OK, it looks like my summer class at the West Kortright Centre will be August 10, 11 & 12 from 6-9 pm; here is the description. I’ll post the link for registration as soon as I get it. Let me know what you think!

In this workshop, students will learn techniques of hand bookbinding such as assembling the text, creating hard covers and covering them with a multitude of fabrics, marbled papers, and other materials. The finished projects can be used as journals or artists’ books, and can be replicated at home with basic art supplies for more book making.
Students will learn about paper grain, gluing techniques and working with a bone folder. We will be working with glue so wear an apron, smock or old clothes. Each participant gets a bone folder to use during class and keep afterward.

Although most books in the U.S. are made by machine, there is a small but active population of hand bookbinders spread across the country whose work ranges from conservative to cutting edge. They use everything from rag paper, linen thread and wheat paste to sheet metal and glass.
Equipment ranges from 19th century presses and cutters to Teflon spatulas and sheets of spun-bonded polyester, but in the end it all comes back to hand skills at the workbench.

Paper Moon Bookbinding was founded in 2006 by Amy Morris Pickens with the goal of making books which are beautiful and useful. She uses papers and cloth from Asia, Europe and the U.S., and has over a decade of experience in binding, sewing, non-adhesive structures, editions, repair & restoration and box making. Amy recently moved to Delaware County after living in Northern California; she is glad to be back in the Northeast and to be able to share her expertise with her community.

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Ever wonder how to describe your book, or what each part is called? Here is a little primer on book anatomy.

Boards- the hard front and back of a hard cover book.

Case- another word for a hard cover, usually covered with cloth or paper. A case is made separately from the text, then attached to the text block.

Endsheet- the decorative or plain paper visible right inside the cover when you open a book. The part glued onto the board is the pastedown, the part that turns with the pages is the flyleaf.

Foredge- the edge of the book that opens. Parallel to the spine, it runs between the head and tail.

Gutter- the area of the text block where the pages meet each other. Often the sewing can be seen if you look carefully into the gutter.

Head and Tail- the top and bottom edges of the book.

Headcaps or endcaps- the part of the cover material that curves around the spine at the head and tail. These are subject to damage when used foolishly as a place to hook one’s finger when pulling a book off a shelf.

Headbands or endbands- the narrow strip of decorative material along the head and tail of the text block at the spine. Usually woven, they are not a structural part of a case binding.

Hinge or joint- the area where the boards meet and move at the spine (just like a door.) Some people use hinge to refer to the inside and joint to refer to the outside and some people use them interchangeably, relying on “inner joint” and “outer joint” (or hinge) to clarify.

Hollow- the space between the spine of the cover and the spine of the text block, a tunnel that allows the pages to move away from the cover cloth (called “throwing up”) and drape properly when the book is open. A hollow is a necessity for a case-bound book; paperbacks do not have them.

Mull- the mesh strip that supports the connection of text block to case in a case-bound book. It can usually be seen under the pastedown right inside the cover. It is also sometimes called super or crash.

Pastedown- see endsheet.

Spine- this is the area of the book that is visible when the book is on the shelf, usually where the book is titled.

Text Block- the pages, either sewn or glued together.

Our new workspace is finally as it should be, and everything has found its right place. The big paper drawers and the guillotine were the tricky parts, but once they were right everything else followed.

The space is bright and much warmer than the old shop, and the windows look out into stone walls and woods. There are even multiple closets for all of the necessary and desirable supplies, and a place of pride for the all-important board shears used for cutting everything from gossamer thin Japanese tissue to cloth to heavy binder’s board. Mine is a Marshall, Son and Co. model, made in Boston, with a beautiful wooden bed and graceful cast iron legs and brackets. It has served me well and traveled across the country with me. Now it seems to be suited to its new home.

I hope to be blogging more frequently this year about projects, materials, techniques and the interesting people in and around the world of books and paper.

Paper Moon Bookbinding’s new space is fabulous- bright, perfectly sized and comfortable to work in- and I’m thinking about a new line of photo albums for Spring: cloth-bound primarily, although gorgeous wood and cork veneers have been taking up a lot of brain space lately. The other main obsession at the moment is bird- and egg-patterned papers. Maybe it is due to watching the birds outside the snowy window of the bindery…

Very blue bird with a beak extending onto the spine of the book.

This is a small vintage-style archival album with end sheets that have the most beautiful natural history-themed print of eggs from various birds.

Lovely perching bird in earthtones on the cover of a journal.

Ribbon gift/hang tag with a fabulous black bird and nest; this image was used in an antique hat advertisement.

If you are on Facebook, you may become a “fan” of Paper Moon Bookbinding.  Once connected, you can see additional pictures and galleries of recent projects.  You will also be able to receive updates and occasional special offers, such as free shipping.