Categories
Analysis Portfolio

The amazing Box-o-Matic book-measuring jig

I love using jigs whenever possible, especially when it comes to measuring things for housings. So please meet the “Box-O-Matic” measuring jig, which I created from the bottom half of a 20 x 16 archival box and colored pencils. I invented the Box-O-Matic jig to quickly identify which oversized books could be immediately rehoused in […]

Categories
Bookbinding Portfolio

Girdle book

I had the pleasure and privilege of attending Karen Hanmer‘s “Medieval on the Go: The Girdle Book” class during the 2015 Focus on Book Arts Conference. During the class, I created this anatomically correct model of a Medieval girdle book. Notable features of this model include: the textblock is sewn with packed sewing over raised […]

Categories
Analysis Portfolio

Housing Solutions

Do you have a problem?

Is that problem finding a housing (i.e. a box, folder, envelope, bag, etc) for something in your collection?

Do you not want to spend hours pouring through four different vendor catalogs, trying to find the box that fits your item the best?

Well, you’re in luck because I have the solution to your housing problem!

Categories
Analysis Portfolio

An automated system for creating conservation documentation

This is a tool that can quickly generate the minimum level of structured description and condition information needed for creating pre-treatment documentation. From this “skeleton” treatment proposal, additional information can be added manually, or it can be left as-is with only a little grammatical clean-up required to make it look like a human wrote it.

Categories
Analysis Portfolio

Signed & Fine Bindings in ASU Library’s Circulating Collection

Beginning in 2019, I began a project to identify and document trade bindings (ca. 18th-19th century), bindings with some mark of the binder (tickets, signatures, or stamps), and other bindings of significant aesthetic interest that are currently in the circulating collection of ASU Library. To accomplish this I spent many hours walking the stacks of […]

Categories
Conservation ConserveThis! Archive Portfolio

Removing Tape from a Ramage binding…

Got back on the bench for the first time in a long while. This tape residue on a beautiful handtooled binding just demanded to be picked at… On further inspection, I saw that it had a binder’s signature: “Bound by Ramage”. John Ramage was a British born binder who worked in France after his apprenticeship […]

Categories
Conservation ConserveThis! Archive Portfolio

Three different aesthetic approaches in circulating conservation treatment..

Three different approaches to general collections conservation treatment (from L-R): Reusing the original boards and spine, with the spine and boards rejoined together using new bookcloth  A brand new case made with all new decorative elements, and no reuse of any materials from the original case, with some artistic liberties taken compared to the original […]

Categories
Portfolio Teaching and Outreach

Conservation Lab Tours and Demonstrations

Since I started working at ASU Library in 2013, I have had many opportunities to give planned and impromptu tours of the conservation lab. I maintain a “teaching collection” of bookbinding and conservation demonstration materials, which come in handy when a tour group drops in unexpectedly. ASU Library produced videos I’ve also featured in a […]

Categories
Bookbinding

“Blessed Art Thou Among Women” Artist’s Book

I created this binding in 2017, and it was shown as part of the “Blown Cover” show from 2-5-17 through 3-19-17 at the Burton Barr Library in Phoenix, AZ To create this artist’s book, I modified a 19th century Bible (gifted to me by a family member), which had a very interesting piece of printer’s […]

Categories
Teaching and Outreach

Myanmar Preservation Training

In 2016, I traveled on behalf of ASU Library to Myanmar to present a series of workshops and presentations about library preservation over the course of two weeks in October. The first week of the program consisted of two hands-on training workshops in basic book repair and box making that were supplemented by a three-part […]