Agora

This archival, hand-sewn journal/sketchbook is made from 100 gsm, rose Hahnemühle Ingres mouldmade paper from Germany, sewn with Irish linen thread in the linked stitch pattern that dates back at least to the Ancient Copts.  It allows the book to lay open easily to any page.

 This book’s endbands are brown and gold silk, and its bookmark is goatskin.  Its spine is covered Dubletta cloth from the Netherlands, and its boards are wrapped in a 1952 map of the Middle East.

 Treasure binding began with monks in the 6^th Century who would encrust volumes with jewels. During the Renaissance, there was a resurgence in treasure binding. This is a contemporary revival of the treasure binding in which a lucky charm has been embedded in the cover of this book.  

 The talisman in this book is a 1 Agora coin from Israel, with a sheaf of wheat motif.  Israel was recognized as a Jewish state in 1948. 

This book is approximately 6 x 9” with a few more than 150 blank pages.