Herringbone Bindery
Erin Fletcher : Fine Binding & Edition Binding
Binding of The Wild Swans with chemise standing next to clamshell box on a white table. Front cover of chemise for The Wild Swans on a white table. Close-up of front cover of chemise for The Wild Swans on a white table. Back cover of chemise for The Wild Swans on a white table. Close-up of back cover of chemise for The Wild Swans on a white table.. Front cover of The Wild Swans binding on a white table. Back cover of The Wild Swans binding on a white table. Open view of binding for The Wild Swans on a white table. Interior view of binding for The Wild Swans on a white table. Open view of clamshell box for The Wild Swans on a white table. Close-up of clamshell box for The Wild Swans on a white table. View of clamshell box spine for The Wild Swans on a white table. Side view of clamshell box for The Wild Swans on a white table.. Box interior for The Wild Swans on a white table.
The Wild Swans – by Hans Christian Andersen
With wood engravings by Sarah Chamberlain
Rebecca Press, 1986

Private Collection, US

Knitted Boards Binding. Boards knitted with forest green paper yarn and painted with two shades of green Acryla gouache. Pack-sewn over paper yarn with cornflower blue linen thread. Spine lined with tinted Kozo in light tan. Strawberry pink flyleaves mottled with alcohol inks and hooked to handmade Katie MacGregor paper endpapers in cream. Book is wrapped in embroidered pale sage green leather chemise backed with Novasuede in dusty rose using running stitch. Leaves are cut from three shades of green handmade paper from the Morgan Conservatory, 2 shades of green goatskin and 1 shade of green buffalo skin. Leaves and title are embroidered with polyester thread in various shades of green, peach and pale pink.

Clamshell box is covered in a sky blue buffalo skin embellished with handmade paper onlays in three shades of cream and orange for the swans and three shades of pink for the rose. All onlays are hand embroidered with cotton embroidery floss. Beaks are painted with diluted black Acryla gouache. Author’s name embroidered with peach polyester thread. Trays covered in a gray paper with blue fiber inclusions from Hook Pottery Paper and lined with Novasuede in dusty rose.

6.6cm x 6.3cm x 1.6cm - Completed in 2024



Exhibition History
  • Society of Bookbinders International Bookbinding Competition - Awarded The Neale Albert Award for Best Miniature (2024)
    • George Bayntun, Bath, England
    Shepherds, London, England



Artist Statement
The Wild Swans is a fairy tale from Hans Christian Andersen that tells the story of a jealous step-mother who disrupts the childhood of 11 brothers and 1 sister. The brothers are cast away and undergo a daily transformation from human to swan. After being cast out herself, the sister embarks on a journey to find and free her brothers from their fowl form.

In order to do this, she must break down stinging nettles into fiber and knit each of her brothers a shirt, all in total silence, for even one word will be the death of her brothers. On the outside of the box, you are introduced to this cast of characters in their alternative form. When the box is opened you are presented with a shroud of stinging nettle leaves covering a binding with knitted boards. The endpapers are stained with pinks and reds to represent the pain endured by the sister as she struggled through silence and imprisonment to free her brothers.