Question for bookbinders/printers

[Zander]

Not to belittle your mother's accomplishments, but I didn't even know they gave awards for that.

They used to run an annual competition at the British Library (roughly equivalent to the Library of Congress in the US). Back then, the main part of the British Library was housed at the British Museum. At least two years, my mother won a prize and had her work on display at the British Museum.

No offence taken BTW

 

[Krieg]

They used to run an annual competition at the British Library (roughly equivalent to the Library of Congress in the US). Back then, the main part of the British Library was housed at the British Museum. At least two years, my mother won a prize and had her work on display at the British Museum.

No offence taken BTW

Now that is pretty cool.

Did they specialized awards, like for "fastest speedbinder" and such?!

 

[Zander]

Now that is pretty cool.

Did they specialized awards, like for "fastest speedbinder" and such?!

LOL . No, the competition was for craft bookbinding. One year my mother did a cover for Baudelaire's Fleur du Mal in leather and velvet inset with an opal. That was one for which my mother won a prize.

Before you can reach that level of expertise, you have to have formally studied the subject for years (as my mother did) which includes learning all the basic bookbinding techniques.

 

[Zander]

DaveMage,

I spoke to my mother last night. She said that while it is possible to have an extremely thick book using special reinforcing methods, there are practical reasons why you may not want it done. Normally, a book shouldn't be so heavy or bulky that you can't handle it properly. My mother suggested that if it gets to that sort of page count, it's better to bind it as two or more volumes and make a single slip-case to house them all.

 

[DaveMage]

DaveMage,

I spoke to my mother last night. She said that while it is possible to have an extremely thick book using special reinforcing methods, there are practical reasons why you may not want it done. Normally, a book shouldn't be so heavy or bulky that you can't handle it properly. My mother suggested that if it gets to that sort of page count, it's better to bind it as two or more volumes and make a single slip-case to house them all.

Interesting idea! Thanks, Zander!

Now, of course, the question is, what is "too heavy" or "too bulky".

For example, I bought the new Complete Far Side books, which weigh an unwieldy 8-9 pounds each. The only way to really read the books is by putting them on a desk (or the floor). Putting them on one's lap cuts off the circulation pretty quickly. Now, those books are also oversized (I forget the actual dimensions), but they put those two volumes in a slip-case, which is nice, but I would certainly say that those volumes are certainly too heavy for use in an RPG (at least, if you plan to bring such a thing to the gaming table).

Great food for thought, though - thanks again!