Commission when you want a particular cover paper, a specific number of books, a nonstandard book size or paper weight, or if you want books shipped to you. Essentially, any specific need will do.
How to place a commission
Email me the details at the provided address and put "Journal commission" in the subject line. I will get back to you with a quote or questions, and we will make further arrangements from there.
Cost of commission
The price would depend upon your specifications. In-stock designs and combinations sell for $40/limited edition and $35/standard.
Production time
Due to vast fluctuations in my schedule as a graduate student, this will need to be determined during the commission process.
The Journals
How did you learn coptic binding?
When I was a student at Wellesley College, I took a semester-long introductory course on Book Arts from Katherine Ruffin. This class divided our time between the library's Special Collections room and a full book arts lab equipped with two Vandercook presses, cases and cases of type, and all the supplies needed to learn more than a person could possibly learn in one semester. When an advanced course was offered the next summer I moved back to Massachusetts from North Carolina to take it despite being in the middle of a year of leave.
How long does it take you to make each book?
It depends on whether or not I run into any problems (like tangled thread or a ripped signature), but it takes about three hours of active labor to make each book. About one hour is spent sewing. The other two hours are spent prepping the materials. Cutting down and assembling the covers takes anywhere from one to one and half hours. Collating, folding, and hole punching the interior paper takes a half hour on average. All of these tasks require precision, so I spend time checking to make sure the boards match, the holes for sewing align, and the margins of the endpapers are as straight as possible. The three hour estimate only accounts for the time spent creating the book itself, and not the time spent finding and purchasing the materials.
Why do you only offer books in one size, 5"x7"?
To keep the costs down and offer these books for less than $50, I have to make my material purchases in bulk. One of my largest purchases was interior paper cut to size, 10"x7" to be specific, which is then folded in half. I order the interior paper cut to size because I do not own the (extremely heavy and expensive) equipment necessary to cut large quantities of paper accurately. I'm able to work outside these dimensions on a commission-only basis.
What are Chiyogami and Katazome-Shi?
They are exceptionally beautiful and durable Japanese papers particularly suited to bookbinding. Chiyogami is screenprinted on an acid-free base paper made of kozo and sulphite. Every color is a layer silkscreened onto the paper, and in most cases these papers have four or five colors. Katazome-shi, based on traditional kimono printing, is stencilled onto a kozo base paper by hand, a time consuming process that produces intense colors and stunning patterns.
