The Marcial Chronicles: Downtown LA 1976 Revisited

The Holidays were over and with the start of a new year, it was time to make another book. A remake of the little 1976 photo book which had germinated my interest in making books felt like the appropriate next project. Like some other college experiences, its significance in my development to adulthood was disproportionate to an assignment in an undergraduate course so very long ago. In one way it had gotten me back on track after a terrible sophomore year. The photography course I had signed up for at Pomona College was taught by Robert Heinecken and up until the final project, I was not doing well- had the photographic equivalent of writer's block. That little book, rudimentary as it was book-wise, rescued me from a C minus to a B. The course overall though, convinced me that reliance on creativity/inspiration- what have you, was not conductive to an emotionally stable life.

Anyhow, as alluded in earlier posts on my bookbinding forays, the decades had done much wear and tear to it.

I could not find the negatives, but scanning the prints yielded surprisingly good results. As I’m still in the much to learn stage- this is my third bookbinding effort- I used matte photo printing paper. While matte surfaced paper seems the most “book-paper-page like”, there is concern regarding the delicacy of the coating and tendency of the ink to bleed onto the opposing page. So, let’s use it and see what happens. I had some Epson Hot Press Natural that had not seen use for years but was short two sheets for what was needed for the book. Rather than wait for a closer matching paper to come in the mail, impatient person that I am, I made do with another matte paper.

I had used glue-on leather spine titles on my first two books in the hope that I’d be happy with that. I had first considered using a Sharpie, but my handwriting is lousy and it just seemed wrong to do that to a handmade book. I then googled companies that could print the title for me, but no one in a 70 mile radius was interested in a single use order. I looked at hot stamping machines as Cri-cut seemed too amateurish. The Kwikprint machines if on eBay were expensive to start with, and with the need for type, ribbon and shipping, not to mention the “purchase-as-is” clause, were too expensive for the uncertainty and risk involved. The cost of purchasing the machines and accessiories new was not justifiable, regardless of my OCD level.

For the next month, I did check in periodically on Craigslist and eBay, hoping for something used and nearby. Early this month, there was a Craigslist ad for a Kwikprint plus accessories in Vancouver WA, a hour away from me. One-stop shopping, I had everything I needed to make a book with a title printed, not stuck on, the spine and at a price I could sorta justify.

The learning curve was not too bad and took a few practice stamps with scrap leather to figure out how to make guides for proper placement, along with force and length of pressing. Just in case, I had cut the leather a little larger than necessary; Nori paste allowed for a very slight reposition of the spine backing. The title being in the desired position, the cover was trimmed to size, the edges were pared and the cover bonded. Gluing the leather has gotten easier.