Special Books
What makes a book (meaning, the object itself) special?
So, I have not taken up weaving (yet?) — contrary to what I wrote in my post about The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. Perhaps I replace weaving with book-binding? And don’t you think I should go to Paris to do so? (It would probably behoove you to NOT mark my words.)
There was this amazing feature in the NYT the other week about the artisanal bookbinder Atelier Devauchelle, located a stone’s throw from auction house Drouot. That’s certainly a symbiotic relationship because Atelier Devauchelle restores rare antiquarian books. It’s all very hands-on…no automated processes here. Do check out the multimedia piece (link in my bio) because understanding and observing the time-intensive processes these women use is fascinating. Talk about special objects!
However…cha-ching. “The number of clients has remained constant over the last years…They come because they have a love of books, and often the financial resources,” according to the workshop’s director Catherine Colin. Collecting rare books — not to mention restoring them — is a rarefied experience.
On the flip side of this, there’s this recent boom of special/collector’s edition books that couple this artistic flair with a mass market appeal & price point. This isn’t really in my wheelhouse, as this Special Edition phenomena is a specialty of genres such as Fantasy and Romance. However, my SIL is a fan and showed me some of the unique touches of Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. (Check out images and video below.)
The book was Grey Bees, which I loved — despite the mess.
So let’s get real: I’m not the intended audience for purchasing (nor restoring) fancy, delicate objets d’art. And I am not interested in current special editions of books. But as I daydream about placing all our books on the enormous book wall in our almost-complete home (!), I do get excited about the tactile nature of my own literary treasures. What I mean is this: books that sport dog-eared pages, wear scribbled notes/inscriptions/ideas, and smell like a Vintage Contemporaries from the 80s/90s (yasssss). (Too bad the book that I accidentally spit red wine on was a library book. Sorry, Minuteman Library System … maybe it’s a collector’s edition now.)
Those are special to me.
originally published on instagram