Here are a few shots of two of the projects I have done for a bookbinding class that I'm taking. It is a lot of fun and a lot of work. I will hopefully get some pics of some of the other books up soon.
Here are a few shots of a book I made with wooden covers and bound with what is commonly called a coptic binding. The covers are made of birch and stained with a color called fruitwood. If you look closely you can see the chain looking stiches that tie the pages together.
One of the other things we went thru in class was how to assemble a box out of binders board and cover it with fabric. There is one of the little boxes I made. It measures just three inches by three inches and is about an inch and a half tall.
A Chitsu is the hard cover or case for a book. As many Japanese books have soft flexible covers that are not like the hard covers usually found in the west. In order to protect a valuable book they would have a case or cover made. The Chitsu was a box like construction that would cover the book and protect it. To go along with the three Japanese Binding examples that I made earlier I have now made a Chitsu to keep them in. It is a very intricate little case with a lot of pieces that had to be put together in just the right way in order for it to all line up and close, but I did get it figured out and actually had a lot of fun in the process. The base is made of binders board covered with a printed Japanese paper. The lining as well as the thread for the clasp are also Japanese paper. The little bone clasp is not even three quarters on an inch in length, but it works beautifully. Hope you enjoy seeing the finished Chitsu as much as I enjoyed building it.
