Minerva Shows Her Books

After Minerva* left Fritz Otto's studio, he was finally able to clean up and close the studio for the night, but not before agreeing to meet again …

Finally finding a time to meet, Minerva arrived with her books – a nice assortment of structures, and she was clearly proud of talking about them and how they were taught.

"So, brought books I made during that class. When we came in, the librarian had arranged numerous examples for us to look at. They were grouped by structure and then historical and 'modern' interpretations. It was really interesting to see them laid out that way."

"Why's that?" Fritz Otto asked.

"Ummm, okay, they had a clay tablet literally thousands of years old paired with a simple notepad and an old Palm Pilot. After describing what they knew about the tablet's contents, they made us think about parallels to the modern items. Then, they asked us if these were books. I never really thought about what a book was and what made it one – also wondered about the point of the lesson, but it went on and on. Towards the end, I started to see the connections between the objects. My favorite part was feeling how these books felt in my hands."

"Yes, I've heard about these classes from 'the Boss' who presented many, hosted exhibits of the students' works, and even hired some. "But", said Fritz Otto, "let's look at what you brought, and you can tell me about them, including making them. Much more fun, for now."

Minerva plops down her backpack and pulls out her books ...  

"Let's start with the scroll, perhaps the simplest one", said Minerva. "The librarian provided the materials and what they called a 'bone folder,' but we had to share things like scissors. Also, no glue – too messy – so instead, double-sided tape and glue sticks. They also provided an assortment of materials like old magazines and larger scraps from 'preservation.' Since it was also described on the syllabus, I got a few materials of my own too."

"Looking at the scroll in the library, an 'artist's book,' I saw that it was attached to a stick, and then the paper was rolled on. At the end, it was reinforced to go around completely with a string to tie it closed. I used some marbled paper and a dowel I had."

"Next, I made this accordion thing from some of the same paper. I attached it to a simple cover. What I liked was that you could read it like a normal book, turning the pages, but also stretch it out to view the whole book. I dislike seeing books on display where they often can show only one spread. I could see exploring this one some more, and found examples online with cutting to create pop-ups or little pamphlets sewn in. The librarian described it as a gateway to 'freaky-foldies.'"

 

"Here is a simple pamphlet I made from a magazine article with lots of pictures of old papers from books. I kind of randomly folded them into folios (new word I learned) so that each page was different, even if from the same image. I titled it Codex.”

 

"Finally, I made this Asian stab-sewn book. I know it's not as good as the others, but it was hard stabbing that needle through all that paper. I used some Japanese paper I ordered for the pages, rough cut them, then folded into folios, like for the pamphlet. But, with this book, each folio was stacked so the folds all became the fore-edge. I then looped some thread through the text to hold it together before punching even more holes, this time with simple paper covers too. I love how soft the paper is and how easily it opens. Thinking back to the scroll, I could see cutting it up and then binding it this way. I just need to make sure the text and images are the same size and in the same place, so things line up. Easier than taking this really big sheet that then gets folded in so that the 16 or so pages appear in order when bound."

"In the class, they also gave us a list of websites, people to follow, and books that were more like manuals in case we wanted to learn more. That's how I found out about you," Minerva said.

"I'm really glad that you showed me your books and told me more about what you learned and how you made them", Fritz Otto said. "You clearly gave them thought, and your work is pretty neat, especially given your experience and the workshop setting. It can be really hard to do good work with the wrong or bad tools, no supplies, and the chaos of the classroom. Lots of distractions, but it's a fantastic way to understand the history of 'books' and how they're made. Thank you for all this."

Breaking the "fourth wall", Fritz Otto turns to you, the reader of this to ask whether anyone had any experiences like Minerva's when they were in high school, college, or other learning opportunities? What did you see and learn about that left an impression?

Minerva looking around the studio then asked, "so what have you been working on since, and how did those massive books turn out?"

"Well then, let's go to the press and take them out ..." said Fritz Otto.

That will be a topic for our next installment here ...

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* About Minerva: Inspired by Bookbinder Barbie (her Insta here) who came to visit during the summer of 2019, Fritz Otto Buchbinder has been a “fixture” on the Pressbengel Project blog since August of 2019, and later on Instagram. The benefactor of the other doll, Minerva, is unknown. She arrived in May from an eBay seller, I did not order her, and it was not something I was considering adding. The eBay seller was in Indiana, and a note just said “gift from a fan”. Reached out, but did not receive a response back. The doll was clearly not new, no box …, was wearing little black dress, had no shoes, piercing holes in ears, but no earrings, and her hair was a mess. Still kind of is. That said, all her joints work, she is poseable, and can stand on her own. Not one to not take advantage of a gift and opportunity like this, I ordered some clothes and shoes. We’ll see how often she appears on @fritzottobuchbinder outside of this story. Of course, she needed a name … After a good deal of thinking, I arrived at Minerva Conciatore. Both name and surname are references to living individuals … 😉

Her "personality" will be drawn from the interactions I had with students, interns, colleagues. and others during my career, They had a profound impact on me, for which I am grateful. We’ll see where the story goes – feel free to suggest directions in the comments ...

Fritz Otto's Visitor

Fritz Otto was in his studio, exhausted after a long day of bookbinding. He was distracted by his phone and didn't even notice the soft knock on his open studio door.

"Hey, I know it's late, and you probably want to go home, but can I come in?"

Sigh ... "I was closing up, but sure, come in" Fritz Otto said. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, my name is Minerva Conciatore *, and I just graduated from college. I'm still figuring out what to do with my life, but I learned about bookbinding in a 'history of the book' class at the library's special collections. It was amazing, and we even made some simple books. Anyway, I live in town and found you while searching for things to do. I can come back another time if that's better..."

"That's okay. We can talk a bit, but I need to get going soon. 'Minerva,' right?"

"Yeah, my parents are hardcore bookworms, so I grew up with a lot of books, but I never thought of them as something to make. You have some cool stuff on your bench. What's that fish-like thing?"

"That? It's actually fish parchment. I'm obsessed with it. I can't show you the big books on the bench because they're still drying and need to set in that position."

"Listen, I'm tired and need to get home, but feel free to come another time. I'd be happy to show you more and chat. Just drop me a line, so I know you're coming.  You seem to have my contact info already."

"Okay, sounds good. I'll bring the books I made in that class, and something else I was experimenting with."

Minerva left, and Fritz Otto quickly finished sweeping up and headed out, almost forgetting to lock up. Reflecting on this chance meeting, he wondered about Minerva and her interests. Her experiences learning about books and their history made him curious to learn more about what they teach, and he was especially interested in seeing the "books" she made. Bookbinding is a small field, and it's important to encourage each other. He hadn't done much teaching himself, but wasn't shy about sharing his work and bookish experiences. The next day, he received a message from Minerva asking to set up a time to meet again. Fritz Otto checked his calendar since the studio was his personal space, and he still worked with "the boss." He also wanted to make sure he could show her more, but it was more important to see her work and let her describe what she learned and what her interests are.

To part 2, where Minerva shows us her books.

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* Inspired by Bookbinder Barbie (her Insta here) who came to visit during the summer of 2019, Fritz Otto Buchbinder has been a “fixture” on the Pressbengel Project blog since August of 2019, and later on Instagram. The benefactor of the other doll, Minerva, is unknown. She arrived in May from an eBay seller, I did not order her, and it was not something I was considering adding. The eBay seller was in Indiana, and a note just said “gift from a fan”. Reached out, but did not receive a response back. The doll was clearly not new, no box …, was wearing little black dress, had no shoes, piercing holes in ears, but no earrings, and her hair was a mess. Still kind of is. That said, all her joints work, she is poseable, and can stand on her own. Not one to not take advantage of a gift and opportunity like this, I ordered some clothes and shoes. We’ll see how often she appears on @fritzottobuchbinder outside of this story. Of course, she needed a name … After a good deal of thinking, I arrived at Minerva Conciatore. Both name and surname are references to living individuals … 😉

Her "personality" will be drawn from the interactions I had with students, interns, colleagues. and others during my career, They had a profound impact on me, for which I am grateful. We’ll see where the story goes – feel free to suggest directions in the comments ...

Fritz Otto Finishes His Springbacks

And here we finish these springbacks / Sprungrücken started in the previous post, and the three others that were "dropped in". Whew! That was a lot of "malochen", aka hard labor ...

Full instructions (without me) can be viewed on the Book Arts Web at https://www.philobiblon.com/springback/. View the color images for the post on Insta.

Last check on spring foundation/spine stiffener.

Gluing out the spring foundation/spine stiffener from the outer edges
to the first crease.

Positioning the spring foundation/spine stiffener and then rubbing
down onto the thin boards.

Gluing out the fill that evens out the transition from
the spring foundation/spine stiffener.

Gluing down the fill.

Checking the layers of the spring foundation/spine stiffener.
In the German tradition the spine is built up in layers with the
width lining up with the inside creases.

Gluing down the thick boards. The thickness of the spring equals
the thickness of the thick boards.

Wetting out the leather.

Pasting out the leather.

Folding the outer sides of the leather with only the spine exposed
to make it easier to position on the binding.

Positioning the leather on the spine.

Working the leather into the groove and across the boards.

Turning in the leather in the area of the spine.

Making sure the turn-ins are nice and precise.

Putting down the pastedown.

It's been a busy few weeks with three more springbacks added
to the batch, as a rush job, of course. 

Here, the cutaway springback open ...
It springs!

Full instructions (without me) can be viewed on the Book Arts Web at https://www.philobiblon.com/springback/. View the color images for the post on Insta.

So, what should I work on next?

Fritz Otto Starts Some Springback Bindings

Decided to pull out the old, analog Pentax again to put Fritz Otto in front of the lens ... (35mm lens with Ilford HP 5) 

Below we see Fritz Otto starting a modest batch of 2 springback ledger bindings in the German tradition. Works just like the English version, with the major difference being in the spring construction. In addition to being used for ledgers and other official records (Excel is life ... now), they are used as guest books and can be decorated like any other finding bindings.

Folding the endpapers.

Rough-cutting the endpapers to size.
His cutting mat has a backstop to use with a triangle or "L" square
to ensure the cuts are square. The one I use in real life can be seen here.

Tipping the endpapers on to some old text blocks that were in the studio.

Trimming the endpapers flush with the text block

Sewing the endpapers onto the tapes that were there.

Lining the spine.

Gluing on the endbands. These are traditionally glued on ...

Ready to start on the distinguishing features of this binding technique.

See the conclusion of this project on this blog here.

You can see more images of Fritz Otto at work on these bindings on his Insta, @FritzOttoBuchbinder. There are four posts in this series so far ...

So That Up Is Up

In a world that is verSPINnert, ahem spinning, it's important to tell up from down, right from wrong, ... So too in bookbinding. That's why I, @FritzOttoBuchbinder, always put an up arrow on the end sheet indicating up, and a "V" for vorne (front). Helps prevent confusion and casing-in upsidedown. Of course, that NEVER happens to me. 🤔🙄😮‍💨

Studio Maintenance

It's scary when the hired help has a tidier studio than the "Meister" ... I better clean up my own studio before I start any projects, it's not like I don't have any spare time in retirement. 😂

Yikes!

It's important to know what can be found where ...

The "Meister des Besens"
(Master of the broom, aka sweeping ...)

Sweeping well was a skill best learned early in ones apprenticeship,
and one that would pay a lifetime of dividends.

(Carpentry apprentice being shown door in case there
were complaints. Outside, "replacements" looking for an apprenticeship.)

Fritz Otto [Almost] Ready for Binding

Been a rather busy and tense few months since "the Meister" decided to retire from his "day-job" at a large library effective 31 January 2025! In addition to working out the finances, thinking about how he is going to spend his time, and the holidays, it's been a bit bit anxious for me ... What will happen with me when he can [re]focus his energies on his books and related interests. I've seen him start organizing his bench, bring home what little "papers" he still had at work, and start going through what he has here. 

So, time to channel some of that nervous energy into various projects like building myself a "me-sized" workbench, some tools and presses I can use, and some accessories to make it feel like a place I want to work. Also made some sheaths for my paring knives. Those Peachey knives are the best and need to be treated with care. It's also been fun to see @bookbinderbarbie is back too! The more of "us",  the merrier.

My new bench with some of the presses I got and/or made
as well as some of my tools. Note all the flat storage underneath
that I will need to fill

Below, me assembling my casing-in press... Check out all the other posts on my @Insta.

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Below my bindery in one of its configurations. Everything rolls, so I can change as needed. Note that I have lots of storage, including 2 red library book carts. The boss says "you can take the librarian/conservator out of the library, but you can't take the library out of them". Great to have free wi-fi too so I can surf the Book Arts Web.

What kinds of projects would you like to see me share?

Fritz Otto Examines "The Salmon of Wisdom"

 A new fish skin binding acquisition for the piscatorial collection.

The Salmon of Wisdom from the Folklore Fish series. It is bound in salmon prepared by @sosnastudios with hazelnut-dyed salmon lacing. The book was one of 3 exhibited in the Beyond Bookbinding 2023 exhibit at @nbssboston in Boston where Sara, '23, is a student. Take a look at her Instagram and more fish skin bindings.

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Fritz Otto Photographing Buchbinderei

Despite how easy it is to take pictures these days, Fritz Otto prefers black and white film. It's the tones and graininess he likes. Here we took some interior images of Buchbinderei before putting it back on the layout. The black and white images he took using a self-timer, though it was very hard to hold still for those 1-2 seconds.

All images shot on Ilford HP5 400 speed black and white film using a tripod and cable release for these 1-2 second average exposures. And no, I did not forget the Farbfilm. Lighting was provided by the cool white fluorescent in the task light visible in the first image below.

Taking a photo of the little scene.

Here an up-close view.

Holding v-e-r-y still.

An overhead with the roof off.

Putting the roof back on.

And, back to the layout it went...