The Handmade Book [Hardcover]

Angela James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000

An introduction into the art of bookbinding, allowing readers to create their own unique and personal journals, notebooks, albums, and portfolios using a variety of traditional and modern techniques. More than a dozen projects exploring the use of different media, styles, and treatments.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

This lavishly illustrated book, written by a renowned bookbinder, gives this popular craft a dynamic twist. Using simple book-binding techniques to create a range of colorful and fun notebooks, journals and albums. The Handmade Book is an inspiration for any craft enthusiast and also a wonderful source of gifts for family and friends.

Modern bookbinding combines traditional methods with natural materials and treatments to create handcrafted books with strong colors and sensual and exciting textures. The Handmade Book guides the reader through 13 step-by step projects, including a ribbon-tied sketchbook and a folding octagon. Featuring both simple binding and more complex projects, this book is perfect for the beginner as well as full of innovative ideas for more experienced bookbinders. Also included is a collection of contemporary bindings from leading crafters around the world, which demonstrates traditional and modern bindings and an eclectic use of materials and interpretations.

From the Back Cover

Handmade books are expensive to buy but surprisingly easy and wonderfully satisfying to make. With The Handmade Book you'll learn the basic techniques of bookbinding and how to create your own notebooks, journals, albums and portfolios. Vibrant photography and simple instructions will inspire craft lovers, artists and students of any age and ability.

Includes 13 step-by-step handmade book projects using a variety of materials, including suede, wood, vellum, cloth and handmade papers.

Features inspirational section showing contemporary bindings from artists around the world.

Written by an internationally renowned bookbinder.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580172563
• ISBN-13: 978-1580172561
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,180,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bookbinding is only one part of book arts, February 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Handmade Book (Hardcover)

For a well-photographed example of one bookbinder's personal work, this book serves its purpose. For helpful background material and detailed explanations of variations on particular binding styles and book sensibilities, you won't find it here. This is more of a coffee table book and highlights one binder's style of working rather than serving as a helpful "how-to" manual. Other books on the market, e.g. Shereen LaPlantz's "Cover To Cover," are a more expansive guide (for beginners through scholars) since they focus on the process of what books are about as a contextual framework, not just how one person binds books. For those of us who teach book arts not just for fun but also in fine art academic settings, this book adds little information to the body of knowledge. It focuses solely on binding at the expense of content, which sells the intelligence of bookmakers & book arts advocates short. Binding for binding's sake is only one component of what comprises books as books, not to mention books as an art form. What the handmade book is about content-wise is important to explore in relation to binding variations - this book does not enhance our knowledge of how these aspects relate to one another. It's a pretty book, but more about highlighting the binder than highlighting book arts as an artform or truly educating learners. If you just want to copy what one binder has done, this may be the book for you. If you want to explore books, bindings, approaches to structure, contexts for paper, text, images, etc, you'll be disappointed with this book, as I was. I wouldn't recommend it to my students.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Photos, Wonderful Explanantions, October 14, 2003

By 

Fern Richardson "Fern Richardson" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Handmade Book (Hardcover)

I bought this book a few weeks ago, and I am dreaming of making almost every project in this book. The photographs are beautiful. The explanantions and directions are very good. Very inspiring.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful book, April 2, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Handmade Book (Hardcover)

I thought this book was very useful for
the amateur bookmaker. I thought the photographs were excellent. In a craft book I want photos of the finished product that make it plain how it should appear. This book has many useful detailed photos of the steps taken to build the finished book as well as the completed project. What I especially like in craft books are ones that give me ideas and teach me new skills, rather than a strictly cookbook approach. You can thumb the pages of this book and get lots
of inspiration. I especially liked the chapter on the cross structure book. This is a unique book that is not clearly documented in other books.