What makes our books so special?

As a book artist, I made the decision to use only the best quality materials I could get my hands on for these books. Every single book has 160 pages of a superb acid-free text weight paper, top quality binder's board, archival-grade permanent adhesive, and tough 3-ply Irish linen thread. The decorative papers I use to cover the boards are also acid-free.

There are a lot of technical details about how to put a book together in a way that will make it more durable. In short, since most paper products are made up of fibers that line up in one direction (this is called the "grain"), how one handles folding and cutting the papers will affect the longevity of the book. The binder's board, cover paper, and text paper all have grain directions, and you want the grain on all of them to match.

Think of it this way: if you fold the text paper against the grain, it will break some of the fibers and decrease the life of that book. Also, if you adhere a decorative paper in the opposite grain direction of the binder's board, the two will be inclined to come apart.

Every time I craft a book, I make sure that the grain direction is consistent and determined by the way the book is supposed to fold, even if it means getting less use out of each material purchase.