I do not use subject lines.

I bound fourteen sections of Draco Dormiens today. This is the book I'm making in order to find out how to make books.

I don't know if any of you used to examine the bindings of your books when you were children, but I was always fascinated by books. The book of Fairy Tales I grew up with (Hans Anderson) must have been my parents, and I remember picking at the end papers when I was in grade six or so. It's this book that I'm using to try to reverse engineer a hard cover. It's rather difficult to get a fair idea of how the spine is constructed without taking it apart completely, but luckily the front cover is half hanging off this book, due to the front end pages being stripped almost completely. *looks guilty* I treat books with far more respect these days, and I don't colour in the end pages, nor do I pick at the front picture, even if it is falling off.

Anyway, the sections are the small number of pages sewn together to make up the "text block" - the actual block of pages. A hard cover constructed in this manner will have numerous sections glued or sewn onto some sort of gauze or similar. The book of Anderson's fairy tales (AFT) has fourteen. Draco Dormiens will have thirty-one...although admittedly DD's pages are smaller (due to paper constraints) and DD uses a more readable font - 10 point, as opposed to AFT, which seems to use 6 or 8. DD has smaller margins.

Sections are quite small clusters. Each section in AFT has four leaves folded in half and sewn together, to form 16 pages, and this is the basis I've used. As far as I can ascertain, each section seems to take in excess of half and hour to put together. I have stolen all of my father's bulldog clips that I could find - six in total - and are using them to keep the sections together. I think I may have to purchase some of my own tomorrow.

In the absence of a letterpress of my own, I've had to use our bubblejet printer, and I'm less than pleased with the results. I'm using 110 GSM cartridge paper (whatever that means) so I can print double sided, but the ink itself is less than durable. Computer printers are ridiculously sensitive to moisture, and several of the pages have already smudged a little. I must see if I can pick up some sort of fixative. Perhaps a trip to Chadstone is in order.

The book itself looks nifty, though. It's actually starting to look like a "real" book. I can only hope that I can put together the cover (by far the most difficult part, I should think) with as much skill.



By the by, if anyone knows how/where to purchase a letterpress printing press in Melbourne, Australia (or even within Victoria), I should love to hear from you. I may not have the finances right at this moment, but it would be relieving to know it was possible.


For those of you less than intrigued with my book binding ruminations, I can only offer a rather insincere apology. I hope that what I've written is fluent enough to be readable, even if one is less than enthusiastic about the subject matter. I dare say that it will pass on to other subject matter shortly. You have a friends page, no doubt; and I have a friendsfriends page, if you need further diversion.


I also know I'm behind in responding to comments and my friends page. *shrugs* I've been away for the weekend, and frankly, I just can't muster the energy.

I did absolutely nothing on the weekend, except talk to Grey's cats and finish Wee Free Men, reread Goblet of Fire for what is shamefully only the second time, and read Sheri S. Tepper's Beauty, which I'm in two minds about. I appreciate the need for beauty in the world, but dammit, I write horror fiction. Victorian it may currently be, in its lack of gore and homicidal maniacs, but I cannot, presumably, be purely blameless according to this book. This makes me feel a little alienated, and slightly uncomfortable.

Ceci n'est pas une pipe.

Oh, I forgot to mention; while I was out housesitting Grey's place, my father went through and cleaned my room, throwing away large amounts of stuff as he went. I am incredibly irritated by this. I got no warning, no opportunity to supervise, and he threw away lots of paper; no doubt much of it being either 1) uni notes I want to keep or 2) story notes I haven't compiled yet. And he threw away all of my postcard collection that's not physically blu-tacked to my wall...a very small amount now (only about eight or ten are on my wall). I also have no idea where large amounts of my stuff is. I spent some considerable time today trying to find the gingerbread house tin money box where I keep my erasers. Eventually I concluded he must have thrown the whole thing. (I just found it a few minutes ago, but that's not the point.)

One of the few pluses that has arisen from this is that father reconnected one of my computer speakers; the righthand one has been disconnected for ages (since the last time I took my computer out of its hidey hole in the desk, which must have been around March last year). Due to the poor design of my desk, and the vast amounts of stuff on it, it was impossible to reconnect the speaker until now. I can now hear the Eels' My Beloved Monster with words. (Seriously. If you have the MP3, open winamp and play it. If you switch the balance to left speaker only, it's like it's a karaoke version. Contrariwise, if you switch the balance to right speaker only, it's an a cappella version). My speakers now sound somewhat tinny now. Perhaps it's due to the lack of stuff in front of them to take the edge of the sound, I have no idea.

Returning to the eraser thread. I don't care what your childhood craft books tell you, POTATOES DO NOT MAKE GOOD STAMPS. The starchy liquid they emit dilutes the paint. I'm leaving this one to dry overnight in the vain hope that it improves. I think I may purchase an eraser as well, tomorrow. In theory they're supposed to make good stamps, according to craftgrrl.

Father also found my (orthodontic) plate, which has been missing for at least six months. My teeth are all out of alignment. I wish I'd been more diligent wearing it. I've had it for five years now.


Oh, and a note on the last entry; I know where to get type from, but I have no idea where to get an actual press from. This is most frustrating.

[edit: Note new icon. Yay!]