thrift store

Alaska Journal

I've been on a bookbinding roll lately, trying to refine my hardcover binding technique and find the best possible way to refill old books. My goal is to make attractive, durable bindings that do not obscure the books original endpapers. 

This book is one I've had for several years, I bought it at a thrift store. In fact, it's appeared on this blog before. It's a National Geographic Collection of articles about Alaska. I read the book cover to cover (I am fascinated by cold, remote places) and kept it because I thought the cover design was lovely. 

The best part is that I was able to remove the library card from the discarded portion of the book and place it onto the back endsheet, a nice detail I thought. 

:: Alaska, cover :: 

:: Front inside, with original endsheets, new matching cloth hinge, and a new text block ::

 :: The book's original library card, salvaged and reattached ::

Recent Acquisitions

Recent acquisitions from the used bookstore. A vintage issue of Exposure, the journal of the Society for Photographic Education. The theme of the issue is photo-offset printing and included a portfolio section.

 :: todd walker ::

 :: scott hyde ::

:: cover ::

A beautiful little bound copy of the Life of Tom Horn. Steve McQueen read the story of Tom Horn and felt a strong personal connection to Horn, a loner and one of the last of his kind in the disappearing Old West. His film Tom Horn is one of my favorites. 

I love the scale and feel of this book. I have been working on an edition myself and am now thinking I might downsize it to a more handheld size. 

 :: cover ::

 :: title page ::

Neighbors and Books

I went to Delaware yesterday to drop off some work for a show, "Neighbors" at Project Space.
Wilmington, DE. This group show is an eclectic group of artists, who have all been neighbors at one time or another. I feel very lucky to be part of this show, which includes the work of Catherine Maloney, Ruth Ansel, and Sutton Hays.

If you are in the neighborhood, the opening details are:

Neighbors
Project Space
2003 West 17th Street
Wilmington, DE 19806
Friday, February 1st 5pm to 8pm

Should be a great show.

While I was there, I went to the thrift store and found this treasure. 

:: mushrooms and magic, yes please ::

 :: title page with sweet little mushroom drawings ::

:: I see russulas, morels, boletes, and more! ::

I also went to my parent's house and dug out a few of my own children's books, I'll be posting more of them later. This one is Rocks and Gems. I remember looking at it many times.

 :: I love that little earth core slice ::

 :: rocks and gems ::




Thoughts on Books

Yesterday, I had a particularly good day at the used bookstore and came home with a heavy stack of books. Looking at them made me wonder, how can you replace books with screens?

In my opinion, you can't. A book is to be enjoyed for its design as well as the information it contains and unlike a screen, it ages, often in beautiful and unexpected ways.

perfect tape

This is Cape Light, a book of photographs by Joel Meyerowitz. It's one of the first photography books I fell in love with.

catchy title

I have always wanted to get more acquainted with minerals.

These reproductions of crystals are so lovely.

In 6th grade, I think I was the only kid psyched to go on a geology field trip, which included going to a quarry, checking out some strata, and looking at core samples collected by geologists. It was awesome. I should have been a scientist.

The Boy Mechanic

Lastly, do you ever have the sinking feeling we're getting worse at doing things? All things? If not, you haven't yet read "The Boy Mechanic," a collection of 800 projects a boy should be able to do, such as weave a hammock, build a canoe, or build your own homemade electric locomotive model and track system.

Now how do you feel? Yeah, I thought so.

I love books. I love them as objects and for what they contain. I never want to live in a house without books. I can't even imagine what that would be like. Maybe books will end up like records, no longer mass market but still enjoyed by a small group of loyal enthusiasts. We'll see.

Gone Thrifting

:: mikasa plate ::

I went to the thrift store yesterday to look for old books. It was not a particularly good day for books, but I found some things, including a very pretty, large Mikasa plate.

:: wildlife encyclopedia ::

I did find one book, the A's of a wildlife encyclopedia, which I'll use in my books. I also learned some interesting facts about anemones, amphiuma, and the organizational habits of arctic foxes.

:: sweet little cup ::

Lastly, this little cup, made in France, with mushrooms and vegetables all around. A good day, with inspiring objects.

I've been thinking a lot about what I will want to print once the press is running. Postcards? I like designing postcards. I want the first few things I print to be made using the type I have in the shop, no polymer plates. Then again, I want to draw. Mostly though, I've been thinking about color, which will be my jumping off point regardless of what material I choose.

My roller gauge is set to arrive on Thursday, meaning I'll be able to set my rollers by this weekend. Oh, this is so exciting! Everything rests on you, lollipop-shaped tool!



:: picture via letterpress delicacies ::