When to commission

Commission when you have a particular book in mind.

• Say you have found a paper that is just right, and you want a book made out using it.
• Or, say ABA had a book on display that was just right, but then it was sold to someone else.
• Let's say you want duplicates of a certain cover paper/thread combination.
• Perhaps you want to impress your friends or business affiliates by stuffing goody bags with our journals, and you need a large number of books by a certain date. Let's assume you're going all out and you want limited edition high quality Japanese papers or hand marbled papers for the covers.
• A different day, you want a product that is designed exactly to suit its new owner. Perhaps you want a memory book for your eldest living family member. You want to pick out the thread color and the cover paper. You want to see what I have available and choose for yourself. You might even want a different size book than the standard 5"x7".
• Then you decide to open a bed and breakfast, and you want a guest registrar in every room. Through ABA you could customize the exact size, thread, and cover paper for these registrars. You want custom calligraphy on the opening pages to give the name of the establishment and the room. ABA can do it for you.
• Or, you are an artist and you want a tougher paper than text weight, which holds up to writing but is not designed to withstand the strength of your drawing hand.

All of these possibilities, and more, are available if you commission a piece.

How does one place a commission? Easy. Email me with the details about what you want. Put "journal commission" in the subject line. I will get back to you with a quote or questions, and we will make further arrangements from there depending upon the order.

You may be wondering how much all of those ideas listed above would cost you. The price would depend upon your design specifications. If bought directly from me, limited editions usually run around $35/book, depending upon paper prices, and require a minimum order of 3 books. Single copies of books already sold, multiple copies of an in-stock design, or picking out your own design combination based on what we have in stock locks your price in at the standard $30/book. Pretty sweet deal, right?

Japanese Papers Coming Soon

American Book Arts has plans to offer limited edition coptic journals covered with specialty Japanese papers, both Chiyogami, also referred to as Yuzen, and Katazome-shi, also referred to as Wazome, which are exceptionally beautiful and durable papers particularly suited to bookbinding.

What's the difference between Chiyogami and Katazome-shi? Chiyogami is screenprinted on a base paper made of kozo and sulphite. Every color is a layer silkscreened onto the paper, and in most cases these papers have at four or five colors. Katazome-shi, based on traditional kimono printing, is stencilled onto a kozo base paper by hand, a time consuming process that produces intense colors and stunning patterns.

You can read up these gorgeous papers and browse them online at the Japanese Paper Place. If you find something you want that ABA does not have in stock, we take custom orders contingent upon paper availability. Just contact me at claire@americanbookarts.com with the paper number (located under the sample image, ex. "732C"), desired number of books, and your contact information. There is a minimum order of three books, $35 each, but you can mix and match papers to your heart's content--up to one kind of paper per book.

Welcome to American Book Arts

American Book Arts originated when I decided to extend the reach of modern book arts by producing affordable, high-quality coptic journals for everyone.

These books can be used as notebooks, diaries, recipe books, personal gifts, business gifts, writer's journals, artist's journals, scrapbooks, memory books, guest registries, and more. If it can be done with a blank book, my journals will fit the task. If you are looking for a special gift for someone who has something to say, these journals have an enormous range in taste and selection, and if you have a particular cover paper you want or a specific need, I take commissions.

Book arts have, since the invention of modern machine-intensive printing and binding techniques, become a niche. Libraries, universities, select artists, and patrons with the know-how to discover fine binders and book artists know about book arts, but what about the rest of the population? Hand sewn books take more labor than modern means of production, but there is nothing else on the market that can imitate the strength and beauty of a coptic binding.