I completed this project in August of 2024, but never got around to posting it on my old blog, so I figured it might as well be a post here to my feed. Other prior postings are going into pages that are referenced on my home screen.
I came up with a design idea for a binding of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse.
The binding design I chose would require printing of the entire book rather than a rebinding of an existing printed book. Since this would optimally require permissions of the author and publisher, I settled for building a half size prototype for now.
The book has 454 pages plus some additional pages for maps and introductory information. I decided to go with 9 signatures with 13 sheet in each. So each signature will cover 52 pages. The total book will then support 468 pages.
Because these are thick signatures, I wanted to use a thinner paper. I used Neehan astroparch text Natural 89 gsm long grain vellum paper. I purchased the paper from The Paper Mill Store (see my suppliers page).
I sized the prototype to have 4.25 x 5.5 pages so I can cut the page in half and get 2 sheets of short grain paper.
The binding has exposed threads of the 2 needle Ethiopian Coptic style. I used Keith Smith's Exposed Spine Sewings book to figure out the stitching. This is sewn with a turquoise thread to reflect the influence of the sea (Xiala).
The cover boards were laser cut walnut plywood. They were cut with masking tape on, so that I could easily paint the text and crow scull. I am not a stellar illustrator, so these are just proof of concept sketches for now.
The end sheets are made from yellow and black cardstock from Michaels. Yellow in the front (Naranpa), and black (Serapio) in the back of the book, to reflect the transition during the story.
Overall, I am very happy with how the book turned out.
The following are the changes I would likely make during a full binding.
The book isn't intended to really be read. The exposed binding isn't the most practical for reading on the couch. I wanted it to feel like a scribe from the world of Between Earth & Sky might have created.