Atelier: Ex Libris

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MarasVeil
November 16, 2008

As a bookbinder and manuscript restorer specializing in medieval bindings it is a joy for me, now and then, to make small versions of historical bindings for myself or for treasured friends, as in fact, this one is. I decided to make this clip as the most beautiful part of the book is not what you see (as is usually the case) but what is hidden in countless hours of work underneath the surface which you will never see. The work, seen and unseen, took approximately 50 hours.

The clip will take you through all of the steps from just after the paper was painstakingly torn individually and laid into quires to the completion of the clasps. It is modelled after a 15th Century Gothic binding.

The book also serves as a compendium for my work in restoration in the past year. The manuscript facsimiles that you see acting as humble quire covers are actually parchments from kings and nobles recording grants of lands which will find their way back to museums and the dusty vaults in archives.

I made this book with a so-called concertina construction which means that a thin Japanese paper was sewn into the spine which looks, in the end, like a miniature accordion. It serves to separate each section to allow the book to be opened to the center of each quire. This is important in such a small book. The herringbone stitch allows for strength and flexibility as the thread reaches down into a couple of quires below.

The simple white medieval sewn headbands act also to stabilize the construction.

The leather is an exquiste calfskin, paradoxically very fragile and delicate considering the ruggedness of the interior of the book.

The clasps are made of brass hand cut for this small book and finished with much precision and care.

Music: Catherine Braslavsky and Joseph Rowe
Please see their exquisite palette of music at their website.
http://www.naturalchant.com/
They can also be seen performing on their YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/paleopsyc...
used with kind permission

Category: Film & Animation

Tags:

medieval bookbinding Catherine Braslavksy Joseph Rowe

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Molldelos (1 month ago) Show Hide

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C´est magnifique !

MarasVeil (1 month ago) Show Hide

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Merci! Thank you for your visit and kind words.

rmcdaniel423 (1 month ago) Show Hide

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Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your talents (and the talents of the calligrapher and the musicians!).

MarasVeil (1 month ago) Show Hide

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Thank you so much! It is something I do with a passion. The calligraphers were all medieval scribes as these were taken from charters and land grants I had been restoring. I love the music and the musicians. Thank you for your visit.

adamcoins (7 months ago) Show Hide

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wow , nice work , love the oud music at 7:30 ,great video

MarasVeil (7 months ago) Show Hide

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Thank you very much. If you do not know of Catherine Braslavsky and Joseph Rowe... do see the sidebar. They are phenominal.

adamcoins (7 months ago) Show Hide

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wow , no wonder why he is sooo good at oud , he was a student of hamza el din , amazing

MarasVeil (7 months ago) Show Hide

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I use their music on several of my clips. I listen to them all of the time.

GenericGene (7 months ago) Show Hide

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Superb - Gene

MarasVeil (7 months ago) Show Hide

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Thank you Gene...

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Atelier: Ex Libris

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