The Book Hut

I’ve nominated a brilliant Sussex business

Just nominated the excellent Luke Casserly Photography for best photographer in Sussex - please share and vote when possible 😊

I’ve nominated a brilliant Sussex business Now in our ninth year, the Muddy Stilettos Awards champion the very best lifestyle businesses across 28 counties, chosen by our discerning readers.

Getting ready to make some new book cloth… wouldn’t one of these look nice with a lovely bit of brown goatskin! The shop is due an epic overhaul, so once this is made and shop is all sorted - they will be available to buy. I will keep posting progress and you can see how they look 👀
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@eastbeachstudios

A considerably more simple, yet equally as beautiful endband for today.
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Up close and personal with a French double core endband - bead in the same colour as the cores. Could be a bit neater on the bead, but it’s not too shabby. Core is made from leather and parchment.
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A little bit of before and after of an internal joint repair. An old book with some lovely yellow end papers.
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Sewing giant books in the sunshine.
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I might have become temporarily obsessed with small bindings and things! Look at the tiny weight 😍- I even made miniature pressing boards. Just need to make the doll to sit with them now!!
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We have started a mini project at college called (sang to a jingle by my daughter) - so this is next weeks prep. Double core heaven. Does what it says on the tin - new endband each week!
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@westdeancollege

Bit of micro teaching yesterday, when I was joined by the one and only who made a book with me - five years of genius and a pro in the making! A little bit of @westdeancollege for kids 😂

Excellent 📸 by @ktbanwell
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Two little leather journals in the press. These will be in the shop soon once I have done a bit of an overhaul! (And updated my SSQ certificate 😬)

I don’t get much of a chance to make books these days, which is a good thing as it means the projects are coming in, but it is also a little sad. These little handbound books are a great way to practice leather skills and handling, not forgetting finishing and endbands - these ones have great hand sewn endbands! They will be a bargain given the little bits of detail that go on behind the scenes!

@independentworthing

Before and after board humidification and flattening.
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Nice bit of rounding and backing on the weekend - obviously not today as it’s horrible and grey here today!
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All done and ready to be returned. Thank you @diaryofabookconservator for your help on this one - reel tomorrow to show more of its glorious finish 😂
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@societyofbookbinders

I am very pleased to have returned this volume to its collection. It is part of my old school archive, due to celebrate their 400 year centenary, so it was a real privilege to work on.

It has thrown the usual sorts of challenges my way for a book of this age, such as tissue repairs in the face of iron gall ink, guarding sections, re-sewing, infils, lining endpapers, amongst other issues.

It has now been stabilised and preserved for the future and I am very glad to have been part of the process.

@latymerupperalumni @latymerupperschool @latymerfoundation1624 @iconbookandpaper @societyofbookbinders @independentworthing

Little group of signatures in the press prior to being sewn up. These have all had guards over their spines as it’s suffered a bit and needed a little bit of extra strength before sewing.

Have a look at my in videos to see how I guard up sections for sewing.
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📚 @independentworthing

!!! WHAT a sunset!
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What a beautiful afternoon to be working, little chilly so one door is shut, but moments like these I am very grateful for where I work :) … and for The Man looking after the girls (thanks @lukecasserlyphotography 🥰)
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@discoverworthing

Little bit of pretty leather work for today and some nice small Japanese Stab Binding for - all for sale if you’re interested ☺️
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Endpapers are lined and ready for infills. Once these are in, I will be putting made endpapers back on the book and it will be much closer to being finished.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well back to work today and what a beautiful sunny day to be back in the studio 😍

I am straight back to grind with making remoistenable tissue for some iron gall ink repairs - super quick and easy to make up and massively useful! Here I am using a 6% gelatine with a 225 bloom on a 12gsm Tengujo … and modelling a denim apron and woolly jumper…!!! 😂

Clearly time to go home now.
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Sorting out the corners of this large atlas. I have built them up with a conservation grade mamilla pulp and dried over a couple of weeks. Once dried, trimmed and sanded, I was able to initially cover them with a toned Japanese tissue, then return the original leather corners and cloth cover.
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Board edge consolidation in progress - this one is a messy one!
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Corner repair is underway in amongst waiting for map repairs to dry. This one has had some substantial damage from damp problems - possibly flooding? Leaks? Who knows, water was definitely involved.

I contemplated completely taking off the cover and endpapers and making a new board, covering it with the old cloth and endpaper, but decided against this in the end and am preparing the board so that I can rebuild it.

I have split the board and inserted a stiffener, and will then build up around it. Watch this space!
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A nice bit of map and tear repair going on on the big Atlas at the moment. This poor map of old Blighty has definitely seen a lot of action, so I am slowly piecing it back together to enable it to be viewed safely once again.
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Another beast on the bench… This one is already well on its way, with the internal repair nearly complete. I have had a multitude of humidity techniques in progress to get those leaves nice and flat and they are now slowly being repaired in situ. More photos to follow soon - now to get going on recreating some of those corners. It has definitely seen better days, this one!
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@therepairshop.tv @independentworthing

Emma Lau]

A big fat WELL DONE to my fabulous MA students from @westdeancollege who have handed in their theses today - new kids on the block in terms of book cons and all fantastic, enthusiastic and an absolute joy to teach - go forth, find them, follow and watch their fab journey from here! Well done team 🥰

Emma Lau] @_bibliopegia_ @my_eclair @theconservationkat @jurjen_m @flowatsonx Carlos and Zeb
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A good before and after. This one is all done and looking lovely and ready to go home. It had a rather battered cover and was transformed by some humidifying, flattening and some spine repair. Finally I resewed it into a pamphlet style rather than replace the staples, and it’s set for years to come.
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This epic explosion of colour is definitely in contrast to its somewhat bleak looking cover. A FABULOUS 1970s cookbook, this is actually my own book, once belonging to my grandfather, and still dusty from the remains of cooking. It has been in my hoard for repair since I started learning my craft - so a long long time!

I am now beginning the repair and am somewhat torn between the ethical route of conserving what I have and keeping to the original cover, or playing about a bit and adding a splash of colour for the spine repair rather than sticking to the original. I am struggling with this idea professionally!!! Though the idea of a fuschia spine is definitely appealing 😂.

The book has several loose pages, which I will be repairing and then resewing before rebacking. These pages have already been washed and now need some repair as well prior to going back on the book.

We moved house in April and The Man (@lukecasserlyphotography ) has nearly built me a lovely new kitchen, so it seems an appropriate time to prioritise this little beauty 😍

I’ll keep you in the loop of progress!! Any thoughts on controversial repair gratefully received.
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@societyofbookbinders @beyondbrighton.info @independentworthing @worthingjournal

This lovely little print of Stonehenge was due to be float mounted, in preparation for a window mount and frame. However there is quite a lot of information on the verso, so I have done an inlay mount, which has worked really well.

It’s now due to go back to its owner and on to the framer!
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@independentworthing @iconbookandpaper @societyofbookbinders

This has had a little bit of bench top humidifying as a precursor for the wash and resize - it’s all worked well and is currently flattening in preparation for mounting. This has some interesting information on the verso, so I will be inlaying it into its mount so that the back can be seen safely.
@independentworthing @timeforworthing @worthingjournal

After a good wash and resize of paper, this little piece is looking a lot better on the pH scale. The latter of which remarkably resembles the lovely cake I got brought! Thanks @julieedwardsartist and happy birthday!!
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@worthingjournal @independentworthing