Blogging for Books- little book of BOOK MAKING

little book of BOOK MAKING by Charlotte Rivers

There was once a time when I dabbled in the art- and it is most certainly an art form!- of bookmaking. It took place at my alma mater, Ringling College of Art and Design. In other words, eons ago. ;-)

I had the wonderful privilege of discovering the humble, paper book as a rare and stand-alone piece of art. Through several bookmaking classes, I learned everything from pulp to paper, to binding to create a book. A fine arts piece. The content was not always relevant- the construction and the beauty that went into it, was the goal.

It's been a long, long, long time since my days of mixing pulp into paper and stitching book signatures together. However, when I recently had the opportunity to review little book of BOOK MAKING by Charlotte Rivers, the excitement of creating something tangible and artistic in the form of paper and spine, came flooding back to me. 

little book of BOOK MAKING by Charlotte Rivers is a beautifully illustrated book that takes the reader through the basic anatomy of a book (page 8) to intricate spine stitching, such as the French Link Stitch (page 156). In between these extremes are beautiful examples of the book as art from around the world. USA, UK, South America and Asia are all represented with their contributions on the bookmaking world. Example pictures are rich in detail and excite the reader to observe the lowly printed paper book in a whole new light.

Later in the book, step-by-step instructions are included to help the reader create everything from a simple pamphlet stitch book to a flag book  to a more complicated Dragon book. Pictures in the step-by-step section are less than impressive but they do aid in the overall understanding of the construction of a book. 

Overall, this book is exciting to read and shows beautiful examples of fine arts books and the art of bookmaking. While not a staple in every creative person's library,  little book of BOOK MAKING by Charlotte Rivers definitely delivers in it's promise to, "Timeless techniques and fresh ideas for beautiful handmade books."

***Disclaimer- "I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review."***