How to Clean Everything

I have had this book for about 30 years perhaps more and it is fantastic - but out of print. It was a paperback and disintegrated into sections of pages. It is too valuable to discard so I rebound it this week. I started by clamping the text block and slicing off the glue from the spine. Then saw cuts were made across the spine at one inch intervals deep enough to take two thicknesses of linen thread. The thread was then wound in and out all the cuts and the spine plastered with PVA. After that it was treated as a normal text block, mull, kraft paper, endpapers and then a cover of black bookcloth. The original cloth was untouched. It seems to be of cloth immersed in plastic - very like book cloth. I cut it up and glued it on to the now completed book. It is now a very solid hard back and good for another 30 years!!

There was the problem of what to do about the endpapers. I was searching through the paper stash looking for a paper with cupcakes on it (has to be a domestic paper) and came across a sheet of wrapping paper printed with chocolates. What better I thought and here it is.

Another good job done. I am also getting on with the Jules Verne. I had forgotten that I needed the endpapers for the two volumes before I could do anything more. So when I got back from the bookbinding class yesterday, I immediately set to on Photoshop. I had considered using Japanese chiyogami patterned paper but could not find one with fishes on. I did find (in the stash) a sheet of koi carp but that's a bit too tame for the contents of the book.

So here is a whirlpool. It will be across the whole endpaper.The edges will be trimmed somewhat as the book is not A5.

I went to Nature in Art yesterday evening under the impression I was going to a lecture by Lisa Hooper. It turned out to be a demonstration in a studio - which was very good. She showed us how she prints a woodcut of a sparrow - Japanese style woodcut. It used four different blocks, one for each colour. and she explained the technique very well. She is eclectic in that the pictures on show included lino-cuts, monoprints as well as the Japanese woodblocks. I particularly liked her lino-cuts and must go back to that technique. I thought about it all the way home!! Time!! Give me more time!!!

However I do have the Voyager all warped up and ready to go to Wokefield Park for the weekend.