Book Binding a Rare Find

It has been six years since I attended the annual Louisville JASNA summer event in which I had my first experience making hand marbled paper.  A wonderful introduction into the technique which has created an appreciation of marbling for me. As a first attempt, I was not impressed with my final product. To this point, I've purchased marbled papers for finishing the interiors of both my caskets.... In the summer of 2019 this continuing saga changed ....

I joined the Chester County Historical Society following a field trip with my local Sampler Guild. The group pulled pieces to inspect from the CCHS collection. We enjoyed examples of pinball's and other family heirlooms donated to the Society of several locally connected early American embroiderer's work..... A few months later, I received a member brochure. Listed were Thursday evening summer tours of Chester County boroughs, several 'Arm Chair' lectures of local history, information of folk art festivals and local sites I could tour. One Lecture was of Historic Sugartown. I stopped in last fall to tour and found a wonderful spot for children's field trips along with a reproduction 'book bindery' which blew my mind, not 15 miles from me!

I was amazed to find a huge collection of embossing tools and a set of beautiful leather books on display..... If you believe in fate/destiny, you can understand I experienced another, one of now many, epiphanies ..... The docent mentioned they offered classes, so I signed up as soon as I had a free weekend... You see, I knew that book binders made carrying cases for caskets, from Dr. Tricia Nguyen's research, and I need two....

The first class I attended was embossing/gilding on leather, not as easy as one would think. I have pictures of a period carrying case, decorated with perhaps 3 patterns, built up to form larger designs.  This piece is not gilded, thank you, because it would almost be impossible to keep up the concentration needed to complete a whole case. Second, two in-depth paper marbling classes, one with contemporary paints and the second making traditional historically accurate paints. We went through the process of grinding gems, mixing a binder of water, glue and gum tragacanth.....prepared a glazing paste of beeswax, potash, and olive oil soap .... and finally the addition of ox gall... I found through this process, being too timid with color was my previous error. I now have a nice selection of marbled paper for a few books and to cover the interior of my casket cases... 

The last classes, to complete my casket cases, was experience with leather, actually becoming comfortable bonding leather to boards..... I signed up for a bookbinding weekend last March, which as fate would have it, turned out to be the weekend after everything shutdown for Covid....... What a bummer!!!! As I stitched most of the summer, I stayed in contact with Sugartown, waiting until I could take the classes I was now obsessing over... Well, the time finally came a few weeks ago. I finished Bookbinding I, a half binding. The following weekend I completed Bookbinding II......

I'm now educated and have a 'hands on' appreciation of the fine art of bookbinding..... I have sewn signatures together, attached cords, glued and beaten them round (rounding and backing)..... I now know how a spine should look and the details of attaching a colorful headband (very beautiful in silk) ..... pasted end papers..... completed both half and full bindings .... and had the experience of applying my own marbled papers to my books... Overall an experience any lover of books should be blessed to have.... I know I would like to return for more, because there are so many other fine details I now have the passion to explore ...... life is going to be a bit too short.....

Things that go bump in the night.... the 2020 Lockdown and a fun filled 2019 to celebrate....

Currently.... into month five of a surrendered 2020..... a year of cancelled trips due to 'Covid'. My plans to France, Salty Yarns, and the Cleveland AGM, in celebration of my 60th birthday, has instead become a year of fond memories of 2019 and reflection.... I lost a valued and dear stitching/JA friend in February. I mentioned Linda in the beginning of this blog. I regret I still had many topics to discuss..... and can no longer ask her guidance. I should know regretfully, with my history of lost people, never wait for the right time for anything. The right time often never comes......Williamsburg was where we met, in a shared cab from the Richmond Airport in 2005, bound for the 'Just X-Stitch Seminar'. In the excited discussion, we found we both shared stitching Aunts, a 70's Reproduction Sampler and a love of Jane Austen in common.... Linda was 17 years my senior, but her enthusiasm, thirst for new experiences and being a lifelong learner was more like she never left her 20's.... We had many enjoyable excursions.... to the UK in 2013, South Africa in 1214, the 2015 AGM in Louisville and several trips to Williamsburg.... many wonderful memories. I will miss her laughter and the goofy situations we would find ourselves in, by no fault of our own....

The 2019 JASNA AGM in Williamsburg, all about Northanger Abbey, was another good memory. My JA reading groups had taken several angles to the book. One was a contemporary look on crime in JA's time, the second what JA read in her youth. The fore mentioned topic was based on Susan Fullerton's book, 'Jane Austen and Crime'. The fantastic setting of historic Williamsburg enriched our reading topics in preparation for lectures and breakout sessions. A 'haunted walking tour' of the historic downtown, followed by a solo nights stay on site in a slaves quarters, was simply hair raising... I slept that night with the light on! I must add...... my phone died during the night. With no WiFi, it sadly spent hours searching for cell data. That's my logical minds story anyway, you be the judge! The later reading group included 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' by Ann Radcliffe and, highly recommended, is 'A Woman of Color'. An interesting story twist in JA's time. I can not get over how women are treated as property, how male society co-operate to keep women under strict regulation and their treatment as bargaining pawns in both 'Udolpho' and 'Woman of Color'. It's important to remember that although men and some women will scoff these story-lines they are based on laws and treatment of women, which is still current in most of the world.

This past summer my mother and I took a long weekend to Lake Michigan for her 94th birthday. Since I'm so far away, I thought we could have some mother/daughter time, and I'm so happy we did because a trip like that is impossible now. She got through four of Austen's novels before we left, Persuasion, Emma (she thought Emma very funny), P& P, and S & S.... I was a bit surprised she enjoyed the novels as much as she did. You would have thought she'd read Austen earlier in her life. In true Janite form, when asked which one she enjoyed the most she answered "the one I'm reading now". Favorite male character, "Mr. Darcy". Why? "Because he takes care of Elisabeth"..... ugh.... But what is she reading now during shutdown, 'Not Without My Daughter' by Betty Mahmoody. We both had attended separate talks by Ms. Mahmoody years ago and as my mother recounts the book to me I can't help but to be reminded of Udolpho..... I can't wait to hear her thoughts on Northanger Abbey once the libraries reopen.....

In celebration of the Gothic Novel and JA's 'spoof' Northanger Abbey I dusted off, out of my very extensive stash of kits, three to complete in 2019 by Rae Iverson. First, 'Things That Go Bump In The Night', which is the sweet etui, pictured below....

It's covered in roses stitched over one thread, and surrounded by over a dozen critters like spiders, snails, bugs, centipedes and a howling coyote...... dozens of interesting stitches give a 3-D effect to the design which includes a waxer pocket, thimble-bob and needlebook that tuck neatly inside the pincushion topped Etui. The inscription is.... 'From Ghoulies and Ghosties and Long-leggity beasties.... From things that go bump in the night, good Lord deliver us'... After suffering through Radcliffe's non-sense poetry beginning each tedious chapter, Rae is a breath of well thought out fresh, rather than stale air....Reading Udolpho can only be explained as an intensive work-out, where you are suffering through pain but the endorphin rush wonderfully keeps you powering though.... Unquestionably the worst sin is not mentioning 'the casket' until chapter 16 of the fourth volume..... three chapters before the end..... and what happened to the dog??? Yes, I suppose at some point I will brave through a re-read because it makes Northanger Abby more enjoyable, if that's possible......

My second and third finished projects are Rae's interpretation of the Needlework Shop and Bruton Parish, both buildings in the Historic District of Williamsburg. I'm so happy to have the Needlework shop kit because the actual building is being re-purposed and will no longer be as such. In a way this etui is in commemoration of the now 'old shop'. I've added hand painted thread-winders by Rachel Kinnison, more about Rachel in another post covering beading. Both etui's, pictured below, also include a variety of smalls similar to those mentioned above. Bruton Parish was the largest and I may safely say the longest to complete (almost two months)....

Inside the Parish cupola is a pincushion. I have fitted mine with a 'crown of thorns' in silk chenille and eyelash threads of drab green.... I think drab green is a Fanny Price color, it would suit her quite well.....

I also made four weekend road trips to Salty Yarns in Ocean City, MD in 2019. One a guild retreat, the others' classes with Sherri Jones, Betsy Morgan and Jackie Du Plessis. I returned home with ten new kits..... February I was back in Williamsburg for a week of beading with my Casketeers (Needles and Sins) group. Rachel Kinnison taught two beading classes, her casket is almost finished, not surprisingly in beading..... I also took a solo road trip to Indy for a silk gauze class with Sherri Jones (add another three kits) with stops at Westcott House and Kentuck Knob to see two FLW homes on my bucket list.... Pictured is my sweet little Miata's curves in contrast to the Westcott angles....

I ended my 2019 excursions with a trip to The Attic in Scottsdale, AZ (to meet another JA travel buddy Cheryl). This time for two Merry Cox classes and an evening with Barb Adams and Alma Allen, the gals from Blackbird..... another five kits! Cheryl a FLW enthusiast and I took the 3 hour tour of Taliesin, noting our first contemporary, 20th century, Ha-Ha..... Yes, there is always a JA connection..... I  finished three of the kits this year.... Palais Royal (below left in progress, right finished), Betsy Morgan's Bee Skep, and Fanciful Fragaria (below bottom) .......

     

Fanciful Fragaria is a trio of pincushion and tiny huswif with a matching silk velvet carrying case. A lesson in stitching on, in this case, 40 count silk gauze. Pictured below left, is the gauze attached to a piece of muslin, then mounted to a frame for stability. Right is the finished trio, and bottom the huswife laying open. A useful technique to have mastered similar to working a 'slip' on linen which is stuffed and appliqued to background embroidery for a 3-D effect. The tiny strawberries hanging off the pincushion are emery's, tent stitched on gauze and carefully stuffed.... Sherri Jones always has fun and useful classes in fine hand sewing... Sherri along with Rae have some of the best detailed instructions written. Sometimes decades after taking a class the instructions can be read and the project easily finished.....

 

I'm working on a Blackbird sampler just to distract myself.....OK, I must admit, your probably thinking 'why are you adding this to a  JA blog?'... because sometimes you need a mindless project to work on, to allow your mind to wander.... Yes, these 9 mini-samplers are simple, but I've changed the x-stitches to 14 other counted thread stitches for variation. If you haven't noticed I love funky Folkart.... I just wanted to do one of Blackbirds designs and I have!! So there....

2019 was filled with a lot of wonderful trips, good reading, great classes and lectures. It has been nice to slow down a bit in 2020 and finish a few things..... maybe I'll even get back to reading... and my JA casket.....

This little sampler hangs above my headboard.......  Fini...