Restoration Project: Re-binding a Small Military Bible

My wife and I found this small Bible at a flee market in Boone, Iowa in early Spring 2011. We paid $1 for it, and had to leave the payment with the vendor next door because the booth where we found the Bible was unattended. The Bible was in need of repair; it needed to be cleaned and its covers were missing. We noticed that this small Bible is really the Catholic version of the New Testament, and it most certainly belonged to a soldier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible has a copyright of 1918, and it also has the following inscription on one of the blank pages at the beginning of the book:

Frank H. McCourt
Camp Sheridan
Montgomery Ala
Father Lange
KC Chaplain

The restored Bible measures 4 1/2" X 3 " X 3/4" and it has now full-leather covers in orange-brown pigskin, additional blank pages were added to the front and back of the text block, the spine was reinforced with Japanese rice paper and hinged with cloth; book ends were also added to the head and tail of the spine.

Special thanks to Chris Kading who has taught me many restoration techniques throughout the years.

Hand-made corn paper (5) - Dissolving and Stirring (Charging) the pulp in water

For this step we need a large plastic tub filled with cold water. I add two handfuls of pulp into the water and stir the pulp. A frame with wire screen and a deckle are dipped into the water-pulp solution (slurry) to form the sheets.


A recommend Chapter 3 of the book "Making Your Own Paper: An Introduction to Creative Paper-making" by Marianne Saddington for easy to follow instructions on how to make a mold and a deckle. Chapter 7, Project 10, includes a recipe for making cornhusk paper. The book also includes instructions for projects on how to make a press for drying paper sheets.

For an instructional video on how to "charge" the pulp into the vat by Gretchen Sherberhorn (?) from Pyramid Atlantic follow this link: "Make Paper - Preparing the Vat with Pulp."

Hand-made Corn Paper (4) - Making the pulp

Pounding, blending, and making corn paper pulp:



After the fibers are cooked, the pulp is strained to separate the pulp. The pulp is then rinsed two or three times with clean cold water. I use a large piece of window screen fabric as a sieve to separate the solid pulp from the water. After the rinse, the pulp is squeezed by twisting the fabric. Think of cheese cloth when cheese or yogurt are made. Now the pulp is ready for pounding.

A tale of two Colombian hunters

Another coptic binding added to my collection of miniature books.

This one has a story and some illustrations. I used eraser stamps with alchemy designs and small pieces of decorated paste paper painted with pastel chalks.

The story is a tale I've always heard from my mother in Colombia.

"Two hunters were competing and trying to outsmart each other. One challenged the other to retell the best hunting episode. The other hunter agreed and said: 'I once went hunting and did not find any jaguars in the forest; so, I came across a waterfall and with my knife I slashed the waterfall in half.'
'That is nothing' said the first hunter. 'I was hunting in the same forest, and I saw a jaguar. When I got in front of it, he opened his jaws, and when he was about to eat me, I reached into the jaguar's mouth, grabbed his tail, and pulled him inside out."

Green Book 2: French link and kettle stitch on leather

Trying to get my creative juices going. It's winter and all I think of is green and primavera.

A "paper-clip" alphabet

I decided to write an entry about calligraphy, another important element in bookmaking . As an aficionado I wanted to share the inspirations that I get from following my fellow blogger Jean Wilson and her "pushing the envelopes" blog.



This alphabet came after the paleographic work I did on some 12th to 14th century Spanish diplomatic handwriting. I think those old courtly alphabets look like made out of wire; hence, the inspiration for my "paper-clip" alphabet.

It looks better when it is written with a maker rather than a pen.