From zines you can fold in a minute to luxurious leather journals and sumptuous sketchbooks, How to Make Books will walk you through the easy basics of bookmaking. Whether you’re a writer, a scrapbooker, a political activist, or a postcard collector, let book artist Esther K. Smith be your guide as you discover your inner bookbinder. Using foolproof illustrations and step-by-step instructions, Smith reveals her time-tested techniques in a fun, easy-to-understand way.
How to Make Books
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“From the letter-press cover on thick cardboard to the simple, step-by-step instructions that are accompanied by illustrations and photos of finished products inside, this how-to will be the favorite of anyone who wants to make a book. Absolute beginners can be successful from the first page with an instant book-all that is needed is a sheet of paper. Besides paper, most projects call for the same three materials: awls, curved needles, and waxed thread. The most complicated one involves Coptic binding, which might take a couple of tries to get right but, even so, is doable. A resource list is included, as well as a bibliography of titles the author recommends. It is easy to see that bookmaking could become addictive. Crafty teens as well as those who create their own zines will want to take a look.”
—School Library Journal, Charlotte Bradshaw, San Mateo County Library, CA
—School Library Journal, Charlotte Bradshaw, San Mateo County Library, CA
About the Author
ESTHER K. SMITH, author of How to Make Books, collaborates with typographer Dikko Faust and other artists and writers at Purgatory Pie Press in New York City. Their handmade books have been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. Their artist books are housed in many rare book collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. Smith teaches throughout the United States, Canada, and England, and every term at Cooper Union in New York City.
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More About the Author
Esther K Smith stitches artist books and makes collaborative limited editions at Purgatory Pie Press with hand-typographer Dikko Faust and other artists and writers. Solo exhibits include Metropolitan Museum of Art and London's Victoria & Albert Museum. International collections include Museum of Modern Art, The National Gallery of Art, London's Tate, the Walker, and the Whitney Museum. Esther Smith teaches Artist Books at Cooper Union. She has been a visiting artist at Museum of Arts & Design and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. Her upcoming class is Artist Books: A Structural Approach April 30- May 4, 2012 at the Art Students League, New York City.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 56 people found the following review helpful
By Kate Black
Format:Hardcover
I picked up a copy of "How To Make Books" in a bookshop recently, and I was impressed. I'm already a bookbinder and familiar with most of the projects Smith details within the book, but I whole heartedly recommend this to novices and intermediates.
Smith's hand drawn diagrams have a warmth that many technical manuals overlook, without losing explicitness. Project directions are clear and concise. Her writing has a pleasant conversational tone. And the book is just a joy to hold -- the cover is raw bookboard, embossed letters to look like letterpress and a cloth tape spine. The combination of materials is engaging and tactile. I love this book!
Smith's hand drawn diagrams have a warmth that many technical manuals overlook, without losing explicitness. Project directions are clear and concise. Her writing has a pleasant conversational tone. And the book is just a joy to hold -- the cover is raw bookboard, embossed letters to look like letterpress and a cloth tape spine. The combination of materials is engaging and tactile. I love this book!
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Love How to Make Books. I'm fairly new to bookmaking but passionate. I have several books on how to make books and had vowed to buy no more, because--except for the older, more traditional books--they were beginning to all look alike. But while recovering from foot surgery (and away from my drafting board but with loads of time), I acquired How to Make Books. Clearly different from the rest. Within 3 hours of getting this book, I had produced an instant accordion, rhyming alphabet book for my great niece. She loves it. This was 2 weeks ago. I'm currently going through this book for the 4th or 5th time. Helping me keep my sanity during a lengthy recovery.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
By Kate
Format:Hardcover
Since April is National Poetry Month, I'm creating a new poetry unit. I discovered the Poem in Your Pocket movement, and it dovetails nicely with my latest thrilling book discovery: How to Make Books: Fold, Cut & Stitch Your Way to a One-of-a-Kind Book, by Esther K. Smith. This book would have changed my life when I sponsored the school literary magazine; it still may change my life. Smith calls the first book an instant book, and to me, it is a paper folding miracle. Using an 8 ˝ x 11 inch piece of white paper, Smith shows readers how to make eight folds and one cut to have a six page miniature "zine." No glue. No stitching. The best part? It uses images from only one side of the piece of paper, so feel free to Xerox the content and fold away for cheap and darling mass production. Amazing. One of the big components of teaching writing pedagogy is publication, and this technique makes it easy and satisfying to reach that point. The book has ideas to grow on, too. Just looking at it fosters a love of books...
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Instant Books and Coptic Stitching
I go back to this book again and again. Sometimes when I'm making a book/journal and I need to get ideas or remember how to do something. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pat Rock
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointed with the content.
The cover came damaged and the content was that of a table book, not good instruction. I have anticipated more explanation of perhaps why something was done but this was just... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Okiwen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get busy and cut and fold
This is really a terrific book -- I already have some bookbinding experience but Esther shows how to do all sorts of wonderful things. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Pamela D Gerard
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspiration Joy and, um, Fun
I sat in a B&N this morning and sifted through seven books on this topic; this is the one that was most compelling, with projects most readily do-able, and so became the one I paid... Read more
Published 15 months ago by tourist in the city
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent and Inspiring
I bought this book when it first came out in 2007 and have been a fan of Smith's books ever since. I own other book arts books and have taken book arts classes as well as created... Read more
Published 16 months ago by RPB
4.0 out of 5 stars
How to Make Books
I will be using this book for my classroom. I can't wait to do a project where
the students will turn their project into a book.
the students will turn their project into a book.
Published 18 months ago by Susan D. Brucoli
5.0 out of 5 stars
Go your own way
This is my desert island craft book. Indents of letterpress on a rough cardboard cover. Wobbly lined illustrations and photos of Purgatory's eclectic creations. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Judah's Blanket
2.0 out of 5 stars
I was not what I expected at all and I thought it was very outdated
I thought it was something that a child may have put together. I was very disappointed and I'm going to put it in a yard sale or donate it.
Published on June 6, 2010 by Shirley A. Ruyle
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Simplicity!
If you have ever had a love of the feel and look of a Hand Bound book, You will understand the feeling and nagging at you, How is that magic done? Read more
Published on May 10, 2010 by Julieanna M. Montano
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
I've taken this book out of the library so many times. Finally, I realized it was time to own a copy. Read more
Published on May 5, 2010 by Melanie Ouellette Karlins
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