Saturday, July 25, 2015

the long wait was worth it...

 Waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1995 I spied my first Keith A Smith book
and ever since then I've been meaning to get my hands on his title
"Non-adhesive binding books without paste or glue"
but it's not as easy as you'd expect....

these days to get a Keith A Smith title you've got two main choices:

purchase a second hand version (from all the usual places)

or grab a new one online directly from Keith A Smith 


as a result I've dithered and delayed
(damnation but I hate having to buy things online --- I really do!)

finally I found a wonderful local book procurer
: sue tracks down titles that my local indie bookseller can't order in
and researches how to get what you want for the best price

and it turned out that it was worth my while to grab all the Keith A Smith titles
that I had been hankering for in one job lot

wheeeeeeeee!

four Keith A Smith titles in one hit!

For the unawares -
Smith's books are spectacular references for anyone interested in bookbinding.
Chances are if you have a query about how to bind something,
Keith has it covered in one of his many books....
things start with the basics....


but some of his diagrams are positively mind-spinning....

 (gulp)



aaaaaand in then at the post office this week
there was a wee parcel waiting for me from john neal bookseller....



John Stevens lovely book Scribe -
containing decades of his commercial and expressive calligraphic works...




its all very inspiring!


6 comments:

  1. OH! Not Fair! I've been trying to resist buying another Keith Smith book - I have Vol 3 already - but now you've tipped me over the edge - off to order Vol 2. :)

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  2. Just can't afford anything at the moment, but oh I wish.

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  3. Congratulations, Ronnie, they are such great books. I bought them as Keith published them and I never get tired of looking through them for inspiration.

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  4. Oh Happy Days Ronnie! B bought me the full set for a birthday one year and it was bliss - enjoy!

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  5. Fabulous ronnie, I bought them all when they came out and would never let go of them, so no second hand ones from me. I love those sewing diagrams that look so complicated (imagine drawing them!) they make you want to abandon the idea altogether, but when you start they are really quite easy.

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  6. you will return to the smith books over and over...they are terrific. don't let those diagrams get you down, either, once you get the gist of things you will only need to check back. as references and resource material they are superb. four at once, though...do you have a lot of time on your hands?!

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thanks for all your lovely comments - your words are greatly appreciated xx