Tabula Rasa

My biblionautic chums and friends.
An other Booker Time Update.
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker.../prize-years/2024

This has been a little of a challenge, but more about that later.
Having sorted out the design, material use etc I set about doing my thing.....
Machine sewing, purposely badly, hand dying and reworking leather. Book Cloth inlaid panels and so forth.

I will be posting progress over the next couple of weeks... I hope.
Please note.... there are other studios/binderies doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

My biblionautic chums and friends.

I think it is now safe to say that I have started a new teaching post on the full time book binding course at West Dean.

https://www.westdean.ac.uk/degrees-and-diplomas/fda-books-binding

Please note.... there are other courses, studios/binderies doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

My biblionautic chums and friends.

Booker Time.

Now that the Booker 2024 Short List is out.....
https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2024

I can reveal that my Booker Book is Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood.
The specially printed sheets will be arriving soon but I have my reading copy.....
One of the highlights of the annual Booker Prize season comes when each of the shortlisted authors is presented with a unique, hand-bound edition of their nominated works. These one-of-a-kind books are made and designed between the shortlist announcement and winner ceremony. From folding the specially printed sheets into sections, each book is the result of around 150 hours of dedicated work and the process, which involves at least 25 distinct stages. What would normally take months is condensed in to weeks, this year I have 6 week!

Please note.... there are other studios/binderies doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.

My biblionautic chums and friends.
Buried Book in a Box, the next exciting chapter. The drying out process continues, for the last few days the book has supported on a mesh tray to allow air circulation for an hour or so then pressed in wooden boards, to absorb moisture, under weights. Then an hour on the mesh tray... repeat, repeat etc.
Slowly the book begins to dry out and revealing more textures contained within the text block.
Please note.... there are other studios/binderies doing stuff, spelling and grammar. Please further note, the opinion of the author may change at any moment. This is due to having an open mind of sorts.