Gothic Journal II
25 cm. x 18 cm. x 3cm., 120 p.
Cover: brown leather, type unknown (stash)
Endpapers: Indian marble, cotton rag, geode pattern
Block: rice paper, folio
Stitching: packed herringbone, slit band
Second attempt at a medieval binding and some major improvements:
- cherry wood boards with hand-cut channels and tunnels (no power tools)
- slit leather raised bands
- hide glue
- spine linings
- some practice with tying up of raised bands and rounding of the text block
- a better job on endpapers than, I think, I had done to date.
It’s an attractive and substantial book, unfortunately blemished by some big glue bleed-through stains in several places. There are also some divets from binder clips holding the leather in place while drying; I’ve learned to correct this by laying a strip of pressboard between the cover material and the binder clip, which worked beautifully on the Rain, Stars journal.
I also went a little overboard on stitching the text block tightly and stretching the cover leather over the boards, with the end result that the book doesn’t quite close fully when resting. I’ll probably add a clasp to it to address that problem, although use and wear on the leather may fix it naturally.