Butterfly

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 yellow cotton, and its bookmark is goatskin.  Its spine is covered in printed sheepskin, and its boards are wrapped in cork veneer.

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 1910 Liberty Head Nickel.  The “V” or Liberty Head coin was a popular piece due to the rise of vending machines.  In 1910, a nickel would buy an ice-cream soda, a newspaper, or a shoeshine. Today, even a nickel costs more than a nickel, since the U.S. Mint pays about twice the face value of each one to manufacture the coin.

This book is roughly 6.5 x 10” with more than 150 blank pages.