It's amazing how much you can learn in a day and a half, if you put your mind to it (and have a good teacher). Here are some photos of Annie Fain Liden in her Coptic bookbinding class at the John C. Campbell Folk School this past weekend. Coptic bookbinding is a sewn binding; books are assembled without glue in the spines.
Here Annie Fain is pointing out the fine points of a tight stitching.
A journal is being rebound.
She makes it look easy. Assistant (and Annie Fain's sister) Emolyn looks on.
Threading curved needles with waxed linen cord.
Boards for covers are cut to size.
Measuring to assure that both covers are the same size.
Here one of the students is pasting decorative paper onto her cover.
The class is hard at work folding and sewing. Note the high intensity level!
Pay attention to the corners!
Annie Fain talking about her own books.
…and more of her books…
Sometimes you've just got to take a break. Here we are in the J.C. Campbell vegetable garden.
A rousing half hour of music in Keith House is a great way to start the day. Annie Fain and her mother, Martha Owen, are on banjo, and her father, David Liden, is on guitar.
This class was extraordinary. We completed all this work in a day and a half, and most of us had never made books before.
My three books are on the left. I am so proud!
Click on any of the above images to enlarge.
