To be or not to be...

I recently received an e-mail from a person, who's thinking about leaving her professional career and starting a business based on a craft that she's been doing as a hobby and that she truly loves. She asked me for some advice. Well, I'm certainly not the best person to give advice to anyone about such an important matter, but since she wasn't the only person who has asked me similar questions this year somehow, I thought I should copy-paste what I wrote to her here on my blog, in case there are others who are trying to make a similar transition in their lives, and want to ask me (!!) my take on the matter. Anyway, it's long, so you needn't to read it if the subject doesn't apply to you.

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Hello,

I truly apologize for getting back to you so slow, - I've gotten quite a number of e-mails from Youtube / blogger folks lately, and have become inundated with replying to them. 

So, how I got into this profession? Humm, to make a long story short, I happened to stumble upon this craft when I was a freshman at a college, and started my apprenticeship at the bindery I now work for. No, I didn't go to "bookbinding school" nor do I own a degree in conservation. My knowledge and skills are obtained by the good ole' traditional way of this trade, - apprenticeship. I'm from a stereotypical rigid Japanese family of bureaucrats which believes "arts are for dreamers and losers", so in my circumstance, there was absolutely no way for me to pursue an actual academical education relating to bookbinding &/or conservation. As I had no intention of becoming a lawyer or doctor or anything that my family wanted me to be, and I refused to be controlled for the sake of their face value any longer, I went hundred percent independent from my family and I took a longer and harder road to get where I am. By doing this, I chose my emotional happiness over materialistic satisfaction that we tend to think of as the essential factor of happiness. This means, I knew that I wouldn't be able to live in a million dollar house and cruise in my own yacht in the future. In exchange, I've gotten a life full of "tangible happiness" in a true sense. I have a roof over my head, and a job I love & respect. What more do I need?

Over the years, I've seen dozens of "want to be a bookbinder" come and go from this bindery. They never made it in a professional field, except for one who's now moved to California, continuing her education as a conservator. Most of those were young, in their early~mid 20's who were in search of a direction of their lives. Or, in the 40's~50's who started to reexamine the true meaning of happiness and began to reflect the lives of their past and dreaded the inevitable future of the mundane. I believe that those who had professional careers for a long time, like yourself, could afford the time/ resouces to establish their new "business of their passion". I think you can live off being a craftswoman if you commit to it 150%, (I've been doing it for the past 16 years without any financial issues.) but I cannot say it will give you as much salary as you've been earning from your current job. The reward, however, is that it will give you an excitement and meaning in your life. It's your choice.

That being said, if you decide to alter your life's path, you certainly have to be more than "excellent" at what you do in order to live comfortably. I'm very sure you are excellent at what you do, but when you start charging for your products, you have to be better than excellent. I just mentioned that most apprentices never made it to live as a professional bookbinder. That's mainly because they all tend to overestimate their abilities so that they became too comfortable with their own mediocrity which they misunderstand as "good enough". They all lack of patience and diligence. As an extreme instance, I remember one of them, who used to be an executive of a company somewhere, decided to leave the high-life and to learn the trade of bookbinding. After just a few months of staying at the bindery, she somehow decided that she was so good at bookbinding (which was far from good in truth... sigh... delusional was what she was..), and because she knew how to run a company, she purchased all those expensive bookbinding equipments that she barely knew how to handle, and started her own bookbindery from her spare garage. Well, needless to say, the "business" failed.

The mentality required in any arts and crafts, in my opinion, is to keep seeking for the perfection, thus to never get satisfied with your work. And if your priority becomes to be money making over your excellence in your trade, you will eventually fail. Please keep this in mind.

Those I know who are in an art/craft related business/profession normally function fine if they are married. When their business is slow, there's always someone who's keeping them afloat financially or emotionally. If you are single, I think you have to work twice much harder to sustain a kind of life you seek.

Well, because I don't own this bindery, I don't need to worry about actually running the business. All I have to do, basically is to bind the darn books! No paper work, no restocking supplies, no dealing with grumpy clients!! So, the situation is a bit different from yours. But looking at what my master has accomplished, you can do it, too!

Sincerely,
MHR

Annual Christmas Crunch !

Christmas is near and we've started feeling the usual tension of the Christmas Crunch. Though you might say, "Oh, C'mon! You still have over a month until Lord's birthday!", we are in fact already slightly behind on schedule. Considering there are many "last minute shoppers" in this country, full of hard working people who can't finish the holiday obligation till the very last minute, you can understand the nervousness I feel! Believe it or not, quite a number of people show up at our door step just a few of days before Christmas! If we have enough time to do it, we accept, but sadly, we often have to decline many of those last minute orders. Somehow, we always manage to get things done on time, but that's because we close the door as soon as we figure that we are up to our necks! We set the Christmas order deadline to be the 20th, but there's no guarantee as to when we stop taking rush orders! The thing is, we, bookbinders can't turn a pumpkin into a golden carriage in a matter of a second! What we do takes time! So, if your Christmas gifts involve bookbinders, plan ahead and you'd better contact them immediately.

Anyway, we get a lot of Bible restoration jobs around this time of the year. (Bibles R Us!) Here, on the picture, are some of the large Family Bibles that I'll have to restore by Christmas.

Dr. Harvey's New Philosophy, 1663

One of the books I restored recently was Dr. Harvey's New Philosophy. (Archelogia Philosophica Nova or, New principles of Philosophy, Containing Philosophy in general, Metaphysicks or Ontology, Dynamilogy or a Discourse of Power, Religio Philosophi or Natural Theology, Physicks or Natural philosophy, to be exact.) This is one of Gideon Harvey's works, published in 1663. (First Edition) This is the first publication that mentions the word "ontology".This book somehow reminded me of the Voynich Manuscript, of which the assumed contents were related to medicine / science based on the pictorial depictions of plants, herbs, and astrology and some implications of alchemy. I looked through this Harvey's book on metaphysics, and felt some similarities with the Voynich in a conceptual way.

Back in '99, one of our regular clients told us that he had acquired a partial copy of Voynich Manuscript, and was planning to bind it by himself. (Bookbinding is one of his spare-time hobbies.) At that time, I had never heard such a document existed, but was immediately intrigued by its remarkable history and the mystery surrounding it. Since then, when I can't sleep at night or just need to chill out or something, I sometimes stare at pictures of its mysterious writings and its ominous drawings on the internet, and wonder if I can somehow make sense out of the seemingly legitimate yet rather gibberish contents, to no avail... Nobody has ever been able to decipher it, so how could I! Well, my grandma would say "If nobody can decipher it, it most likely has no meaning." So, I think it's just mumbojumbo, and according to a recent segment on Voynich Manuscript by National Geographic, "Book That Can't Be Read", my grandma's saying might turn out to be true. Though, I know I would never be able to find out what the book actually says, I find the manuscript inspiring in many ways. It's like one of those "idea books" or something. Anyway, I recently got a hold of a complete digital copy of the manuscript, and have thought of printing it out and binding the darn thing for my personal library. But, the scanned images are all askance and need to be cropped to be printed, so I've been fixing them in my spare time. (Over 200 of them! duh!)

Anyway, the client of this book asked for a brand new facsimile binding with mottled leather to match the original case. Based on a partial remain of the original headbands, they used to be in white and blue which aged to be tan and greenish over time, so that's what I've used for sewing the headbands. The top of the title page was torn, so I dug out a sheet of antique paper from 1600's, and patched it instead of using a conventional mending paper, which didn't quite match the paper texture of the original. In case someone's interested in what I mean by patching the paper without mending paper, I took some photos of the process.

Skin Graft of a Burnt Book

I have been working on simple, mindless, straightforward jobs since last week to recover from the trauma caused by La Merope ordeal. I just needed some time to heal my mind a bit. One of the jobs that gives me calmness and sereneness is what I call a "skin graft operation". It's basically a cosmetic repair on books that have gotten severe disfigurement issues caused by relatively common occurrences such as "Sh*t, my dog just ate my book!" or "They burnt my Harry Potter, god dammit!" or "Stop throwing books at me! I didn't sleep with your BFF!". Well, whatever injured those unfortunate books, I like doing this procedure because all I have to do is to just sit there and focus on the part I'm "operating" on! No need to move around, look around, carry heavy things around and it's very meditating to me. But most importantly, I like getting a "Wow!" from clients who didn't think the complete transformation was possible. Anyway, this is a 1862 Bible in German. There's a large hole on the back cover that appears to be caused by fire. I can see that the edges of the hole were shrunken and melt, and there are some surface damages on the surrounding area as well. Maybe someone knocked over a candle or left a cigar on it? Anyway, I transplanted a new skin from a new hinde which was cut exactly the shape to fit into the damaged hole, and colored and put the exact texture to match the surrounding. The seam is still visible if you look close, so I was disappointed a bit. But considering how bad the original condition was, I think this is the best any book doctors can do!

La Merope Tragedia, 1818

Wow,, it's been over a month since my last post!?! I've been juggling too many things at once lately, and have totally forgotten about my blog. Well, I suck at multitasking, so when there's more than one thing I must do with a deadline, I get confused, overwhelmed and start making the stupidest mistakes that lead to further mistakes if I keep working in the same atmosphere. This book here I just finished is a perfect example of that. My master handed this job to me a couple of months ago, requiring me to finish it by the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair. The client, Mr. Collins of Louis Collins Books asked for a binding that's super rich in gold tooling, like the ones of 17th~18th century's. No problem, I thought at first. But no sooner had I started tooling the leather than I realized the shiny new gold made the cover look rather like a cheap souvenir from Asia or something. ( I can say it without sounding like an ass because I'm Asian!) I designed, redesigned and re-redesigned the cover to meet Mr. Collins inquiry, but to me, the cover that's totally covered with new shiny gold still look rather cheapish no matter what. So I decided to simplify the design, yet with enough gold to satisfy Mr. Collins' vision. By this time, I'd discarded a few leather cases for my experiments and had only about a month till the deadline. I felt pushed, so I knew I'd make the usual "stupidest mistakes" if I wasn't careful. Well, guess what. I ended up redoing the binding a couple of times again. First stupid mistake: After finishing the tooling, the OCD side of me started telling me to refine some parts of gold tooling. I screwed it up! Second stupid mistake: I knocked over a bottle of leather dye and ruined the case. The third binding is shown on this post. I can't say I personally like the design as a whole, so if I had a few more days, I'd probably redo it. But If I say it, master would think I'm crazier than he previously thought, so I keep my mouth shut. Well, tomorrow is the book fair, and my master will go there to deliver this book to Mr. Collins first thing in the morning. Sigh... I hope he approves my work.. Am nervous..

This book is La Merope Tragedia by Scipione Maffei, published in Livorno (New Edition. 1818) The leather is custom dyed to create a faint texture and depth for a slight antiqued effect. (though the picture doesn't really show it.) A headband is sewn only on the top as the bottom of the book is rugged. The end paper is blue Italian marble, was hand-marbled by Galen Berry.

Lutheran Family Bible by E. Gately & Co.

I think many of you have seen Christian Bibles with masonic symbols used in the designs, but in case you haven't, I'm posting one here. Curious, isn't it? Well, this is a Lutheran Bible in German, which should give you some explanations as to why, if you know a bit about Freemasonry, and remember the history of Protestant Reformation and Martin Luther, for that matter. Masons can be Christians, but just not Catholics, I guess. Anyway, this is Heilige Schrift (Holy Scripture, Illusterated Family Bible in German), published by E. Gately & Co. in 1882. The restoration of this Bible involved external & internal re-hinging, repairs on the edges & corners. Very straight forward tasks.

The cover is filled with masonic symbols: TOP - Hourglass (mortality, human life) Arc of the Covenant (relation to the Knights Templar) The Sun & the Moon, (Gods in pagan belief & relations to astrology) Solomon's Temple with the letter G (G signifies God, the Great Architect of the Universe, Geometry, the Universe's fundamental law). RIGHT: Three Pillars (Wisdom, Strength, Beauty) Anchor (hope). The dove with an olive branch (The emblem of the deacon that signifies the messenger & innocence) Ark (faith) Gavel (authority). LEFT: Pot of incense (pure mind), Jacob's Ladder with seven rounds (Progress towards perfection, and seven steps derived from Mithraism). CENTER: The Masonic blazing star (God). The square & the compass with the level ( The square: virtue & morality. The compass: wisdom of boundaries, The level: equality) BOTTOM: Beehive (industry) Eye of Providence (Eye of God) over the Masonic alter. Whew, ... did I miss anything? I've scanned the cover so that you can check them out yourself!

De L'esprit des Loix, (The Spirit of the Laws), 1758

When I was a teenager, I came to the United States as a part of a school trip, and paid a visit to The National Archives Building while in DC. Although I had only about 15 seconds to get a glance at each founding document of The United States, it was one of the most moving experiences I had had in my youth. All those documents and manuscripts looked so fragile with almost invisible, faded texts in dimly lit displays, and their humble statues contrasted to the idea of the most powerful country in the world. I remember I was thinking of Montesquieu at the display of The Constitution. Well, little I knew that I'd come to handle his master work, The Spirit of the Laws, some twenty years later. This is a three volume set of De L'esprit des Loix (Esprit des Loix) by Charles Louis de Montesquieu, published in Amsterdam in 1758. (Nouvelle Edition.) As all the original cords were still attached to the covers intact, and the original endsheets had to be fully preserved as they were, the conventional re-hinge method couldn't be performed. The alternative re-hinge method used here is normally conducted on medieval bindings wherein the spines are glued to the book, yet they must be preserved. It's partly superficial, so it had to be done with the most care in order to get the maximum integrity and to make the repairs as invisible as possible. The top and bottom of the spine were worn out, so I had to recreate them as well. Original ribbons are ironed and reattached, the hinges of the endsheets were mended and the corners are repaired.

33rd Degree Freemason Metal Plate for Sale

First of all, I do not belong to the order, so please don't contact me regarding the organization, nor ask me about it. (I don't want conspiracy theorists asking me when the Novus Ordo Seclorum is gonna actually happen or else!) We, however have clients from the order, and often they ask for special bindings for some special occasions they have once in a while. We made this metal plate of the 33rd degree symbol for a such occasion years ago. Now, my master is thinking of selling this particular one as it hasn't been used for a long time. Let me know if any of you is interested in purchasing it. It's a 33rd Degree, a relatively large plate - W3.75" x H3.5" x D0.8125". (W9.4cm x H9.0cm x D2.0cm) It's used only once and is in mint condition. Well, this is a rather rare metal plate that you won't see very often, so if you are a part of the sovereign, and thinking of making bindings or whatever that requires this symbol to be stamped, you might want to talk to your colleagues about this, and contact me.

Self-Interpreting Family Bible by James Sample Publisher

We get restoration orders from all over the country, and occasionally from neighboring countries as well. Several months ago, a client flew in from Canada to deliver us his Family Bible in person, probably fearing that the priceless family heritage might get damaged further if he shipped it in a box. It's such an honor to be chosen as his bookbinder when he could have chosen someone else who is closer to his home town. The Bible needed to be re-set on the spine and re-hinged, and cosmetic repairs and some paper mending were required. Like half the Family Bible clients we have, he asked for a digital copy of the family records. A client like him normally also asks for a digitally cleaned and "eased" copies of the family record inserted into the Bible after the already filled original, so that the future generation of the family can keep up the tradition of recording their genealogy. (See the picture on the right.) But he asked us to bind several separate "Family Record books" for each family member, containing the scanned original record and cleaned blank ones. This part of his order has been postponed at this moment, but it's such a marvelous idea, isn't it? Anyway, this is The Self-Interpreting Family Bible by Rev. John Brown, published by James Sample in Glasgow. There's no publishing date noted, but based on the family record, it's as old as 1854. I decided to post this Bible here because I briefly mentioned about "metal edging" on my previous post's comment replay to Dimitri. I thought some people might have wondered what it was like. As you see, this Bible has a beautiful brass edging, which was missing half of its rivets that I had to re-create. In order to re-hinge a book with a metal edging, we have to take it off from the cover. As a bookbinder, it's always somewhat thrilling to remove things like metal edging because I become the first and only person to touch the original "work" of the initial bookbinder underneath the protective material. Nobody else has touched it since the Bible was bound, and nobody else will for another couple of hundreds of years. I took a picture of a part that was covered by the metal for you to see it. You see the pristine leather with nicely folded corners perfectly intact. (The bottom right picture.)When I was putting the edging back to the cover, I thought about the next bookbinder, removing the brass and thinking about the bookbinder who restored the Bible centuries before him. (<---- me~!)

Ancora de Salvacion, 1865

This is Ancora de Salvacion o Devocionario by Jose Mack, (Barcelona, 1865) It has a set of beautiful clasps that I wanted to share with you. I've seen tons of book clasps in my career, and I especially love those tiny clasps that come with small antique photo albums or miniature Bibles like this one. I wish there are more craftsmen and women who specialize in REAL book clasps in the world, but I know they are hard to find now days. (Please contact me if you are such a craftsman/woman!) As you know, there are all sorts of "crafts" of old days that involve in the trade of bookbinding, i.e. letterpress printing, calligraphy, carpentry, painting, paper making, marbling, leather crafting and metal crafting. So, as a bookbinder, it's always good to have the knowledge and actual skills of all of those trades that contribute to binding books. But  unfortunately, it's such a luxury to be trained in every trade, let alone to excel at them all. One thing that you might be surprised to know is that having some skills in working with metal is very useful when it comes to bookbinding and restoration. You might think metal craft would be the last thing you should know in bookbinding, but it's not so. You should know how to work with metals if you are a conservation bookbinder anyway, and it will vastly expand your visions if you're an artist. I was tutored by an experienced jewellery maker years ago and got all the basic metal crafting skills from her, and have no regret spending time (and money!) on the education. Well, by the way, just so you know that you can make your own book clasps easily by having only a few basic metal craft tools. (No molding, soldering or engraving involved, Yey!) All you need is a bench pin, a sawing frame with a blade, a flax shaft (for making holes), few grades of sand papers and a sheet of metal. If you wanna make your own rivets, you're gonna need a ball-peen & cross-peen hammers and a metal rod. These tools and materials aren't expensive at all. Shown on the picture (right) is an unfinished clasp that I started making several years ago. (became too busy and forgot about it..haha.. ) As you see on the picture, they are put together by only rivets. (See my design lay-out sketches. The visible one's are dome rivets, the invisible ones are flush rivets. This process that doesn't require any "heat" as to soldering & molding, is called "cold connections".) Obviously, it's missing the key and needs to be polished/executed better, but you get my point. You can make your own clasps in a few hours with only the basic metal crafting skills! But first, you should get an instructional book on metal crafting to know how to use those tools, etc.

Custom Portfolio Folder

I had been away from bindery for about a week due to family business, and just came back last week. Before I left, I laid out exactly what needed to be done in order to get to work as soon as I got back. But you see, that sort of seemingly practical planning doesn't normally work if you are away from work for a while. We often get clients who need their work done in a hurry, and sure enough, we had one client patiently waiting for us. He, Mr. Jeff James asked for a custom leather folder for his art portfolio which he needed within a matter of days. Generally, as you can imagine, rush orders make me really nervous because there's no time for any errors. This particular order made me really antsy because we happened to have only one large enough hide in stock that could be mottled the way he wanted, and, also, it involved a custom metal plate of his logo that had to be ordered from a third party, (which arrived yesterday afternoon, the day before the due date!!! Ouch!!) As usual for a job that strictly requires no mistakes, I had performed a mental exercise of mottling the hide for about an hour, created portions of special dye mixtures (some call me an alchemist! haha), and tested and re-tested the effects of the dye on scrap leather. The result turned out to be very beautiful which looked as if it were a Brother Grimms folklore story book, yet was a tad darker and "dramatic" than what Mr. James asked for... Boy, how nervous I was!, thinking that he might not accept it.. Well, he picked up my work earlier today, and I'm so relieved that he was pleased with the finished product, and more importantly I made the deadline! Whew! Have a great time at SCBWI Summer Conference, Mr. James!