Ascension

This archival, hand-sewn journal/sketchbook is made from 100 gsm, antique white 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 French goatskin, and its boards are wrapped in a paper that was hand-marbled at Relma in Paris, France.

 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 an 1889 medallion available to those who climbed the Eiffel Tower at its unveiling at the Exposition Universalle in Paris.  The obverse reads “Sommet de la Tour Eiffel Souvenir de l’Ascension.”  The face shows workers building the tower.  To the top of the tower it is 1,665 steps, but, for safety reasons, contemporary visitors are given access to only the first 674.  Live it up while you can.

This book is approximately 6.5 x 9.5” with a few more than 150 blank pages.