Smart Set

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 brown and yellow cotton, and its bookmark is calfskin.  The book is half-leathered in calfskins, and its boards are wrapped in paper that was hand-marbled by Regina and Daniel St. John at Chena River Marblers in Amherst, MA.

 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 mid-20^th Century token from the Fort Wayne Transit. Streetcars and trolleys were in use in Fort Wayne from the late 19^th Century until 1959. There are more ways to get around the Summit City, but the fastest is still by imagination.

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