Herringbone Bindery
Erin Fletcher : Fine Binding & Edition Binding
Front cover of The New House binding on a white table. Front cover of The New House binding on a white table. Close-up of front cover of The New House binding on a white table. Edge of The New House binding on a white table. Interior of The New House binding on a white table. Box front cover of The New House binding on a white table. Box edge of The New House binding on a white table. Box interior of The New House binding on a white table. Box interior, print, and The New House binding on a white table. Box interior of The New House binding on a white table. Box interior, print, and The New House binding on a white table.
The New House - by David Mamet
With wood engravings by Sarah Chamberlain
Rebecca Press, Maryland, 1989

Private Collection, US

French-style fine binding with laced-in boards. Covered in light blue goatskin with onlays in bright yellow and ochre. Part of the design is hand painted with fluid acrylic and hand embroidered with cotton floss. Small triangles hand tooled in double gold leaf. Edges are hand painted to resemble wood grain. Leather wrapped endbands in mauve buffalo skin sewn with stripes of brown thread. Matching edge-to-edge doublures with sunken walnut veneer panel. Frame and fly leaves are handmade Katie MacGregor paper in mauve. Endpapers are handmade Katie MacGregor paper in ochre and Soft Unryu in cream.

Book is housed in a house-shaped box with telescoping lid, which is covered in dark brown goatskin and lined with Bugra caramel paper. Title is hand embroidered in cotton floss. Raised image matches the embossed design from the title page. Tray is covered in Bugra caramel paper and lined with Katie MacGregor paper in ochre and cream suede.

7.4cm x 5.5cm x 1.3cm - Completed in 2018



Artist Statement
In the story, David Mamet, writes about a person who revisits their childhood home. Traveling through the house, nicked floorboards and repainted walls bring forth memories of the past. For the design on the binding, I wanted to created something that felt old, but comforting. So I took inspiration from a vintage wallpaper design and recreated it through painting, leather onlays and embroidery. The blue leather itself, will begin to change with age, as do many things in life.

Read about the binding process of this book on my blog.