Ras Tarf

This journal/sketchbook is made from 85 gsm Arches hand-laid, all cotton rag paper from France.  It is sewn with Irish linen thread in the linked stitch pattern that was developed by the ancient Copts. This stitch allows the book to lay open at any page.

Its endbands are navy and gold silk, and its bookmark is goatskin.  The spine is covered in lightly distressed goatskin, and its boards are wrapped in a retired 1976 nautical chart by the British Admiralty, showing a shipping route along the northern coast of Algeria from Ras Tarf to Oran (French colonial names).

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 1962 British half penny featuring the Golden Hind, a ship captured by Sir Francis Drake in 1578.  The date on the face of the coin reflects the year Algeria won its independence from France.  Travel forward and back with this book.

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