Now on Display at Massey College

Just installed this at Massey College, U of T:

DON TAYLOR

Stealing Time: Design Bindings and Artist’s Books

www.dontaylorbookbinder.com

In the past 30 or so years, seemingly whether time has permitted or not, I have occasionally caught myself taking this precious commodity away from my work as a bookbinder and restorer to produce what I have always called “my own” work. This has usually taken the form of design bindings, i.e. interpretative fine bindings of an existing text, and artist’s books in which I have acted as creator of both text and binding. 

The impetus has frequently been to take part in book arts exhibitions such as “The Art of the Book”, a major Canadian show mounted every five years by The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild.  And in recent years, I have had to sneak periods of up to a few weeks on the trot to take part in shows conceived and executed within the small community of letterpress printers, binders, calligraphers, and others committed to the book arts. These are my friends and colleagues.  I have tried to spin the enormously creative contact available from such people as George Walker, Will Rueter, Margaret Lock, Susan Warner Keene, Nancy Jacobi and my studio partners, Reg Beatty and Kate Murdoch, into experiences that take me deeper into exploration of skills or new directions.  These moments of stolen “me time”, as much as they are challenging and even infuriating, are as wonderfully luxurious and satisfying as an extended bubble bath.

Nevertheless the market for such work lies in the range between small and non-existent. So what is the point of this kind of larceny?  Love of the materials, respect for collaborators, and the desire to “make”- that’s what makers do-all in the name of keeping books, in all their incredible variety, going strong. After all, the book is of course incomparably civilization’s greatest achievement.  Let’s not forget that. 

I am grateful to Massey College for the opportunity to show these results of my long-term embezzlement.  DT March 2014

Submission to the "Contemporary Bindings of Private Press Books Touring Exhibition 2014-15"

A new binding for submission to the "Contemporary Bindings of Private Press Books Touring Exhibition 2014-15".  "Tonge's Travels" was published by The Old School Press in Bath and features watercolour illustrations by John Watts.   The original was a manuscript travel diary from 1857 recording Mr. George Tonge's boat trip through the Mediterranean.     I used my paste papers cut into strips and onlaid onto the full calf binding to suggest both water and the notion of a hand-written document.  I added a couple of Moleskine style touches including a pocket in the back which I supplied with paste paper "postcards" of sights along the route, and a foredge strap, here depicted lying in front of the open book. The show opens at St Bride's Church, Fleet St., London on May 14 of this year.  See you at the opening!

Sherlock for Christmas

A Xmas present for my wife, a big Sherlock fan from way back.  Mary cautiously permitted me to rebind her taped up 2 volume set of the Complete Stories that she has had since the early '70's.  She had indicated a liking for one of my recent paste papers-this one with added black ink details that gave it a certain spikeyness.  That and a bit of green goatskin did the trick. She liked the result -which made two of us.

Merry Christmas

At the Koffler Gallery.  Sara Angelucci's contribution to "We're in the Library" dedicated to the opening of the new Artscape building on Shaw St.  Sara had us make concertina books of increasingly dark prints made from tintypes of 10 unidentified schoolchildren.  The children "disappeared" as the prints darkened to obscurity.  The books were then  housed in clamshell boxes that also hold the original tintypes and the books and boxes displayed on a custom made library cart equipped with headphones on which are playing children's voices  reading stories.  This was a project that we got more and more attached to as it neared completion.  See the article in this week's NOW magazine.
Congratulations Sara.

UPCOMING COURSES:
Gothic Bookbinding and......

Gothic Book Furniture

see the CBBAG.ca website for details.

and a MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

from Don, Kate, Reg, Laura and Lee.

(Kate did this Xmas binding just for you.  Well actually it was a movie prop but it fits here)

Finishing Book Arts 3 and My Contribution to the Book Arts Fair

Recently wrapped up my Bookbinding 3 class. Here's a couple of nice results by the students:

Paste Decorated Papers 

Half Binding in Goat

Also, the 29th Annual Book Arts Fair was last Saturday. A student from Bookbinding 3, Brian, came by and took a couple of photos:

Talk to the Hand TShirt 

A shot of me modelling the shirt, with Manu of Deer Press fame.

If you'd like to purchase a shirt of your own, send me an email: dstbook@gmail.com.

PayPal accepted.

The 29th Annual OCAD Book Arts Fair

This Saturday, I will have a table at the 29th Annual Book Arts Fair featuring several new projects, and some new editions from the Pointyhead Press catalogue. The event takes place in the Great Hall at OCAD, and runs from 10-5.

For more information about the event including a list of the vendors this year, follow the link to the Facebook event here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/252534708232344/

Here's a preview of some of what I'll be bringing this year:

Manum Alloquere! (Talk to the Hand)

Health and Safety Tips from Many Lands

The Tlön Omnibus

The Cask of Amontillado

The Wrapped Trees of Dovercourt Present Annabel Lee

Preparing Your Book for Self Publication

Blurb not doing it for you?

If you've decided to produce your own book, here are a few tips for you to think about before you print. There are things for you to decide, which have to do with how it should be printed and how you want to have it bound. Here is a checklist for anyone who is interested, to help you get the best possible results:

Preparing Your Book for Self Publication

Prep of text:

• Single sheets or signatures?
• Signatures open flatter, book handles more flexibly.
• Margins- particularly the left one if printing in single sheets –minimum ¾”.

Printing:

Here are a couple of places I recommend:

• Print Zone,  191 Dundas St W., 416-204-9292.
• Mid Town Reproductions,  384 Adelaide St W.,  downstairs, 416-591-9010.           

Selection of paper:

• Weight- too thick and the book won’t open nicely. Too thin and you risk show-through.

GRAIN: parallel to the spine if possible.  The book's “flow” will be much more pleasant. Single sheets              especially. 

Binding: 

• Single sheets are drilled and sewn.
• Signatures, usually 12-16 pages, i.e 3 or 4 folds nested together, are sewn through the fold.           

Case Binding: 

• Hard cover, wrapped in cloth, paper or leather or a combination.
• Cloth or paper can be plain or printed.  Some cloths will go through an inkjet machine.
• Paper binding – in plain or print, hard or soft cover.
• Endpapers: white, coloured or printed. Found at art supply stores or The Paper Place.
• Leather can be purchased at Perfect Leather Goods, 555 King St. W.

Get a sample before you buy in order to test stamping!

Stamping or debossing:

• Suitable for paper, cloth or leather.
• For wordmarks, logos, any type face.
• Gold, silver, pigment colours or “blind” i.e. no colour                        
• Die art –Vector file, black and white, no half tones, produces a “MAG” magnesium die,                       suitable for hot stamping. I use KDS Graphics, they're at 140 Midwest Avenue, 416-752-0540
• When producing die art, keep in mind the weight of your lines. Little tiny feathery lines are difficult to stamp cleanly. Very broad lines are difficult to fill with foil. Keep lines medium weight.

 Scheduling:

ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR THE PRINTING, and BINDING! -eg. time to get the die made.

            Submit your material at least a week before you need it.