I went to the Hibbleton Art Gallery in Fullerton recently, and found they’re showcasing handmade books and journals. I love finding hand-stitched literature like this. It’s the underground movement of books, where a ‘small release’ means 30 copies, not a thousand copies. It’s probably organic AND local.
Especially loved the palm-sized books, since the paper was soft and thick with edges cheap drugs online that frizzed off. Mostly the covers were a pastiche of recycled newspapers or ads. Okay, yeah, I’m a true bibliophile, when I blabber on about the materials of books, but check out these photos. It gives hope for the counter-cultural books scene — that books will survive no matter if corporations stop publishing them.
2 comments
Dear hand-made books lover, Thank you for your post. I am gathering info to possibly make my second published book of poetry as art pieces, stitched by hand. I am a poet and an artist, and I make certain sculptures that require hand stitching. Thank you for the support and love you show for books. (I am writing from the local library.) Have been wanting to publish a second volume of poetry in the near future. This would be time consuming and painstaking, and the cost would be higher; but not only would one have the poems, but a work of art as well. My first book has recently been placed on Amazon kindle without my permission, not even a consult or phone call! I am working on solving that. In the meantime, I’ll continue to write and organize poems into some new volumes; there will be more than one new book as there are so many poems.
Thank you, love to you and all your family, Barbara Briodin
So Barbara where are these handmade books and journals on display? I was trying to find where they have the interwoven journals but got the instructions for how to make them on the Internet instead. I would like to find a library that has them on display. Which library has them on display?