Liberty Head

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 red and yellow cotton, and its bookmark is pigskin.  The spine of this book is covered in pigskin, and its boards are wrapped in 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 journal is a 1906 Liberty Head nickel, sometimes referred to as the “victory nickel” because its obverse shows the Roman numeral V for five cents.  San Francisco, California was nearly destroyed by the Great Earthquake in 1906, which was somewhere between 7.6 and 8.2 on the Richter Scale.  Move mountains.

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