Mouth. It’s funny and visceral. Makes me want to laugh and tremble at the same time. I'm sure if I get close I will feel the air reverberating.

Top to Bottom:
Hedi Kyle, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Marcia Ciro, Watertown, MA, USA
Esther Kibby, Dallas, TX, USA
Sheila Cunningham, Dallas, TX, USA

Paper: Deckle Edges & Simulations

2006-12-16T14:10:00.000-05:00

The term deckle edge refers to the distinctive, feathery edge of handmade paper. It occurs when the handmade paper is made. The name comes from the equipment used to make the paper, a mould and deckle. The mould is a wood frame covered with a special papermaking screen. The deckle is an open frame that is placed on top of the mould. The papermaker places the two pieces together and drags them through a vat of fibrous material floating in water, called the pulp, catching the fibers evenly on the screen. The deckle is removed and the sheet of paper is transferred from the mould to an absorbent surface called a felt for pressing the water out of the paper sheet.

Handmade paper normally has four deckle edges and the edges are often quite dramatic while machine-made paper has two and are more subtle. Although early printers looked upon the deckle edge as a defect, and almost invariably trimmed most of it off before binding, in the latter part of the 19th century, it became the fashion to admire the deckle edge for its own sake, and to leave books printed on handmade paper untrimmed. Left in place, the deckle edge becomes a decorative, textured edging.

Simulating a Deckle Edge. A true deckle edge can only be achieved during the paper making process. However, there are various ways to simulate the effect, some more effective than others.

Tearing. The easiest way is to paint a line of clean water with a watercolor brush either freehand or held against a ruler, wait a while, then pull gently. Add more water or pull less gently depending on the strength and the grain of the paper and the effect desired. If you score the line first using a bone folder, then paint with water, the result is a finer edge.

Rulers. Deckle patterned rulers are available against which the paper is torn. A wet tear will achieve a more feathery effect than a dry tear.

Scissors. Although the effect is decorative, deckle scissors, those with irregularly shaped cutting edges, create the least natural looking deckle edge.

Photos of deckle edges (top): left: handmade paper; right: machine-made paper.

Book Formats & Paper Sizes

2006-12-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

The traditional terms for describing book formats are derived from early printing methodology and the size of early handmade sheets of paper.

Paper Sizes: the most common names for the original size of paper from which the formats described below were created are:

· Imperial (30 in. by 22 in.)
· Royal (25 in. by 20 in.)
· Demy (22 ½ in. by 17 ½ in.)
· Crown, cr (20 in. by 15 in.)
· Foolscap, fcp (17 in. by 13 ½ in.)
· Pott (15 in. by 12 ½ in.)

A sheet, when folded, has twice as many pages as leaves, for the obvious reason that it is printed on both sides, the number of leaves depending on the size of the original sheet and the way in which it is folded.

When two leaves (four pages when printed on both sides) were printed on a sheet so that it could be folded once, collated with other folded sheets and bound, the format of the volume was a "folio". When four leaves (eight pages) were printed on the same size sheet, which would later be folded twice, the format of the resultant volume was a "quarto" (four leaves). The term "octavo" relates to the sheet having eight leaves printed on it. The octavo is the most general size of a book, and the printed text is so arranged that, when the sheet is folded, the sixteen pages follow consecutively (see illustration). This folded printed sheet of leaves prior to binding is called a gathering. After binding it is referred to as a signature.

Today some booksellers are providing the height of a book in inches or centimeters rather than using these early terms which do not relate directly to the sheet size or process used for printing today. The following is a guide to convert book formats to approximate book sizes:

· Folio: more than 13 inches tall
· Quarto (4to): approx. 10 to 13 inches tall, average 12 inches
· Octavo (8vo): approx. 8 to 10 inches tall, average 9 inches
· Duodecimo (12mo): approx. 7 to 8 inches tall, average 7.5 inches
· Sextodecimo (16mo): approx. 6 to 7 inches tall, average 6.5 inches

There are smaller and larger books, i.e. many miniatures are 64mo. Most hard bound books today are either octavo or duodecimo in size.

For definitions of other commonly encountered book terms see Glossary of Terms.

Free Online Bookbinding Books

2006-12-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

I haven’t had a chance to get deeply into these book s, but a cursory look impressed me.

The Art of Bookbinding by Joseph W. Zaehnsdorf
Bookbinding and the Care of Books by Douglas Cockerell
Bookbinding for Beginners by Florence O. Bean
The Binding of Books by Herbert P. Horne
The Story of Books by Gertude Burford Rawlings
A Book for All Readers by Ainsworth Rand Spofford
The Story of Paper Making by J.W. Butler Paper Company
Bookbinding by Paul N. Hasluck

Hornbooks and Battledores

2006-10-26T13:42:00.002-04:00

Hornbooks and battledores were two early literacy teaching aids. A hornbook was a primer for children, use from the 15th to the 18th century, consisting of a sheet of paper (or parchment) mounted on a thin wooden paddle, usually with a handle that was perforated so that the hornbook could be hung at the child’s girdle, or belt. The sheet usually had the alphabet, some pairs of letters, and a religious verse, often the Lord's Prayer. Because paper was so expensive, parents and teachers wanted to protect it. So they covered the paper with a very thin piece of cow's horn which was so thin, you could see right through it. Thus, the name, hornbook came to be used to describe this type of “book.”

Not all hornbooks were the same. Many were made out of metal, sometimes even silver. Others had the alphabet carved into paddles made of ivory (photo above). One special kind of hornbook was made out of gingerbread. As children learned each letter of the alphabet, they were rewarded with letters to eat.

Once the price of paper became cheap, companies started to make battledores. Battledores was an early form of badminton played with a flat wooden paddle and a shuttlecock. The paddle was probably similar in shape/size to hornbooks, thus, the word probably seemed appropriate as the name for the new book form which derived from them. Popular in the 1800's, battledores were made of thin cardboard. Although some battledores were made in the shape of a hornbook, the card was usually cut into the shape of a rectangle and then folded in
thirds.

The content of a battledore was similar to that of a hornbook, including the alphabet in both capital and small letters and pairs of letters as a phonics lesson. But, unlike the hornbook, battledores frequently had a mixed-up alphabet with the letters out of order as a way to help children distinguish individual letters. They also had lists of short words and sometimes included a prayer, but normally they had a short story or fable instead. With a greater surface area, battledores could contain illustrations. These were generally pictures of everyday life that would have been familiar to children of the time.

Artist Book: Woof by Madalyn Eastus

2006-10-17T11:00:00.002-04:00

In a previous post I wrote about paper cutting and suggested using it creatively in creating artist books. Madalyn Eastus’ book, Woof, is one that does. Don’t let the title fool you though. This book isn't about dogs. Instead, the title comes from the weaving term, woof which refers to the thread which is shuttled back and forth across the warp (the set of lengthwise threads attached to a loom before weaving begins) to create a woven fabric.

Its pages are composed of colored papers that are die-cut and assembled by hand. Each page is a layering of several different pieces of cut paper that are tucked into slits (much like tucking a snapshot into those corners old photo albums used). The patterns evoke a range of traditional textiles from around the world, such as Amish quilts, Navajo blankets, Fair Isle knitted sweaters, and Indian ikats.

One of the things I particularly like about this book is how each pattern is changed by the pages before and after that peek through openings in the patterns.

The 1000 Journals Project Film

2006-10-14T16:11:00.000-04:00

One thousand blank journals are traveling from hand to hand throughout the world. People who find a journal read it, add to it, then pass it on...

Starting in December 2003, the production crew for the 1000 Journals Project documentary film contacted nearly 500 past, present and wait-listed journal contributors from around the world for pre-interviews via email, telephone, and in person, eventually selecting about 120 participants for filmed interviews. The filming took the crew to Europe (France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Finland and the United Kingdom), Australia, Singapore, China, Canada and the United States. At the conclusion of postproduction editing, expected by December 2006, the film will be submitted to film festivals around the world for viewing on a big screen in 2007. View the teaser clip.

Peter Callesen: Paper Cut Sculpture

2006-10-10T17:00:00.000-04:00

Recently, a friend emailed me about this artist and he is so phenomenal that I want to share him. Peter Callesen is a sculptor who works in paper, transforming a flat sheet (mostly single sheets of 80g. A4 paper, the kind sitting next to your computer printer) into a 3D form, leaving behind the negative space from which the form is created. Some of the the paper cuts relate to fairy tales, while others, Callesen states, “are small dramas in which small figures are lost within and threaten by the huge powerful nature … the thin white paper gives the paper sculptures a fragility which underlines the tragic and romantic theme of the works.”

While his work is not specifically book-related, what strikes me when I look at it, is the connection I feel it has to popup books, origami, and silhouette paper cutting, many traditions rolled into one, any of which could be used by creative book artists in their work.

Big Paper Castle, 2004, 7,20 x 7,15 x 3,75 m
Cut and folded from one sheet of 350 gsm paper

Peter Callesen (b. 1968) lives and works in Copenhagen.

Flexagons: Intro & Tetraflexagons, Part 1

2006-10-07T17:00:00.001-04:00

My goal for this blog is to post at least one or two topics a week but sometimes life gets in the way. I spent a few weeks in August and September researching flexagons in order to put together the first of a two-part demonstration and workshop for my local bookarts study group. While flexagons are fun to play with as toys, they offer an unusual structure that can be used for text or images that mysteriously appear and disappear as their “pages” are turned.

To begin, flexagons are flat models made from folded strips of paper that can be flexed to reveal a number of hidden faces. There are two types of flexagons, flat and 3-dimensional. In this post I will be talking about the flat type.

In the flat group there are two types: four-sided (tetraflexagons) which are rectangular, usually square, in shape, and six-sided (hexaflexagons) which look like hexagons (these will be covered in another post). Depending on the template used and the folding pattern, flexagons can have three, four, five, six or more faces. Appropriate prefixes are added in front of the basic name to indicated how many faces. So, tetraflexagons become tri-tetraflexagons (3 faces), tetra-tetraflexagons (4 faces), penta-tetraflexagons (5 faces) and hexa-tetraflexagons (6 faces). Likewise, hexaflexagons become tri-hexaflexagons (3 faces), tetra-hexaflexagons (4-sided), etcetera.

As if the names weren’t confusing enough, a tetra-tetra-flexagon has several entirely different templates and folding patterns, so the name itself doesn’t tell us much about what type of flexagon it is, only that it has four sides and four faces. The most popular is based on the principle behind the 2000-year old Chinese toy called a Jacob’s Ladder and is sometimes called a magic book. Each face can have a different image or text that is revealed as one flexes the structure. Here is an article on how to make one.

This is a big topic, one which cannot be adequately covered in a few postings. If you get hooked, don’t be surprised if you find yourself spending hours of enjoyment (and sometimes frustration) as you try out the various structures and plot how to design on them.

Book credits (variations on Jacob's Ladder/Magic Book structure):
1st book, Jane Cheng, Baucis and Philemon (Ovid Met. 8.611-724) trans by artist
2nd book, c. j. grossman, Magic Book with Secret Panels

Invisible Artwork: Fore-Edge Painting

2006-09-11T14:00:00.001-04:00

Fore-edge paintings are watercolor decorations, painted on the ends of the pages of the fore-edge of a book. In most cases, a fore-edge painting is only visible when the pages are fanned out.

According to Wikipedia, the earliest fore-edge paintings date possibly as far back as the 10th century and were symbolic designs. The first known example of a disappearing fore-edge painting (where the painting is not visible when the book is closed) dates from 1649. Around 1750 the subject matter of fore-edge paintings changed from simply decorative or heraldic designs to landscapes, portraits, and religious scenes, first in monochrome and then later in full color. In many cases, the chosen depiction related to the subject of the book, but in other cases it did not.

The technique involved fanning the fore-edge of the text block (the outer edge) and clamping it. Then, a watercolor painting would be executed on the fanned leaves. When dry, the fore-edge would most commonly be gilt, less commonly marbled. thus concealing the existence of the painting until the fore-edge was fanned.

In addition to the standard painting, sometimes known as a single, there are several variations:

split … each half of the fore-edge bears a different painting.
double … shows an illustration when the fore-edge is fanned out the usual way, and a completely different painting when the pages are fanned out in the opposite direction.
triple ... in addition to paintings on the edges, a third painting is applied directly to the edges (in lieu of gilt or marbling).
panoramic … the illustration covers not only the fore-edge but the top and bottom edges of the book as well.

One practitioner, Martin Frost, whose work is pictured here, has produced well over 3000 fore-edge and miniature paintings since 1970. His site has a video of the fanning process. This site has some examples done by students in one of his workshops.

Parts of the Book

2006-09-09T17:00:00.000-04:00

Whether binding traditionally or making artist books, the parts of the book are something we all should know. This site has nice drawings. Here is another site which has photographs.

Exhibit: The Evolution of the Medieval Book

2006-09-07T17:00:00.000-04:00

tudy of the manuscript book as a physical object is known as codicology – from codex, a Latin word for "book," especially one whose pages can be turned, as distinguished from a scroll. Codicology is concerned with writing surfaces (parchment and paper) as well as the covers, stitching, etc. that make up a binding.

The Evolution of the Medieval Book traces the history of the medieval book–its appearance, content, audiences, and forms–from the 9th to the 15th centuries.

Looking at these old books with their beautiful illustrations (illuminations) and text makes me want to take up calligraphy. It is interesting to note that marking up text and making notes on the page is not a modern development.

Tools: Bone Folders

2006-09-03T17:00:00.000-04:00

Although materials like horn, stone and teflon are being used to make them, the classic bone folder is a shaped piece of bone carved from real animal bones, often deer or elk. Bone is an ideal material to use for smoothing, scoring, and creasing paper and cloth because it is sturdy, smooth and grainless. It can also be used for burnishing (polishing and imparting glossiness) and with sufficient (or excessive) pressure its edge is sharp enough to cut paper or cloth.

Many bone folders are carved with ornate handles or other decorative features, but a basic bone folder is typically shaped like a wooden tongue depressor or a large popsicle stick with rounded ends or a pointed end for working in corners.

Basic bone folders can usually be found in hobby and craft stores and online bookbinding supply merchants. More ornate bone folders are harder to find but there is nothing to prevent the owner of a plain bone folder from personalizing it with a little carving of their own.

Links to photos:
Top Photo
Bottom Photo

Featured Artist: Daniel Essig

2006-08-28T15:16:00.000-04:00

Thinking about the Pulp Function competition I wrote about yesterday, I realized that books were not mentioned in the blurb about the exhibition but I hope book artists will consider entering. I think a survey of contemporary paper art should include books and there are a lot of book artists who use paper in innovative ways. Daniel Essig is one of them.

Daniel is a full-time studio artist in Asheville, North Carolina. His interest in book arts grew from his introduction to handmade books while he was studying photography at the University of Illinois at Carbondale. One of the first books he made, before he knew how to bind, was an altered book in which he placed his photographs so that viewers had to explore them actively, rather than just wandering past images mounted on a wall.

Around this time, Daniel visited his sister in Iowa City and met her friend, Al Buck, who was making wooden-covered Coptic books, a binding used around the fourth century, in Ethiopia, North Africa. Al followed up and sent Daniel a book he had made with instructions. It took awhile, nearly two years, but Daniel eventually made a book with which he was satisfied.

After completing his degree at Carbondale, Daniel’s mentor Frances Lloyd Swedlund encouraged him to attend the Penland School of Crafts, where he concentrated exclusively on the Ethiopian coptic book structure. Another mentor, Dolph Smith, helped push Daniel beyond the simple Ethiopian book, to developing his bridge books using the same coptic binding, but with exaggerated elements.

It is interesting to note that Daniel still relies on the idea of the altered book. Some of the bridge books (one pictured here) contain well over 1000 pages. Not being able to afford too much new paper, Daniel searches for books with mangled spines and covers but good quality paper to use in his work. He says he does not have a problem with the practice of tearing up old books, because the books he alters are not rare, and they've already lived their lives.

Competition: Pulp Function Call for Entries

2006-08-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

Exhibition Dates: May 19, 2007 - January 6, 2008
Travel: through 2010

Submission Deadline: October 1, 2006

About the Exhibition: Paper, that humble material that we use daily and take for granted, emerged in the 1970's as a new material for the substance of art, not just the surface on which to draw or paint. Since then, not only has handmade paper pulp been cast into sculptural reliefs, it has been made into sensuous bowls. Paper cording and rolled newspapers have emerged as popular materials for making baskets and weaving wall hangings. The structural possibilities of recycled paper and cardboard have been explored in furniture and environmental sculptures. Origami paper folding from Japan, and even the timeworn traditions of Jewish, Chinese and Mexican papercuts have found new expression, along with politically charged silhouette murals cut from paper. This survey of contemporary paper art celebrates the updated traditions of paper in art, and a variety of new applications.

Art made from paper pulp, recycled paper, cardboard, papier mache and cut, folded or otherwise manipulated paper will be considered.

Fuller Museum of Art for more information. Click on Exhibitions, then on Pulp Function Call for Entries.

cartoon via The Book Arts Web

The 1000 Journals Project

2006-08-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Images from journals circulating in Ohio

If you ask a kindergarten class how many of them are artists, they'll all raise their hands. Ask the same question of high school grads, and few will admit to it. What happens to us growing up? We begin to fear criticism, and tend to keep our creativity to ourselves.

The 1000 Journals Project, is attempting to remedy our fear of exposing ourselves creatively by sending out 1000 journals throughout the world. The project began in 2000 when San Francisco graphic designer, Brian Singer, fascinated with the cryptic messages and drawings of bathroom graffiti, wondered what would happen if complete strangers around the world, not just those who happened to share a public bathroom, were able to exchange their private thoughts. As the project has evolved, Brian says, “what happens to the journals is as significant as what happens in them. Are people selfless enough to send them back, or will they find them and keep them?” To date, only one journal has been returned but many pages from the ones still circulating have been uploaded to the site.

1001 Journals

2006-08-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

Journals serve a number of purposes. They provide a place to collect ideas, to store clippings of articles, photos … anything that inspires. Journals can be reference books when what is stored are notes about techniques, recipes, swatches, samples or photographs. They can be a repository of events in the life of the journalist or observations, written, drawn or photographed, of the world. If a journal is kept regularly, patterns emerge, patterns that reveal what is attractive/interesting to the journalist and patterns in the journalist him/herself.

Even though there is a trend in making journals works of art, journals do not have to be planned to end up being works of art. Setting such a goal, especially for a beginner, can be intimidating. Better to aim at exploring the process of keeping a journal, and practicing letting go of judgment and inhibitions. For inspiration, take a look at the examples at 1001 Journals, a recently developed website that appears to be growing fast. There you will find a variety of personal and collaborative journals.

Some ideas: writing (pen, pencil, typewriter, computer), calligraphy (brush, pen, ink), drawing (pastels, crayons, pencil, gel pens), painting (watercolor, acrylic, felt pens), photography (black & white, color, polaroid transfers), printing (stamps, patterns, shapes, symbols), collage (pasting, textures, photocopies), resists (oil, wax crayons).

Turning the Pages

2006-08-20T19:00:00.001-04:00

Leaf through 15 great books online and magnify the details. Yes, that's correct. You can actually turn the pages of these books ... well, virtually, that is. Turning the Pages is the award-winning interactive program that allows museums and libraries to give members of the public access to precious books while keeping the originals safely under glass.

A high-speed internet connection will give you the most features but for viewers with a dial-up connection, there is a narrowband version and versions that don’t require turning, that display images of pages (and enlargements) in standard web pages. To enhance the viewing experience, there are text and audio buttons, in addition to the magnifier. Extra buttons appear if there are additional things to see or hear. Some features are specific to individual manuscripts. In Leonardo's Notebook, for example, a button turns the text round (when using the magnifier) so visitors can read his famous 'mirror' handwriting. There are complete readings of Alice's Adventures under Ground and Jane Austen's The History of England, and audio descriptions of each page of the other books.

The trick to turning pages successfully is to move your cursor off the book once the page starts lifting but continue moving your cursor in the direction you want the page to go. Once the page starts falling onto the other side you can stop.

SKETCHES BY LEONARDO: The genius's personal notebook
MOZART'S MUSICAL DIARY: With 75 audio excerpts
THE ORIGINAL ALICE: Written and illustrated by Lewis Carroll
MASTERPIECE OF THE RENAISSANCE: Beautiful images from the Sforza Hours
JANE AUSTEN'S EARLY WORK: The History of England in her own hand
FIRST ATLAS OF EUROPE: Compiled by Mercator in the 1570s
OUTSTANDING 15TH-CENTURY CHURCH BOOK: The wonderful, and weighty, Sherborne Missal
CLASSIC OF BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION: Elizabeth Blackwell's remarkable Herbal
BAYBARS' MAGNIFICENT QUR'AN: Epitome of sumptuous Arabic calligraphy
PINNACLE OF ANGLO-SAXON ART: The priceless Lindisfarne Gospels
THE OLDEST PRINTED 'BOOK': The Diamond Sutra, printed in China in 868
GLIMPSES OF MEDIEVAL LIFE: Selections from the famous Luttrell Psalter
FLEMISH MASTERS IN MINIATURE: The superb so-called 'Golf Book'
GLORIOUS HEBREW PRAYER BOOK: The lavishly illustrated Golden Haggadah
A LANDMARK IN MEDICAL HISTORY: Vesalius's stunning 16th century anatomy

In addition to the turning pages books, the British Library contains many millions of books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, magazines, patents, music scores, sound recordings, photographs and stamps. You can read a brief description of an item, view an enlarged image and either find out more or move on to another treasure.

Typography: Letters in the Natural World

2006-08-19T17:00:00.001-04:00

In the spring of 1960, Kjell Sandved arrived at the Smithsonian to conduct research. There, he met Barbara Bedette, the woman who was to become his collaborator, friend, and love of his life. And there, also, he discovered an old cigar box full of butterflies and moths. Among the specimens in the box was one with the letter “F” woven in a tapestry of color on it’s wing, reminding Kjell and Barbara of the embellished letters in old bibles and illuminated manuscripts. The discovery was to change their lives. They decided to travel the world and find all the letters of the alphabet from the wings of butterflies and moths. If there was one letter, there must be others.

The challenges were many, not least, Kjell knew nothing about photography and Barbara, nothing about butterflies or where the greatest diversity of design could be found. But, they persevered and in 1975, after years of traveling to botanical gardens, nature reserves and rainforests from the Amazon to New Guinea, and surviving malaria-infested jungles, leeches and ants while photographing letters and numbers on the wings of butterflies and moths (without killing any), their discovery was revealed in the first issue of the new Smithsonian magazine.

Visit the site and discover another nature alphabet and play around with both of them, even send an e-mail.

Typography: Alphabet Crackers

2006-08-13T12:00:00.001-04:00

bokstavskex n. biscuits, shaped like letters of the alphabet, manufactured by Göteborgskex and sold throughout the Nordic countries, hence the inclusion of the Nordic letters å, ä, ö, ø, and œ.

Convert words into biscuits. The bokstavskex automatic biscuit image generator will take words of your choosing and set them in type composed of alphabet digestive biscuits. For some reason, though, the alphabet is missing the letters 'q', 'w' and 'z’ and it doesn’t look like the missing letters are going to show up anytime soon. The present alphabet appears to have been created sometime in the late 1990s and the missing biscuit letters are, well, still missing. But, if you are curious, you can listen to a phone call, in Swedish (transcript available), placed to the cracker manufacturer asking why they weren’t included.

Typoglycemia

2006-08-12T21:15:00.000-04:00

Typoglycemia is the lighthearted name given to a purported recent discovery about the cognitive processes behind reading written text. The name makes little sense as glycemia is the concentration of glucose in the blood. It is an urban legend/Internet meme that does have some element of truth behind it.

The legend is propagated by email and message boards and demonstrates that readers can understand the meaning of words in a sentence even when the letters of each word are scrambled. As long as all the necessary letters are present, and the first and last letters remain the same, readers turn out to have little trouble reading the text.

The phenomenon is illustrated by this widely-forwarded e-mail message:

I cdn'uolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg: the phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rsceearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiatrely cllaed Typoglycemia.

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and you awlyas thguoht slpeling was ipmorantt.

In actual fact, no such research was carried out at Cambridge University. It all started with a letter to the New Scientist magazine from Graham Rawlinson in which he discusses his Ph.D. thesis.

While typoglycemic writing may be easy to understand, creating it is slow going. Consequently, a typoglycemia translator has been created to hlep you wtrie yuor own tmylyieogpcc msegesas or gaert Aermcian nveol.

The major part of this posting was taken from the Wikipedia article “Typoglycemia” under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Competition: Flag Book Bind-O-Rama

2006-08-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

Karen Hanmer, Destination Moon, 2003

Initiated in 2004, the Bind-O-Rama challenge and online exhibition, sponsored by The Book Arts Web, has become an annual event. The 2006 Bind-O-Rama will celebrate the Flag Book structure.

Book artist and conservator Hedi Kyle created the first flag book, April Diary, in 1979. The foundation of the flag book structure is an accordion folded spine to which rows of flags are attached in opposing directions. When read page by page, images and text appear fragmented and disjointed, but when the spine is pulled fully open, the flags assemble into a panoramic spread.

Many flag book creators do not take full advantage of the flag book’s structure to experiment with layering of imagery or text. Too often, they opt for the simple approach of merely attaching bits of images or text to the accordion spine, missing the opportunity to exploit the flap book’s structure, shape and color potential and the book’s spine and cover surfaces for additional imagery or text.

For those not familiar with the flag book structure, there is a tutorial with step-by-step instructions in the Bonefolder, Vol 2, No. 1, Fall, 2005, an e-journal for book binders and book artists. The journal is in PDF format for downloading.

Two Entries (maximum)
No Entry Fee.
Entry Deadline: September 15, 2006

Graph Paper on Demand

2006-08-05T22:40:00.000-04:00

Do you need a special type of graph paper to help you layout the design of your new book or box project, or do you need guide paper to practice your calligraphy or Japanese or Chinese brushwork? Perhaps your child needs something special for a class project. Instead of spending your valuable time shopping for it, download what you need from incompetech.com. It's free.

With thirty-two graphs from which to chose, you are sure to find one that is useful and when you do, you can tweak it by adjusting the size, color and line weight of the grid as well as the size of the paper. Once you've got everything the way you want it, print your paper from your web browser or download it as a PDF to your computer to print later.

Inaugural Post: The Art of the Book

2006-08-04T00:18:00.000-04:00

Who would believe that the timid web explorer I was five years ago would morph into the web adventurer I have become. I give a good deal of credit to the introductory (i.e. reduced price) high-speed internet connection offer I received from my local telephone company those many years ago. I can always go back to dial-up I told myself. Not.

So here I am with tons of websites I have discovered. Why not start a blog? Thus was born The Art of the Book, a blog devoted to the bookarts. Here, I plan to post information that I think bookbinders and book artists might find interesting ... helpful ... inspiring. Topics will include, but will not be limited to, online book exhibits, tutorials, materials and tool resources, typography, announcements of competitions, blogs ....

Feel free to comment. I can't guarantee that I will answer but I do promise to read every comment. If you are not comfortable with identifying yourself, I have enabled anonymous commenting, although I do hope commentors will created aliases so that I can associate postings with a particular person, even if they wish to remain anonymous.