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Dennis Wilkinsondjwtwo
2026-02-12

My most recent bookbinding project, made as gifts for the ringleaders of my online book club. To some extent, this is a Dad joke taken several steps too far, and an excuse to learn how to do a drum leaf binding.

A photograph of a pair of clothbound books entitled “Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales” A photograph of the cover and spine of a clothbound book entitled “Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales” A photograph of two books open to different old plates of whales. Detail of the spine of a book using a lay-flat drum leaf binding.
Dennis Wilkinsondjwtwo
2026-01-01

Finished up the other bookbinding project today. First time using this particular bookcloth, and while the foiling is readable (another experiment), I'm not sure how durable it will be long-term, so it got three coats of a matte protective finish just in case.

1/2

A few mistakes, but I'm probably the only one who's going to nitpick them.

A photograph of the cover of a hand-bound copy of Christie's "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", bound in blue cloth with silver foil lettering and a silhouette of Hercule Poirot. A photograph of the head of a book bound in blue cloth, showing the text block edges painted in blue, purple, and black, with a purple ribbon bookmark and hand-sewn endbands in blue and black thread. A photograph of the endpapers of a book, in this case a purple paste paper showing a pulled pattern. A photograph of a copy of Christie's "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", open to the beginning of Chapter XII, "Round the Table". A purple satin bookmark integral to the book lies between the pages.
Dennis Wilkinsondjwtwo
2025-11-26

Sewed up the signatures for two copies of the first book project of fall-into-winter. Probably thin enough that they didn't really need the tapes, but habit is habit.

A photograph of some of the stitching holding together two seven-signature text blocks, part of a bookbinding project. One block shows the stitching detail over the linen tapes, the other shows the series of kettle stitches that holds the outside ends together.
Dennis Wilkinsondjwtwo
2025-01-06

Decided the book wanted a slipcase, so I made one of those in between other projects this weekend.

A photograph of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four" bound in light red cloth, partially removed from a slipcase of darker maroon red cloth. A photograph of the spine of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four" bound in light red cloth, in a slipcase of darker maroon red cloth.
Dennis Wilkinsondjwtwo
2024-12-29

Nightsky770 over on Github had gone through the effort of making a LaTeX layout for actually printing the text (although I did edit that to resize everything down to a format where I'd actually be able to print the bookcloth for covers, that being the point for me), but the cover design and the endpapers are both mine, building on some public domain imagery of the Red Fort of Agra, which features in the plot of the story.

2/2

A photograph of the head of a book, showing mottled red and brown edge painting, dark maroon endbands, and a brown silk bookmark ribbon. The book is bound in red cloth. A photograph of the top of the spine of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four", showing the title in gold letters on a red cloth binding. A photograph of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four", showing the entire red-cloth-bound cover.
Dennis Wilkinsondjwtwo
2024-12-29

Bookbinding project wrapped up (well, except for spending a bit more time in the press and drying, which will straighten up some the bit of waviness on the endpapers.)

This was mostly an experiment in printing bookcloth (finicky, but possible), practice making "common made" endpapers, and doing a rounded Bradel binding (a technique for forming the body of the book and making the outer case/covers.)

1/2

A photograph of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four" bound in decorated red cloth with gold-colored titles and a brown silk bookmark, sitting on a green cutting mat. A close-up of the cover of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four" bound in decorated red cloth, showing the detail of Doyle's signature and the mottled decorations on the page edges. A photograph of the endpapers at the front of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four", sitting on a green cutting mat. The endpapers depict a map of the Red Fort of Agra, a plot point described in the text. A photograph of a copy of Doyle's "The Sign of the Four", open to chapter 8: "The Baker Street Irregulars".
Dennis Wilkinsondjwtwo
2024-12-27

Back to the bookbinding project tonight. Glued up the spine, rounded the text block and cut it down to size, and sanded the edges, painted them, and burnished them with a little beeswax (although the macro lens shows every little defect.)

Might be able to wrap it up tomorrow night, depending on how the next part of the experiment goes.

A photograph of a the finished corner of the text block of a book, sitting on a green cutting mat. The fore-edge of the book is rounded, and both visible edges are painted in a random pattern of maroon and brown over a lighter, brick-red color.

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