LYSISTRATA re-sewing and end papers.

After some time in the nipping press the sections where sewn using the original holes. The stitch used is an un-supported link stitch. The first an last sections have been left loose so that I can hook guard the end papers.



The image for the end papers is derived from a small illustration within the text block, the printing technique is soft plate off-set. The front end paper is on the left and the back end paper is on the right. The printed paper has been laminated on to a toned paper that goes some way to match the text block paper.



Detail of the front end paper.

LYSISTRATA pulling and cleaning the spine.

Having looked at the text block I thought it best to remove the old binding, clean the spine and pull or remove the original sewing. First I removed the text block by cutting through the paste down in line with the edge of the mull.



Then using a lifting knife (a flexible thin bladed knife) I carefully peeled back the mull and part of the paste down. The original boards are called straw boards because they are made from chopped straw, very cheap and very acidic!



I repeated the process on the other board.



Once the text block was free I could begin to clean the spine. First I peeled back as much loose material as I could, nice to see that bookbinders have carried on the tradition of recycling when ever possible.
Next was the wet cleaning of the spine...

LYSISTRATA removing the mull and old adhesive.

After all the spine linings that could be removed dry, I moved on to a wet cleaning process.
The text block was placed in working boards and clamped in my backing press with just the spine area above the cheeks. A thick paste was applied to the spine to soften up the mull and old adhesive. To keep the paste moist I covered the whole area in cling-film and waited for about 10 minutes before removing the paste and any mull and adhesive that had become soft. I then repeated the process until the whole of the spine area was as clean as I could make it.



Care must be taken, as the paper becomes soft and can be damaged, even more in the case of this particular book. The sections are in fact just a single fold (Folio).....not fun!
What became more evident as the spine became visible was the shocking rounding and backing.



Sections had been crushed, threads broken, old crusty hot glue... not nice. I imagine that this poor book was rounded and backed last thing on a Friday afternoon or after a particularly good lunch.

LYSISTRATA... a new commission....

First a big thank you to Nicky, Haein and Cheryl for their help over the open studio weekend. It was good fun with about 40 people coming.


Random image from Madrid, I just love the colours and textures.


Lysistrata, a new commission, the binding has seen better days and to be frank the construction is not suitable for this size of book.

STUDIO 5 OPEN WEEKEND

It has taken some time but Studio 5 will be having an OPEN WEEKEND..... Saturday-31-July and Sunday-1-August...2010

All welcome!

Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Finished and in Transit 1

Brush Up Your Shakespeare is finished and in transit to the owner.

I had great fun working on this miniature binding, such a contrast to the previous commission (The 4 Gospels being over 2m in length!)

The box is a 2 tray drop back box with a weighted top tray. The top tray is weighted to ensure that the box will stay closed. I find that working on miniatures that because the materials can be light weight boxes and the like sometimes just want to keep gaping.


The binding is in full fair goat with hand dying, pouting lips... Kiss Me Kate. The text block is of the song 'Brush Up Your Shakespeare from the musical Kiss Me Kate, which was inspired by 'The Taming Of The Shrew' by one William Shakespeare.




The Doublers/Doublures are hand printed (Soft Plate Off-Set) with 23 1/2 ct gold leaf laid on top the worked. The front being 'All The World Is A Stage'



With the gangsters on the last page of the text block paying homage to a rather ironic looking Shakespeare, again soft plate off-set with gold leaf.



The One Pound coin to the left gives some indication as to the size of the finished book.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Finished and in Transit 2

With this style of text block construction the pages flow as you go through them. The text block almost escapes from the binding.




Fun to work with and fun to handle.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Doublers are down.

The Doublers are hand printed and coloured with a layer of worked cold gold (23 1/2 ct)
The text block will be attached with the first and last pages being inserted behind the doublers. A non adhesive binding!

Now for the container.

HOLIDAY

For the first time in many years I am going on HOLIDAY.... to Spain.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare. Kiss Me.

Work progresses on Brush Up Your Shakespeare. A Full leather binding ( Fair Goat ) with a stylised image of a pair of pouting lips.
The dye has been applied with, yes you guessed right.. a brush. All free hand... Next is the gold leaf.

Brush Up Your Shakespeare, when small is small etc....

Having been informed that the definition of a miniature book is any book under 3 inches, I am happy to say that Brush Up Your Shakespeare is a miniature...

Brush Up Your Shakespeare, new work from New York.

I love boxes. This one contains Brush Up Your Shakespeare, a limited edition by the Piccolo Press/New York.



Small but not a miniature.




Charming illustrations by Seymour Chwast, the text is the music and words to the song Brush Up Your Shakespeare from the musical Kiss Me Kate. Top stuff, should be fun....

The 4 Gospels, the Box is finished.

The box is finished, both the outside....



...and the inside. Two further books are contained in the interior of the box. One is about the printing of the book and the other is going to be about the design and making of the 4 Gospels. So still a bit more to do yet.



The inner supports also indicate which Gospel goes where and in what order.

The 4 Gospels, the Box.

The box has been designed to enable the books to be seen yet still be protected. Using the four sides of the box as individual frames for each book. Simple yet effective.



The perspex canopy can be lifted off thus allowing full access to the books.



In addition to the $ Gospels there are a further 2 books, one explains the printing and the design of the text block whilst the second explains the the bindings , the design etc

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage, colour, tooling and the boards are on. The Clients

The clients for The Four Gospels have seen the books, handled them and liked them..... which is good.

Box making now.... something with a twist.

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage, colour, tooling and the boards are on. The first images.

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage, colour, tooling and the boards are on. The first images.

In the back ground is the box, taking shape with the help of a young and gifted French Bookbinding student.....

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage, colour, tooling and the boards are on !

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage, colour, tooling and the boards are on.

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage, colour and tooling, nearly finished.

Nearly there!......

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage, colour and tooling.

The collage work is finished. With black line work giving us the memory of stained glass the tooling can begin. The reflected light from the tooling reminds me Byzantine wall mosaics. By knocking back the collage I hope to give the impression of aged fresco work.

The 4 Gospels, the boards, leather, collage and colour..

Progress, having cobbled together a very long desk easel it is easier to see the whole design taking shape. The colours will be blended and with heavy black line work I am aiming for a sort of Icon look. It has taken me a while to sort this out but I realise that I am making four separate design bindings........