the coolest book about making books!

Today I decided I was gonna learn some stuff. With that thought in mind, I headed over to Powell's to peruse the stacks and educate myself on a few new things. (Also, more selfish-ly, because my tar hands have gotten me dedicated to finding a book on solvents.) After reaching a dead end on the former, I scanned some tomes about etymology (the study of words; not to be confused with entomology, which is the study of bugs).

In the end, I ended up with a rhyming dictionary, a book titled "Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things," and the most AWESOME book about making books I've ever seen! (I always enjoy visiting the book arts section to browse the photos of books made by others for inspiration, and also because I love to say that I'm looking at books about making books. I'm easily amused, what can I say.)

ANYWAY, while in the book arts section, I spied an off-white rebel among its shiny-spined counterparts which I could tell had been not only well-loved, but also hand made. I was genuinely intrigued, and flipped through to find a trove of new ways of binding and putting together books in easy-to follow directions complete with step-by-step hand drawn illustrations. It was made in 1997, but still contains all of the original little books-within-the-book and hidden compartments and messages. I thought that was pretty neat, but I didn't realize how unique this really was until I got to the last page:

When I got home, I googled the book title (it's called "Innovative Bookbinding: Secret Compartments & Hidden Messages," by Shereen LaPlantz) because I was intrigued by this. The note at the bottom of the last page reads: "If the binders have courage, there may be a second edition." After some research, I found that there was in fact was a second edition of 2,000 copies before the author's struggle with cancer and unfortunate death in 2003.

I went into the bookstore to idly browse and ended up finding this true gem that I can really learn from, lost in a sea of books... and I am very grateful to have found it. Thank you, Shereen.

And on that note, I'm off to the studio to play with paper, needles and thread... I mean, might as well put my new knowledge to use immediately!