Book Reviews: Bookbinding and Artist Books

Cathy M Koos

The year I was a senior in high school was stellar! It was the first year girls were allowed to wear pants AND the first year girls were permitted to take shop classes. I had so many units banked for graduation that I took all my favorite classes that year of 1972. I took English Literature, Creative Writing, and a couple art classes, including that shop class – Graphic Arts. I learned how to operate a printing press and to bind my very first book. I still have that book, carefully bound in bright blue book cloth. And I still build and bind my own books. If you wonder what book binding has to do with weaving or other textile arts, a handwoven book cover is a wonderful way to use your samples or scraps. I use one of mine to record my weaving projects, as well.

Here are several reference books that I use frequently.

Non-Adhesive Binding, Books Without Paste or Glue, by Keith Smith, 2014, Keith Smith Books. Lavishly illustrated, Smith takes the reader through all the steps needed for various sewn binding techniques such as buttonhole, Coptic, stab binding and more. Smith’s books are in collections around the world, including the Tate, Victoria and Albert, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, and the Museums of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco.

Cover to Cover, Shereen LaPlantz, Lark Books, 2000.

While Shereen has sadly left us, her amazingly creative mind is still very much available for us. Copious photos and illustrations guide us along the way.

Beginning the reader by creating a simple pamphlet, then move on to Japanese stab bindings, books featuring complex folds, books incorporated with boxes, presentation book-in-a-box, copious step-by-step illustrations and photographs to instruct and inspire.

Making Books By Hand, Mary McCarthy and Philip Manna, rockpub.com, 2000.

While not guiding the reader through the more complex book bindings as above, this is a great starter for beginners, with tools, step-by-step guide and plenty of illustrations.