Coptic Bookbinding Project

Whilst visiting my family in Winnipeg,  my sister Nicole and I stopped by the Saint Boniface Archives where they had a stack of free books that were there for the taking.   I picked up a beautiful old hardcover book (dated  1901) from the Oblate Fathers on South Africa.  It's in German with that classic old Gothic font and the lettering, as well as parts of the image, are embossed and gilded with gold.  There were some interesting graphics and etchings on the local people and, of course, some missionaries.  At the back was a folded map in the typical turn of the century topographic style.  I thought of using it for a potential altered book project.  

As well as being a talented calligrapher,  Nicole also makes all kinds of handmade books in various styles.  I had noticed that one of them was made from an old hardcover book. She told me that it was in the Coptic bookbinding style,  a kind of binding that was practised in Egypt as long ago as the 2nd century AD.   I asked her if we could do the same with my newly acquired book.  "She will jump at anything crafty" her daughter said laughing as we told her about it.

This type of book makes  an excellent sketchbook because when open, it lies flat on the table as there is no typical spine like you see in most other bound books.  I went to the art store and bought a few large sheets of good quality paper.  We then cut them to the size of a signature, which is double the desired size of a single page.  Holes are made in the cover as well as on the fold of each signature, then the whole thing is sewn together in a sort of woven knot using waxed linen thread.  Although Nicole has done several of these Coptic stitched bindings before, we still referred to that amazing reference tool  that is You Tube, with a step by step video demonstration.  The finished book looks awesome and I'm looking forward to filling it up with watercolours and sketches.

Cutting out the front and back covers of the book.

A dremel works best for making  
holes into the covers.

There are  7 signatures (making 16 individual pages
in each one)totalling 112 pages for the book.

The holes all lined up.

There are six  holes, with three long threads making a U and six needles.