Do you have genealogy research, or a collection of letters, poems, or photos that you would like to preserve as a book you can share? I can help you edit your material and form a book that will be a “keeper.” Here’s a recent project:
From a box of mementos to a book
My client found the manuscript of a novel written by her ancestor. She wanted to make this special find something to share with her famiy as a book. She came to me asking if she could make 10 books bound in green leather.
After seeing the manuscript, I suggested she write an Introduction for the book, with the story of how she found the manuscript, and any other information she wanted to add. She showed me a framed newspaper article written about her relative. It was illustrated with a map of his worldwide travels — and he went everywhere! My client also had a photograph of her relative: a hunting scene in a small sepia print.
That photo, enlarged, became the front endsheets. This worked out well because on the enlargement, it is possible to see the man’s features, now visible due to high-resolution printing. The back endsheets are filled with the family tree, with room for the grandchildren to fill in the new members as they pass the book along.
With the Introduction, photos, map, and the novel, someday when somebody finds the book in grandma’s garage, the book will tell the story on its own.
Editions as low as 10 copies
From a printing standpoint, the challenge was to find a way to do so few books, and to find a way to satisfy my client’s wish for leather-bound books. Fortunately it is easier than ever to print very small quantities of books.
EditionOne
EditionOne is a quality digital print shop and bindery in Berkeley, CA. The Gold of Greenstone Glen is the first project I’ve done with them, and I hope to do many more. Their array of materials and finishes is a candy shop for book designers and they will produce as few as 10 books.
I visited their workshop to see examples of their work, and select a case material for my client’s book project. From their samples I could see that their bindery did a fabulous job: tight yet yielding binding, crisp foil stamping, and perfect detail work on corners and endsheets. With their guidance, I considered the leather and leatherlike options. I then explained the options to my client.
With relatively modest case stamping on leatherlike material, black and white interior, and color endsheets, we were able to keep the cost per book very close to $100/book.
Edition One provided proofs on the actual stock and produced the books in a timely manner. The books were packed beautifully in high-quality cartons.
vjb • scribe 