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  1. Bookbinder of the Month: Eduardo Giménez Burgos // Post Five

    January 27, 2019 by Erin Fletcher

    This Solid Globe includes selected quotations from Shakespeare and wood engravings by Jane Lydbury printed by Camberwell Press in 1984. The binding, bound by Eduardo Giménez, is covered in black calfskin with dyed maple veneer onlays. The wood veneer letters are inset into the shape an “O” around the central veneer planks. A blue suede is used for the doublures and flyleaves.

    In 2013, your entry to the Designer Bookbinders International Competition was awarded second prize and acquired by the Getty Collection at Wormsley. The binding is another beautiful example showcasing wood veneer. In this binding, you’ve dyed the maple veneer onlays. What method are you using to dye the veneer?
    The binding process was very interesting. The idea of the design was already in a first rough sketch, but actually, when I start a work I hardly ever know very well how it will end up. And that gives me a certain margin for improvisation. And in these decisions that I’m taking along the way, the senses play a natural role, especially the visual aspect, which pursues maximum beauty for the eyes, a nice touch for the hands, or, even, the smell that comes from the materials such as the leather, the marbled and hand painted papers, or the wood.

    And so the colours and reliefs of the Shakespeare covers started to emerge gradually as I was working in the binding. In fact, the central element of the decoration was wood, a light maple wood. I applied some first aniline dye layers to give it a soft background color. Later I went on adding very thin layers of acrylics of different colors in different areas, in a somewhat random manner. After each coat I let it dry for some hours and used a very fine sandpaper, also on some areas. This process lasted several days but with no appealing results. But then, one day, approximately after about twenty layers, I sanded all the surface again, and a very rich palette of colours appeared, without losing the texture of wood. My Shakespeare was there! I only had to add a bit of wax and burnish it in order to obtain a surface slightly gloss finished like the black calfskin of the cover.

    The lettering for the title and author are cut with such precision. Do you hand cut your veneer?
    All the pieces of wood that I have used in my bindings were cut by hand, except the letters of Water which are cut with laser. And in all cases there is also a further process of very thorough dyeing, as the one I have described.

  2. Bookbinder of the Month: Eduardo Giménez Burgos // Post Four

    January 20, 2019 by Erin Fletcher

    Eduardo Giménez entered his binding of L’oeuvre de Pierre Lecuire: La Nuit into the Society of Bookbinders 2015 International Competition. It is bound in the Dorfner-style in black calfskin with pale blue suede onlays and orange paper inlays. Black and orange Nepalese paper are used for the doublures and flyleaves. Eduardo’s binding won the Harmatan Leather Award for Forwarding in the Case Binding Category.

    You studied in Belguim with Edgard Claes and in this binding you employ the Dorfner structure. The description in the Society of Bookbinders catalog refers to this as a Dorfner-style case binding. I’ve had the opportunity to learn this structure as well and would love to know how you modified the structure into a case rather than attaching the boards to the sewing supports?
    Indeed, in this binding I used the Dorfner style, a leather version of the model developed by Edgard Claes for his polycarbonate bindings. In this binding, as it is usual, the black-stained parchment ribbons are glued to the recto of the covers, although they are barely visible as they are hidden by the suede onlays at the level of the spine. I think the confusion is in the definition of the term ‘case binding’. For us, case binding has a broader meaning and defines the bindings whose covers are just covered independently to join the body of the book afterwards.

  3. Bookbinder of the Month: Eduardo Giménez Burgos // Post Three

    January 13, 2019 by Erin Fletcher

    This binding by Eduardo Giménez is of Paper Constructions: Two- And Three-Dimensional Forms for Artists, Architects, and Designers by Franz Zeier. Eduardo described the style of binding as Origami Bradel binding using grey and brown paper. The diamond tessellation is constructed from one piece of paper for each cover. The endbands and endleaves are also in grey paper.

    The cover of Paper Constructions is impeccable. The paper is folded to create a sturdy, three-dimensional shell around the covers. I have seen another example of this style of paper folding on Spanish binder Elena Sánchez Miguel’s binding for the American Academy of Bookbinding’s Open/Set exhibit Inside the Book. Where does this technique come from?
    The first time I had the idea of passing an origami or paper folding piece into the book covers as a decorative element, was in 2013, on the occasion of an invitation from the ARA Association (Les Amis de la Reliure D’Art) to participate in a collective exhibition at the Bibliothèque Carnegie of Reims, France. The intention there was to exhibit hand bookbindings with only paper and cardboard. For that purpose I decided to work jointly with my partner Elena Sánchez, who has an extensive experience in origami.

    Folded paper opened a great range of possibilities, but I still had to design a procedure which would allow me to integrate origami in the binding process in a harmonious and natural way – something never intended before, I believe. After numerous trials, we achieved to complete two books: Paper Constructions by Franz Zeier and The Book of Paper by Oliver Helfrich and Antje Peters – both present at the exhibition.

    The good reviews that both of them got in France encouraged me to continue with our experiment. For more than one year we prepared some twenty books which were exposed for the first time in the Histories Centre’s Museo del Origami in Zaragoza, Spain, in 2016. I called the exhibition “Libros en papel” (Paper Books) – a title that refers both to the material used to put them together and to the common theme of the chosen texts: books for children about origami, treatises about design and paper constructions, essays, exhibition catalogues, etc. Books written in Spanish and also in English, Italian, French, Russian and Japanese.

    We chose different folding paper techniques, like corrugations, mosaics, tessellations, modular origami, pop-up and some others, to achieve these paper bindings, object-books, artefacts or whatever these might be called. We have mostly looked for geometric figures, volume and abstraction. We used a wide range of papers from different sources, qualities and grades, always with a view of achieving the best structure and the greatest possible beauty.

    The books you mentioned were bound with a single piece of folded paper in each cover; but in some cases, even 120 pieces of paper have been inter-weaved together, or in a few others the paper has been die-cut. Elena participated later with two origami books of her own to the Open/Set and the Designer Bookbinders International competitions.

  4. Bookbinder of the Month: Eduardo Giménez Burgos // Post Two

    January 6, 2019 by Erin Fletcher

    This is a binding of Los cachorros by Mario Vargas Llosa bound by Eduardo Giménez in the Oriental binding using dark brown shagreen leather. The design includes inlays of dyed wood veneers and brown calfskin, with red suede onlaid dots. Eduardo used grey Fabriano Roma paper for the endleaves.

    You often incorporate wood veneer into your designs. What draws you to use this material?
    I discovered very soon that wood and leather were working very well together. Wood veneers offer a big warmth to the covers. Each wood is different, has different grain and textures, and allows dyeing, polishing and the application of waxes or varnish, which adds a very pleasant visual and olfactory component as a whole with the skin. Nevertheless, wood is a living material and it is difficult to work with.

    You used the new Oriental binding structure for Los cachorros. This is not a structure that I am familiar with and have only seen a few other binders use. Can you talk about the structure and why it was a suitable choice for Los cachorros.
    The Oriental style binding is actually a Western version of the classical Chinese and Japanese binding. It uses hard covers and leather, contrary to its counterparts, but the form and its aesthetics are somehow preserved. I have always considered this form very beautiful. It is also a conservation binding, since the signatures are sewn on guards and they are not rounded with the hammer, neither are touched by the glue. In addition the book can be opened flat.

    side view of Don Quijote Samurai bound in the Oriental-style binding

    I think that I would not be able to give an explanation to your question of why it is a suitable choice for this book particularly. I always try that the binding is pleasant to look at. We might possibly think that an Oriental binding must only be good for an Oriental book. But, if we have adapted the structure and the materials in the Western world: why shouldn´t we also use it for a Western book?

    Eduardo bound this copy of Pablo Neruda’s Una casa en la arena with a striking design where black calfskin meets black Morocco goatskin at the center of the front cover. The central design is a collage of perfectly fitted pieces of dyed wood veneer onlaid between the two skins. This binding was awarded the Best Creative Binding for the International Bookbinding Competition of the National Library of Scotland in 2011.

    Upon first glance, the central design on Una casa en la arena acted as a distraction from the two distinct leathers. But I really love the use of both calf and goatskin on the covers. When working with wood veneer, are you treating them as inlays or onlays? I notice that on Una casa en la arena (left), the veneer sits proud of the cover, where as on Mozart (right), the veneer appears flush to the cover.
    The use of two skins of the same colour and of different texture to get a good effect was the result of experimentation. The design rests on both covers over a central axis divided by the two skins that are placed at the same level. The book by Neruda contains a few beautiful photos of his house in Isla Negra (Chile). In them it is possible to see his collection of ship wooden figureheads with their straight bearing and their rich adornments. My work with small irregular pieces of dyed wood veneer, placed in the shape of a puzzle, was trying to produce that effect.

    I work interchangeably with both options, inlays and onlays. In Mozart, I played with different levels in the mosaics, and I believe they gave a more dynamic aspect to the composition. In Una casa, I treated the wood veneer proud of the cover to form a more stylized, more linear figure. The pieces were there, on my table, I only had to give them an order. I often try to find an appropriate way of composing my materials placing instinct before reason.

  5. Bookbinder of the Month: Eduardo Giménez Burgos // Interview

    January 1, 2019 by Erin Fletcher

    Eduardo Giménez participated in the 2009 Designer Bookbinders International Competition, where binders were asked to bind a copy of A Selection of Poems on the Theme of Water. Eduardo’s binding is covered in black buffalo skin with painted acrylic silicone drops inset into the boards. Using blue leather onlays to create the title, which runs down the spine from head to tail with small red leather onlay dots separating the letters. The doublures are also black buffalo skin paired with red suede fly leaves.

    Eduardo’s binding was among other works selected as prizewinners.

    I remember being in my second year at North Bennet Street School and seeing the catalog for this exhibit. Your binding stood out as a favorite and even influenced my design for Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. I would love to have you walk through the construction of the cover. How did you incorporate the painted silicone drops into the cover?
    Water was one of my first International Competitions. I worked on this book with great dedication, and the result was very positive. Feeling satisfied is not very common when I finish a book. But I did with this one and is one of my favorites. Although you might find it difficult to believe, the idea of the design comes from the image of a movie: that of HAL’s brain room, from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, where the core processor is stored. It is a magic place with its monitors of geometric forms and illuminated grids. My binding uses a set of colours inside a precise geometry. The transparent silicone drops are painted with acrylics on its base and inset one by one in the cover previously hollowed out with a leather hole punch by means of a paper template. When the book closes and is observed sideways from the spine, the colour disappears and transparent drops of water emerge, held on the vertical surface of the covers.

    The books of poetry are full of images that offer a bigger freedom of design for the bookbinder. Perhaps this binding is a little daring. I am really happy to know that you have liked it. Some people have told me that this is my best work, but surprisingly, I have to say that it is one of my few books that I have not sold yet…

    – – –

    With this interview, the lens is focused on Spain, with binder Eduardo Giménez. As I mentioned above I first came across his work in the DB catalog Bound for Success, since that moment his work has been on display in several other international exhibitions that have made their way to America. Eduardo’s work is sleek from his designs to use of multiple textures. Throughout the interview we discuss bookbinding in Spain and the techniques Eduardo likes to employ in his work. And since this interview is coming out on January 1st, I want to wish Eduardo a very Happy Birthday!

    Check out the interview after the jump for more about Eduardo’s training and creative process. Come back each Sunday during the month of January for more on Eduardo’s work. You can subscribe to the blog to receive email reminders, so you never miss post.

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  6. List of Interviews // Bookbinders & Book Artists

    January 30, 2023 by Erin Fletcher

     

    Bookbinders:
    Kathy Abbott
    Hannah Brown // update
    Eduardo Giménez Burgos
    Mark Cockram
    Coleen Curry // update
    Benjamin Elbel
    Annette Friedrich // update
    Karen Hanmer
    Derek Hood
    Lang Ingalls
    Monique Lallier
    Tini Miura
    Lori Sauer // update
    Sol Rébora
    Tracey Rowledge
    Sonya Sheats
    Haein Song    		 Book Artists:
    Jody Alexander
    Amy Borezo
    Sarah Bryant
    Susan Collard
    Laura Davidson
    Dianna Frid
    Roni Gross
    Diane Jacobs
    Ellen Knudson
    Sarah McDermott
    Michelle Ray
    Natalie Stopka
    Mary Uthuppuru

     

  • My name is Erin Fletcher, owner and bookbinder of Herringbone Bindery in Boston. Flash of the Hand is a space where I share my process and inspirations.
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