Boekbanden | Rens Top

In honour of Rens Top who retired last year as head conservator of the Bookbinding collection at the Dutch Royal Library in the Hague, the book ‘Boekbanden’, has been published. A number of bookbinders bound the signatures into a special edition of the book.

I created an envelope binding, enfolding this collection of letters about magical book bindings. Stichting Handboekbinden (the Dutch Society of Bookbinding) provided signatures to bind your own edition. I have sewn the book signatures on tapes that were laced through the outer paper cover and then through the envelope paper. The envelope is made of layers and layers of different delicate Japanese papers, the lightest is 9 gsm. The papers were folded to create envelopes for both sides of the book. The binding is a variation of the design by Clara Gevaert.

All books are now on view at the Exposition Handbound Artbooks at OBA Oosterdok Amsterdam till 30^th April 2023. More information can also be found on the website of the organisers: stichting-handboekbinden.eu Tentoonstelling Handgebonden Kunstboeken