The last temptation – Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός

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bookbinding, Design binding, Βιβλιοδεσία, Νίκος Καζαντζάκης, Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός, δερματόδετο, καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία, leather binding

These past months, from August till now, have been a total and relentless strain on so many levels, so I couldn’t help but chuckle when I was asked to bind a book with the crucifixion of Christ as the main theme.
Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός του Νίκου Καζαντζάκη, δερματόδετη βιβλιοδεσία τύπου περαστό. Δέρμα βαμμένο στο χέρι και χειροποίητα κεφαλάρια ραμμένα με μεταξωτή κλωστή. Γράμματα χρυσωμένα με φύλλο 22 καρατίων.

The last temptation by Nikos Kazantzakis (best known for his novel “Zorba the GreeK”) was considered so radical that it was included in Vatican’s Index of Prohibited books and lead to his condemnation by the Greek church.
The story in a nutshell is that when Christ is on the cross he is visited by a spirit who says that God is pleased and wants him to be happy. Jesus is left to live a normal life blissful as any ordinary person. Or so he thinks, since it was all just a vision, a lie, the last temptation made by the devil. The book gives emphasis to the human side of Christ portraying him as a passionate person who is in doubt and struggling to understand.
The book was also filmed by Martin Scorsese with Willem Dafoe in the main role.

As is more often than not the case lately the initial concept was quite different. I was thinking of a complex scene including a lot of onlay work showing the 3 phases of the story in a glance by implying a full circle. However Kazantzakis is praised for his frugal writing so I opted for something simpler and more symbolic. Having this in mind and the fact that the client was fond of my binding for Eliot I made the specific design. I feel it reflects the story strongly while following the spirit of Kazantzakis’ writing style.
The endleaves are JHS machine assisted paper from Hewitt. I made some shiny headbands from silk thread and used 22karat gold in tooling the author’s name and title. I used an airbrush to color the leather and I must say, I feel it’s growing on me!

I used my Stylus tool set, Versatile typeholder and BFM tool to make this binding.
Till next time!

Waves on books II – Κύματα σε βιβλία ΙΙ

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bookbinding, Βιβλιοδεσία, δερματόδετο, καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία, leather binding

Almost everyone that has seen my work from time to time liked a particular binding I made a while ago. Although it was a rather simple design it looks nice even to people with completely different tastes, to the point I sometimes think it works like those “mesmerizing” whirls used in old shows or movies.Όδυσσεας Ελύτης, Ποίηση. Δερματόδετη βιβλιοδεσία με δέρμα βαμμένο στο χέρι και δερμάτινα κεφαλάρια.

I was recently contacted by someone who wanted to bind a book with poems from Odysseas Elytis, a Greek poet presented with the Nobel prize in 1979, as a gift for a retiring colleague. She asked for something more or less similar to the binding I did for Kavvadias.
In general I prefer to experiment with new designs but since it was the client’s request and I was under a lot of pressure regarding time I decided to go for a happy medium solution. I slightly changed the design by adding a few details thus keeping the desired similarity while avoiding the feeling I did the same binding twice. As is my habit I also indulged myself in tooling a quirky title.
The binding was completed the very day it would be presented as a gift to the receiver. Being in a hurry I forgot to take a picture of the interior which has vivid red endleaves and red leather endbands tooled with golden stripes.
Got to love some contrast!

T.S. Eliot The Waste Land – Bindings for you

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bookbinding, Design binding, Βιβλιοδεσία, δερματόδετο, καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία, leather binding, onlays

It must have been a year back when I was in a big central bookshop looking around and my eyes got pinned at a certain book spine dominated by the words “Waste Land”. The actual title was “T.S. Eliot The Waste Land a facsimile and transcript of the original drafts”, but all I could see was “Wasteland”. This word has always held a sway over me and its meaning, the diverse and complex idea of what a wasteland is both literally and metaphorically, has perplexed my mind for as long as I can remember myself. So at the instant I felt it was somewhat of a calling, I had to bind this.
The book was soon after laying unbound at a desk in my workspace but as other more pressing matters kept piling on the schedule months passed with Eliot waiting stoically for his turn. During that time I would read poems from the book every now and then and that’s when the concept of the final design struck me. The initial thought was a much more classic design, I wanted to try a new decorative motive for quite a while and it sounded nice for the Wasteland. But after reading a specific poem a completely different idea started to form; the idea of a tree blossoming letters and words that wither and fly away as the land becomes barren.
I wanted everything to be special so it took quite a while for the binding to reach completion since the beginning of work.
The color of the binding had to be subtle and fitting but most importantly it had to be colors rather than color. I’m not much of a painter so I remembered the amazing results that can be achieved using an airbrush, especially the blending of the colors used, and I gave it a go. I was not disappointed. A multitoned surface was produced ranging within the spectrum of autumn colors.
The earth cracks, wind and tree branches were achieved using extensive blind tooling and 15 leather onlays form the tree. The doublures and endpapers are made with a remarkable handmade Nepalese waxed paper (you can make a junkie out of its smell by the way, it’s almost like a scent candle once you open the book). Headband and endband are handmade of silk thread. The letters were tooled using 22 carat gold.
Last but not least I believe the title should play an integral role in a design binding (I’ll be coming back with a post devoted partially to this matter). That’s why I choose to make it a key part of the design whenever I have the chance. It’s not just there to convey information, it’s not just a sum up. It’s there to puzzle and  intrigue, to remind and provoke, to make us feel. It’s the book reaching out to call us. Inviting us to its story. That was my purpose in creating this binding the way I did. To extend that calling and invitation.

The binding is available for 300 euro.

Note that all the decoration was done using my stylus tool set and a single typeholder that will be soon made available.
Till next time!

Some of the books that will be included in “Bindings for you” are;
-The Hobbit of J.R.R Tolkien
-Watchmen by Alan Moore
-The complete Sherlock Holmes from collectors library editions
-Paradise lost of John Milton
-Do androids dream of electric sheep by Philip K. Dick (half my kingdom to whomever finds me a quality edition)

“Bindings for you” Frankenstein – “Βιβλιοδεσίες για σας” Φρανκενστάιν

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bookbinding, Design binding, Frankenstein, Φρανκενστάιν, δερματόδετο, καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία, leather binding

This is the first in a series of bindings that will be bound in a fine manner with emphasis on the design and will be available for you to acquire at the portfolio’s subpage “Bindings for you”. I chose to start with Mary Shelley’s celebrated novel, Frankenstein.

The edition is in english from Everyman’s library

As always, I wanted the binding to convey the essence of the story, that its mere view could tell you what’s inside, to be intrigued by it. And what would be more iconic for the specific book than to be bound from leather scraps stitched together? I searched at the drawer where I keep leftovers of the leathers I use and took up random pieces. I wasn’t picky,I even chose some with minor stains, and most of the pieces vary in their texture, from smooth to porous to buffed ones. I wanted something a bit “messy” and just a hint gross.

On the same spirit a neat title and author’s name aligned carefully on the spine wouldn’t cut it. The lettering had to be odd as well,thus it ended up transcending from one side to the other. I went with blind tooling for the same reasons to keep the ragged feeling. Strongly resisting my urge to make sewn headbands I made some leather ones to be in tune with the rest of the design. Last but not least I wanted something really special for the endpapers so I found some anatomy notes from 1830 and Voila! What more could you ask for?!

The outcome looks simple but making it was far from easy as the design posed a number of structural challenges throughout the entire process. The biggest being how to make a collage of scraps behave like a single large piece that can be worked as such.

The binding has been SOLD to whalechewinggum.tumblr.com

Some of the books that will be included in “Bindings for you” are;
-Eliot’s Wasteland
-The Hobbit of J.R.R Tolkien
-Watchmen by Alan Moore
-The complete Sherlock Holmes from collectors library editions
-Paradise lost of John Milton
-Do androids dream of electric sheep by Philip K. Dick (half my kingdom to whomever finds me a quality edition)

Graham Masterton Terrible beauty – Τρομερή ομορφιά

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bookbinding, Design binding, Graham Masterton, Βιβλιοδεσία, Τρομερή ομορφιά, δερματόδετο, καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία, leather binding, Terrible beauty

And now for something (not completely but quite) different…
That’s concerning the content of my recent binding which was a horror mystery by Graham Masterton, Terrible beauty. It was an interesting task being the first time I was asked to bind a book of this sort so I knew it had to be something special.

Τρομερή ομρφιά του Graham Masterton. Καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία με δέρμα βαμμένο στο χέρι και δερμάτινα κεφαλάρια.

The binding was to be a gift and the request was to make something dark and eerie. I rushed a bit through the book but the story overview at the back had everything I needed; eleven female bodies are found in a mass grave and an inspector is dispatched to shed light. I think you can see how this design got to be. Although the initial concept was simpler as I got down in making it details kept adding themselves and I liked where this was going. Each of the skeletons has a small “story” behind its posture while the maze lines that expand outwards symbolize the blood of the crime and the search of clues by the detective.

When I planned for the title at the spine I was not satisfied with how it showed on the tracing paper, it was somewhat dull, so I came up with this result which I haven’t seen so far in a binding; doing the title in a circle. It looks vivid,blends with the rest of decoration better than the standard linear pattern and it gives more life to the book spine.

I proclaim it “Round title form”!
(And don’t you dare show me a similar title in some old binding!)

Slender (she) – Η λυγερή

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bookbinding, περαστό, Βιβλιοδεσία, Η λυγερή, Καρκαβίτσας, δερματόδετο, μαρμαρόκολλα, leather binding

For a while now I was thinking that there’s a color missing from my bindings here at the blog though I use it frequently; green. And I love green- color and moneywise! So in order to rectify this neglection here’s a recent piece of work to set things right.

Η Λυγερή του Αντρέα Καρκαβίτσα. Βιβλιοδεσία τύπου περαστό με δέρμα βαμμένο στο χέρι και χειροποίητα κεφαλάρια. Χρυσό περίγραμμα στα εσωτερικά περιθώρια.

As always the leather is hand dyed. I wanted to use this kind of approach on spine decoration for some time now and I’m fairly happy with this first attempt.The result is simple yet kinda elegant and pleasing. I also gold tooled the periphery of the marbled endpapers and though it is a small detail I found it to be a great visual compliment for the inner side of the covers. But what I’m mostly happy about in this binding are the neat headbands, they came out just the right way!

  

 

Klimax – Κλίμαξ

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bookbinding, Byzantine, Βυζαντινή γραφή, Βιβλιοδεσία, Κλίμαξ, δερματόδετο, leather binding

The summer is nearly at its end and like all local bookbinders I have been taking an (excessively in my case) long break from work until september. Although I haven’t been doing anything new I didn’t like the idea of posting another article on bookbinding so I did a little digging in my files and found an old binding of mine.

Κλίμαξ. Απλή δερματόδετη βιβλιοδεσία από δέρμα βαμμένο στο χέρι και δερμάτινα κεφαλάρια. Ανάγλυφη διακόσμηση και αποτύπωση βυζαντινών χαρακτήρων στο χέρι.

Klimax in greek means ladder or scale. The book’s content is theological and it is a binding I did 2 years ago. The letters on the front and the spine derive from the distinct Byzantine decorative way of writing that was used in icons ,churches and manuscripts. I used a pyrographer and some white foil to create the letters. It was a plain case binding with handyed goatskin. The interesting aspect of the binding is the blind tooled decoration utilizing only one tool. The pattern was pretty to look at but it was holding the book that was special. The relieved motiv gave a strange and pleasant feeling that made you want to keep your hands on it! Have to make another one for me some time!

Here’s a similar example of Byzantine lettering from a church painting to see what I’m talking about.

That’s all for now,hope you all had a great summer!

A binding for a marvelous book – Μία βιβλιοδεσία για ένα σπουδαίο βιβλίο

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bookbinding, Βιβλιοδεσία, δερματόδετο, leather binding, Leon Bakst, onlays

A few days ago I finally finished binding the finest book that has fallen in my hands since I started this craft- The decorative art of LEON BAKST. It has been the most demanding project I’ve undertake in many aspects so after a sigh of relief I present it to you

Η διακοσμητική τέχνη του Leon Bakst. Δερματόδετη βιβλιοδεσία τύπου περαστό με δέρμα βαμμένο στο χέρι.Κεφαλάρια ραμμένα στο χέρι με λινή κλωστή.

Leon Bakst’s work, settings and costumes for classical plays,is truly astounding even for someone unrelated to his art.I’ll quote the Appreciation by Arsene Alexandre at the beggining of the book

“The wonderful series of stage settings that Leon Bakst has given to the world owe a great deal of their fascination to the strange blending of rich and sensuous beauty with a note of something sinister and almost menacing.From the first he was acclaimed a master of the harmony of line and colour in movement; that is one of his great secrets, and with each succesive production his work has been more clearly recognised as an essential factor in,and an integral complement of,the enchanting inventions of the poets and musicians with whom he has worked.”

It has been a deep pleasure and a real struggle binding this book.First of all it is an excellent example of how books should be made (at least in a utopian world!).It is all printed on handmade paper (!) with edges uncut from the papermill and the typography in it is exemplar.Large pages that are a joy to touch and look at,  text beautifuly aligned and spaced within.A great number of large plates with Bakst’s drawings fills most of the book,nicely framed by golden lines.The upper edge is gilted in gold.I’ve really seen very few books of such standards (then again it’s Greece here…!)

But beautiful and fine as it may have been it was also extremely difficult to work with.The book was HUGE!Merely half a meter (19in)  from top to bottom and really heavy.The numerous plates that were placed inside made it extremely bulky at the center compared to the periphery,which,if you know about the binding process, can be a big trouble.This,along with other issues, rendered pressing the book ineffective. The uneven edges at the front and the lower edge created other problems. Especially the lower edge gave me a hard time in sewing a straight and good looking endband.Furthermore since the paper was handmade the grain  was not in a particular direction causing the book edges to have a wavy pattern/look. So I suppose you fellow binders can understand what I’ve been through!

The endpapers at the photo are actually in the right direction since that pattern comes in the wrong grain here!I preserved,as I’ve been always told by my instructors,parts of the old binding (which were in bad shape,torn apart etc) at the beginning and the end of the book and you can get an idea of how did the previous binding look like.

The design was not my idea.It was an imitating adaptation of this magnificent binding.

I’ll leave you with my favorite drawing from the book ,a seductive female dancer,along with some more.

We , a dystopian binding! – Εμείς , μια “δυστοπική” βιβλιοδεσία!

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bookbinding, Design binding, Βιβλιοδεσία, Γεβγκένι Ζαμιάτιν, Εμείς, δερματόδετο, καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία, leather binding, we, Yevgeni Zamyatin

Summer is at our doorstep now and it was about time for a binding a had in mind for a while but couldn’t find an appropriate book to make it.Until now!

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a dystopian (as opposed to utopian) novel where in the future people all live together in a single state under the rule of the “Benefactor”.They don’t have names anymore,they are merely numbers.I won’t spoil you the rest,just read it!This incredible story inspired Orwell to write his famous 1984.So you see, my task at producing a binding that suits this book was a hard one!

And here it is!A french leather binding,hand dyed,with handsewn headbands and gilt upper edge.I wanted to depict the spirit of the book so it’s appearence alone would speak for the story.On the metal-like surface are tooled the suppositional “names” of the dystopian dwellers,with the main characters names in dark red.The binding has a small “secret” to it.If you look at it away from a light source the decoration is kinda blury and the letters are harder to make out.But if you turn it to face the light-voila!-it reflects it and it all becomes crystal clear and beautiful!It’s impressive,and a pity it is not possible to catch this aspect in a photo picture although I tried with many shots.Hope you like it!

“Εμείς” του Γεβγκένι Ζαμιάτιν. Δερματόδετη καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία τύπου περαστό βαμμένη και διακοσμημένη στο χέρι. Η κορυφή των σελίδων έχει περαστεί με ασημί φιλμ.Τα κεφαλάρια είναι ραμμένα στο χέρι με λινή κλωστή.

Beware of Pity! – Επικίνδυνη συμπόνια

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bookbinding, Βιβλιοδεσία, δερματόδετο, καλλιτεχνική βιβλιοδεσία, leather binding, Stefan Zweig

A book I finished a few days ago was Stefan Zweig’s “Beware of pity”.Its a rather simple case binding, hand dyed goatskin as always,but I really like the sprinkled result and I’m certain I’ll do it again in the future!

Δερματόδετη βιβλιοδεσία με δέρμα βαμμένο στο χέρι και δερμάτινα κεφαλάρια. “Επικίνδυνη συμπόνια” του Stefan Zweig