Blue Bantam

Heather Bain's Adventures in Book Arts

[thebluebantam]

Practice versal, based on a letter from the St Bravo Cartulary (British Library, Add. Ms. 16952)

[thebluebantam]

Manuscript Leaf Facsimile

Final project for History of Western Letterforms, this facsimile of a twelfth-century manuscript page is made using historically accurate materials (except pigments, since most authentic medieval pigments are either out of my price range or highly toxic!) I made my own iron gall ink, lamp black ink, and egg tempera. The illuminated initial is 24 carat gold leaf adhered with glaire. The manuscript is written on goatskin parchment with a goose quill.

I'll be posting more about the process and preparing the materials soon, so stay tuned if you want to learn how to make your own Medieval manuscript!

[thebluebantam]

Uncial Facsimile

This semester I'm taking a class that's essentially practical paleography; we learn about historical hands by copying manuscripts! Here's a facsimile I made of a manuscript written in Latin Uncial. It's written on papyrus with a reed pen that I cut myself (even the glosses, which involved cutting the reed down to less than half a millimeter). We do use modern gouache instead of historical ink, but it's fun to experiment with historical materials!

[thebluebantam]

The (Tarnished) Silmarillion

Full-leather fine binding of J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion. The Two Trees are surface-gilt on the cover in metals that will tarnish, so over time the book will literally reenact their destruction. However the one fruit and flower that became the sun and moon are surface-gilt in gold and palladium, and will stay bright.

The edge decoration, sprinkled gilt and palladium over gouache, depicts the fate of the silmarils: "one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters."

The titling is done in palladium with finishing tools that I made myself, because I couldn't pass up the chance to use Feanorean letters to title the book where Feanor is one of the central characters.

(longer post about the binding here, written when I originally bound it)

[thebluebantam]

The Turtle Moves

A super-quick project to test out the black walnut ink my friend Davey made for me! Calligraphy by me: Roman caps in walnut ink on Ingres paper. The locket is something I found at Michaels with a recycled chain from an old necklace. I like to wear it under my shirt and pretend that I'm an Omnian dissident.

[thebluebantam]

Millimeter binding of Sonnets From the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Millimeter binding were invented during World War 2, when leather was scarce, and are so called because ideally only one millimeter of leather should extend onto the board surface. This variation also has hidden leather corners.

Bound in red buffalo leather and handmade marbled paper made by the binder. Head edge gilt in the rough.

[thebluebantam]

bonus picture of my kitty Troy "helping" me photograph the L-space broadside.

[thebluebantam]

Roman capitals project for Foundational Hands--quote about the power of libraries from Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.

[thebluebantam]

Final project for "Foundational Hands" calligraphy class at the University of Iowa. "The Making of the Man" poem from Wintersmith by Sir Terry Pratchett, written in italic on goatskin parchment in white and green gouache. The white-on-white text is barely visible until it is held up to the light, when it makes dark curling patterns like frost on a window.