In a bind: Binding My First Book

Almost ready for leather wrapping

Binding a book was not on my radar. It seemed neat and all, but I had no overwhelming urge to take it up as a craft. Yet here I am pressing and and gluing. So why am I doing it then? Paper. Special paper. Specifically, PH neutral rag-linen paper that botanists use to mount plant specimens (and have for hundreds of years.) The process has gone through surprisingly little change in method and materials, the glue used having the most significant change.

Specimen quality rag-linen paper is mostly available through university stores. Like most thing that comes out of a university store, it is going to light your wallet on fire (just a little.) It is also loose leaf. While some period herbariums are loose leaf collections, the vast majority are bound into books. Finding the right paper was already hard enough. The chances of finding it already bound into a suitable casing? Highly unlikely. At least not without mortgaging my house.

Sewing the text block

So it came to pass that binding my own book seemed like the most logical choice. Of course that also means I can make a replica of the actual cover...so add in leatherworking...which I have also never done... heh.

The focus of this project is primarily the botany, the growth, collecting, pressing and mounting of the specimens, and while I want their container as pretty and accurate as possible, this is one of those areas where I was willing to use slightly more modern methods and materials. For example, I am using a PH neutral white PVA glue on the book. I am not trying to create a perfectly period created book. I am trying to create a modern facsimile of a period book that looks darn close.

Evening the Pages

Sewing the head bindings

Either way, the end result will be a rag linen book, bound by hand, wrapped in goat leather (like the original) and painted with gold (I found a leather paint that is 14k real gold) So pretty darn close. I haven't started the leatherwork yet, but I do have the text block bound and covered in my board covers! More to come!

Dyrfinna