Creative Bookbinding

Rating:
Summary: A Book Arts Classic
Review: A must-have for your collection of books about bookbinding. In these pages you will be introduced to the parts of a book, materials, tools, and working procedures. Then the meat and potatoes of a variety of book forms well illustrated with photos covering simple pamphlets and note pads to wood covers, accordians, and binding with leather. There is a wonderful chapter on designing and creating your own unique papers using a variety of printing methods, stencils, marbling, paste, painting, 3D appliques, and more. There's even a section on book restoration. One of the pleasures of this book was the discussion of the tools and how to use them, especially book presses, adhesives, sewing frames, and cradles.

Rating:
Summary: A Bit Dated
Review: Don't let the 1990 date fool you; this book was originally published in 1963, and the 1990 reprint made only minor updates to two pages of supply source listings. While the basic concepts in the book are pretty much timeless (book stitching, basic cover creation, etc.), the "creative" portion of the book -- suggested artwork techniques for book covers -- is distinctly '60s. This covers about 1/3rd of the book's contents. If you are interested in the "creativity" side of book cover art, I would suggest looking for a newer book on bookbinding. Better yet, leave the cover plain, buy Print Shop, and whip up a dust jacket for the artwork ;-)