Emerald Isle

This archival, hand-sewn journal/sketchbook is made from 80 gsm Mohawk Superfine archival paper stitched with Irish linen thread in the linked pattern that was developed by the ancient Copts. This stitch allows the book to lay open easily at any page.

 This book’s endbands are green and yellow cotton, and its bookmark is pigskin.  Its spine is covered in lightly debossed goatskin from Rocky Mountain Leather Supply in Utah, and its boards are wrapped in a 1949 map of Ireland.

 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 journal is a 1998 Irish 5 pence coin, from the year author Roddy Doyle won the Booker Prize for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.  Keep writing.

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