off the ball!
It happens. Which is to say, I didn’t read my RSS feeds or …
So without further ado or excuse – Yesterday should have seen me blogging about an first novel author, Patry Francis, and her book, The Liar’s Diary who has, through the strength and grace of her friends, got over 300+ literary and book types to blog and publicise her new book, because she can’t. So go check out litpark for details on the mass blogging effort on behalf of someone who seems, by all reports, is a wonderful woman utterly deserving of all the support available. Patry’s blog is Simply Wait and there’s an article in a national news paper here.
merkinabox
This is what I call a “merkinabox”. It got named that at a birthday partly last summer.
It’s a small box (2 in diameter, 2.5 inches high, approx) with fur inside, covered in leather and sometimes also lined in paper. Some are round like the one photographed here, and some are square, rectangular, more cylindrical… it depends on the materials at hand. Mostly the shape is dependent on what I have kicking around in my leather scraps.
Its purpose (for me) is to make something beautiful out of some of the scraps and odds-and-ends I have in my studio. I hate to waste beautiful things. The photo shows seamless glory – it is not seamless, but the seam is very small and very well done on a piece of very high quality and fine, thin Harmatan goatskin. So it’s a very small scar indeed. The fur used can be either fake (on request), or, most often, it comes from some lady’s discarded fur-lined coat.
Yes, I found someone’s coat in the street. There was a tag attached, with the value of the coat on it, and the owner’s name and phone number. I took it home, thinking it had maybe been stolen. I phoned, she said, “no, I intended to throw away that coat. Do whatever you like with it”. Amazed, I kept the fur lining and sent the outer part off to the Goodwill. I cut the fur lining out of its housing and discarded the parts that were too worn to re-use (the shoulders). I have enough of this 1-inch long black fur to make manyyyyy merkinaboxes.
On average, I make one of these per month; it is not a high-production item and its appearance relies entirely on my having suitable scraps.
In case you wondered… A merkin is a wig for areas other than your head. Austin Power’s chest hair is one, for example.
** Warning : not for the delicate of sensibility ! ** (the rollover talks about vulva, scrota and shows a merkin in use) ; wikipedia has all the dirt. It can be made out of human hair or other animal’s hair and dyed whacky colours, and the merkin is currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity, specificially with the burlesque crowd!
It looks like a merkin inside the box, but it’s actually attached to and part of the box. it does not come free for you to play with otherwise. Though you *could* order one like that, I suppose.
Give your sweetie a heart-shaped box with a heart-shaped merkin in it? Yes, I do have enough scraps of red to do that…
Why are bookbinders invisible?
I’m a bit of a book collector of special editions (sometimes they come unbound) and I’m also a fan of seeing other people’s bookbinding* work.
But just TRY to find out who made what, and if there are photos for it.
In a recent email conversation with a small-press publisher of fine limited and lettered editions, it was like pulling teeth — with no anesthetic — to get the name of the person who does his fine binding. Not only was it hard, but I suspect I deeply insulted or annoyed him in the process.
Why? You think he’d be proud to show her work – a well-renowned person – and that her name might sell more copies of the books?! Or are the lettered editions SO sought after that the binder completely disappears, no need whatsoever to acknowledge the hands that made the beautiful package. The package that, in and of itself, has an aesthetic worth? Indeed, no need even to show images of the item for sale it is so sought after!?
Wow – I have to find a product that sells that well. (“one x for sale, $750 + shipping and taxes” and it flies out the door! whoot!)
Ok, so crappy book binders (“kitchen table bookbinders”) aren’t going to get a contract to do lettereds. Understandable. But why on earth should the persons’ or company’s name be intentionally or unintentionally withheld? Is there some sort of conspiracy on the part of the publishers to minimize what it is that is the bookbinder’s art?
I don’t really think this is the case – I do think that most publishers simply don’t think about this very much.
They have no trouble saying that they have x number of so-and-so at so-and-so much, and it’s “nicely bound in leather and boxed with a this and a that special slip out whatnot”. So why not “nicely bound in xxx leather by xxx”? Doesn’t that add something to a work? I’d personally rather buy a fine binding where the binder and materials used are known and documented than otherwise. I want also the reputation that goes behind the bound work, of all parties involved in what becomes the finished item.
If there are any small-press publishers of fine bindings reading this, and you don’t document your fine bindings and lettered editions – Please start thinking about it!
Ours should not be an invisible art. Ours should also not be an art with silly professional jealousies. I mean, really. Why competitive? We are all business people, some better than others. Some are artists in their own right; again, some better than others. Art is subjective, and so not competitive. Business – well, that takes care of itself if you’re a rotten business person.
Let’s celebrate what we share, and encourage the people who publish the books we bind to fully and accurately document the work we provide.
* this goes for anyone who produces special editions of anything, really. For example, letterpress artists. Describe your work! Build your catalogue! Tell the world what fonts you use and why. I want to know. Maybe someone else will, too.
All Brand New and Shiney
Are the streets, paved in water. Happy New Year, even though it feels very much like early April out there.
Tis the season to make resolutions and clean neglected spaces. With that in mind, all of my older stock and materials are going out the door sometime during this next month. Whether that will be bound in new journals or by some other method is not for me to specify at this moment, largely because I don’t know, yet. This in order to make space for New Arrivals in February – new leather and materials will be coming in, and so all kinds of wonderful new things will be going out.
Stay posted, and also keep an eye out for my new website, due to go up this week sometime. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
