Handbound Books

 

"In today’s world, books and paper are easy and cheap to mass-produce. It’s much more efficient than when it was all done by hand...but in that efficiency, we have lost something. A mechanically produced book, made with mechanically produced paper may look nice and be lovely to read, but it contains nothing of the person who made it.

When an artist creates, their creation acquires just a little of their essence, their spirit, their soul. So it is when we design and handbind a book. Each book has just a little bit of us in it , and that sharing of ourselves enriches us as well as the recipient."

Mary & Danny 

 

Coptic Binding
 

Our Coptic books are hand bound using an ancient method known as Coptic Binding. This binding was used by Coptic priests in Egypt nearly 2000 years ago to bind their manuscripts, and is kept alive today by a handful of artists and artisans. An intricate, painstakingly beautiful, non-adhesive binding with exposed knotted stitching across an open spine, it is the distant forerunner of much of our modern mechanical bookbinding. Every book is an individually crafted work of art. The process begins with the hand-folding of each signature. Then the covers are prepared with specially handmade paper. Once the covers have dried, they are hand-drilled. Next, each signature is meticulously sewn to the cover and/or the adjacent signatures. Finally, the endpages, also of handmade paper, are glued in and the title label is attached to the cover. Besides being true works of art and craftsmanship, the Coptic books, due to the nature of the binding, have the advantage of being able to open flat at any page.

 

Rustic Binding
 

Our Rustic books have a simple but charming binding evocative of a straightforward style which might have been used in a less sophisticated time. We developed this variation on a classic stab binding specifically for these books. Their handmade paper covers have a rough-hewn look, emphasized by torn edges on the decorative trim and rough cord for binding. Rustic books are available at a much lower price purely because they are simpler and much quicker to create, but you can rest assured that the same craftsmanship and attention to detail that the Coptic books receive is given to the Rustic books as well.