This book bound in human skin…
This book bound in human skin…isn’t human skin after all. Our fascination with the macabre practice of anthropodermic bibliopegy, or human skin bookbinding, isn’t a new one. This inscription led readers astray for many years before scientific testing of the leather proved the note to be false.
Miniature Sherlock Holmes
For your Friday enjoyment: miniature books, Sherlock Holmes and a Queen’s Doll House.
Book Traces
My first book love was the odd world of medieval manuscript art: an age defined by distinctive books that are inherently unique in form if not content. These handwritten and handmade books form the core of my knowledge of books and the advent of the age of printing alone is
Penguin Bindings: A Short History
I love merchandise, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Especially if it’s book-related. Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to the plethora of items sold by Penguin that recall the nostalgia of their classic binding. You know which one I mean – the three horizontal stripes, famously orange, with the
Ink Balls and Printing
Up until the mid 19th century ink balls (also commonly called dabbers or inking balls) were used to apply ink to letter presses and in print making. An ink ball was made of sheepskin, inside of which wool or horsehair was placed, and a wooden handle. The finished product looks
A Machine for the 19th Century: The Iron Hand Press
The duke said what he was after was a printing-office. We found it; a little bit of a concern, up over a carpenter shop — carpenters and printers all gone to the meeting, and no doors locked. It was a dirty, littered-up place, and had ink marks, and handbills with
A Short History of America’s Oldest Private Press
The Private Press movement suffered a sharp decline during the 1930s, with many presses closing down due to Depression-era costs. A few, however, managed to keep going. One of those intrepid presses was the Trovillion Private Press at the sign of the Silver Horse, which at one point was the
A Day at the London International Antiquarian Book Fair : Starting a Book Collection on a Budget
A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to be able to attend the London International Antiquarian Book Fair. My friend and fellow library student (Jill, for future reference) managed to secure tickets through her workplace. She and I are both rare books people, and I think it is
Bookbinding Technique of the Month: Sewing Over Tapes with a French Knot
It seems to me an interest in bookbinding is an interest that goes beyond the love of books and the act of reading: it’s really a preoccupation with how things come to be, an origin story for an object so ubiquitous we forget it had to be sewn and stitched