The Arting Life: Moment of Geek

A Look Inside:

Sometimes, you meet your inner geek coming down the road towards you. 

Mine showed up recently, bearing the 1995 paper "18th and 19th Century European and American Paper Binding Structures: A Case Study of Paper Bindings in the American Museum of Natural History Library", presented by Barbara Rhodes, Conservator at the entitled institution, in the Book and Paper Group Annual of the American Institute for Conservation via the site Conservation Online.

It's amazing the things Google will bring one, ain't it?  Truly, there is no excuse for ignorance anymore, no matter how obscure the subject.

Yeah, right, like you don't have things you geek out over.  Pfft.  Please.

I found this gem in one of my frequent searches for paper and/or non-adhesive book bindings.  I like to know what's going on in the book world, and with this article, I was excited to find good descriptions of old binding styles so stable that the author suggests their use as conservation bindings.  The antique books, even in their worn and damaged conditions, built out of waste paper and spare bits, have exactly the look I want for my own books.

Examining the up-close photos and detailed drawings of the article's examples launched me into book-geek orbit.  All the hidden treasures and secret compartments.  The improvised constructions and deceptively simple function.  The stories layered into the structure of the book itself.  Rapture.  Swoon.

Right after the new collage for the "Black and White" show is finished, it will be book models time.  Yay.