Red Squirrel

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 dates back to the ancient Copts. This stitch allows the book to lay open easily at any page.

 This book’s endbands are blue and white linen, and its bookmark is goatskin.  Its spine is covered in untanned goatskin, and its boards are wrapped in a 1942 map of the Theatre of War in Europe.

 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 1964 1 ore coin featuring a red squirrel.  In Norse mythology, a red squirrel, Ratatoskr, runs up and down the tree of the world, carrying news from the eagle at the top to Niõdhöggr, the worm beneath its roots.  Let this book carry your message throughout the world.

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