Book arts – The Bodleian Conveyor

A week in the Centre for the Study of the Book

This week at the Centre for the Study of the Book started on 27 October with a visit from the Bodleian Printer in Residence for 2025-26, James Freemantle, proprietor of the St James Park Press. During his residency James will lead workshops on making a birdwatching notebook, taking as inspiration John J. Audubon’s Birds of America. The Bodleian’s copy of Audubon’s book is audio-described in this recording focussing on proprioception, from the exhibition ‘Sensational Books,’ at the Weston Library in 2022.

Examining specimens in preparation for the talks on decorated paper, Crafting the Bloomsbury Book

On Wednesday we had a layout of decorated papers from several Bodleian collections, in preparation for the talk and workshop event, ‘Crafting the Bloomsbury Book,’ at the Weston Library on 7 November. At the talks session, doctoral student Reanna Brooks will present her research on the decorated papers used at Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press, and Curator of the John Johnson Collection Jo Maddocks will show earlier decorated, marbled and patterned papers from the Bodleian collections. That will be followed by a marbling workshop led by Alice Hackney, in the Bodleian Bibliographical Press. (The sessions are already fully booked.)

At the end of the week we were looking at two new typefaces that recently arrived in the Bodleian Bibliographical Press. The first is some Arabic type, originally from the OUP and returning to Oxford courtesy of The Jericho Press, Virginia, the private press of J.F. Coakley.

On Friday we received in the post the Tonic solfa type made by Nick Gill at the Effra Press. That will be used in the workshop led by Philip Burnett, ‘Printing Sounds’, on Thursday 13 November, registration is open.

Arabic type and proofs from The Jericho Press

BOOKNESS with Ron King, coming soon…

As we enter the final week of the Bodleian’s Alphabet’s Alive! exhibition we wanted to share a taster of what’s to come in our next BOOKNESS podcast.

In the summer Alice and Jo were very lucky to speak to artist and founder of Circle Press, Ron King, who has multiple alphabet inspired works in the exhibition.

Alphabets Alive! is on at the Weston Library until 21st January 2024. Photo credit: Ian Wallman

‘ABC Paperweights’ and ‘Alphabeta concertina majuscule’ on display in the Weston Library

You have until 21st January to visit the exhibition which is spread cross the Bodleian’s Weston Library exhibition space and the Proscholium display (located in the entrance of the Old Library), and you can find Ron’s work in both parts of the exhibition.

So if you are in Oxford this week make sure you pop by and see the pieces for yourselves, and listen out for the next episode of BOOKNESS, featuring our conversation with Ron, which is on its way soon…

‘Alphabet Poster II’ in the Bodleian’s Proscholium display case

Useful links:

Find out more about Ron’s work and Circle Press here
And explore the Bodleian’s online catalogue SOLO here to discover the pieces of Ron’s work in the collection
You can listen to all episodes of BOOKNESS so far on the the University Podcast website, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts
And of course visit the Alphabet’s Alive exhibition at the Bodleian’s Weston Library in Oxford and the Proscholium display case in the Old Library until 21st January 2024

BOOKNESS speaks to Kevin Steele

For the latest episode of BOOKNESS, the Bodleian team speaks to graphic designer, book artist and paper engineer Kevin Steele about his work The Movable Book of Letterforms, which is currently on display in the Bodleian’s Alphabets Alive! exhibition.

You can find the episode wherever you get your podcasts (University Podcast website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts).

The opening currently on display in the Bodleian’s Alphabets Alive! exhibition

I’m always fascinated by the performance of movable books, especially when that actual movement is communicating something, so it’s not just about the final display when everything is open, but it has something to do with the movement

One of the book’s precising constructed pop-up spreads

As somebody that likes things precise… it is sometimes hard to see things change over time… but I guess that is just inevitable that things change like that beyond your control… And it would make me very happy if looking in the future I saw the book was very well used and worn and read

Watch The Movable Book of Letterforms in action below:

Useful links and glossary checks in this episode:

Listen to the episode on the the University Podcast website, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts
Find out more about Kevin’s work here
Visit the Alphabet’s Alive exhibition at the Bodleian’s Weston Library in Oxford until 21st January 2024, and see Kevin’s work in the Proscholium display case in the Old Library

BOOKNESS speaks to Justine Provino

In the final podcast in this series of BOOKNESS, book conservator and PhD candidate Justine Provino talks about her research into the self-destructive book Agrippa: A Book of the Dead.

Listen to the episode here.

Justine Provino with Agrippa (Rec. a.25) at the Bodleian’s Visiting Scholars’ Centre.

It’s a nesting doll about ageing and decay, and the publisher, the artist, and the writer really worked together … to express all these ideas throughout the materiality of every component of the artists’ book

The codex wrapped in the textile ‘shroud’ within a recess in the box base.

Condition record of unbound Agrippa image, with traces of the ‘disappearing image’ (MS. Eng. b. 2160)

The release of this episode of BOOKNESS on 9th December 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the publishing of this work. Happy birthday Agrippa!

Useful links for this episode:

Watch William Gibson’s poem Agrippa: A Book of the Dead
running in emulation on a 1992-era Mac computer here
Read Justine’s article in issue 3 of Inscription

BOOKNESS speaks to Stephen Emmerson

In the third podcast in the series, BOOKNESS talks to poet and artist Stephen Emmerson about his work Translation of Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge, a paperback novel ‘translated’ into mushrooms.

Listen to the episode here.

In transforming, playing, or recomposing books, I’m trying to reconnect with the magic of it.

A record photograph taken by the Bodleian’s Conservation team showing the condition of ‘Translation’ (Cons.Res. 43) in May 2021.

I kept it on the window sill … and it completely dried out … the preservation was kind of accidental to begin with …

” A nice array of fruiting”. A record photo showing a detail of the mushroom growth.

It could be rehydrated again, in theory, but hopefully it’s no longer spore producing for the sake of all the other books in the library…

Useful links and glossary checks in this episode:

Photos of ‘Endless sleep’, the book made out of a wasps’ nest, can be seen on Stephen’s website and also featured on episode 1 of BOOKNESS.
‘A box of ideas’ was featured in the National Poetry Library’s exhibition Poetry Games.
You can visit the Sensational Books exhibition at the Bodleian’s Weston Library in Oxford until 4th December 2022, and see Translation for yourself (through two layers of protective glass…)

BOOKNESS speaks to Yiota Demetriou

In this week’s episode, BOOKNESS talks to multi-media artist Yiota Demetriou, about her work To You, a book printed in thermochromic ink.

Listen to the episode here.

A woman sits behind a table with her right hand placed on an open book. The book has black pages, but close to her hand white patches can be seen, with small black text. In her other hand she holds a mug with a hot drink. In the foreground is an open brown box. — Artist Laura Kriefman experiencing ‘To You’ (Image by George Margelis, 2019)

It’s a book as much as it is an art object … as a book, read it, interact with it, touch its pages, infuse its pages with your warmth … from the art experience, I guess it’s more about the audiences way of how they want to interact with it …

‘To You’ (Rec. d.625) on show in the Sensational Books exhibition at the Weston Library.

I’ve always been interested in interactive books since I was little, I am neurodiverse myself so it’s easier for me … to engage with books that … use different senses because they would capture my entire focus.

A white hand with a green sleeve pressed against a black piece of paper stuck to a grey wall. — A single leaf of ‘To You’ that visitors to the Sensational Books exhibition can interact with.

It is an artwork that is supposed to be touched and it’s supposed to wear and tear … as you start to expose and touch … as you’re reading the content, it becomes more familiar with you …

The interactive materials wall in the Sensational Books exhibition showing a leaf of thermochromic paper that has been activated by the heat of a hand, and shows signs of the many interactions that have happened already over the course of the exhibition.

Useful links and glossary checks in this episode:

Find out more about Yiota’s work here.
Listen again to episode 1 of BOOKNESS to recap on what artists’ books are and the collection here at the Bodleian.
Watch a video of To You in action.
Visit the Sensational Books exhibition at the Bodleian’s Weston Library in Oxford until 4th December 2022, and experience Yiota’s work for yourself!

BOOKNESS speaks to Ben Denzer

For our first artist interview in this series, BOOKNESS talks to book designer and artist Ben Denzer, about his work 20 Slices, a book created from Kraft American cheese.

Listen to the episode here.

’20 Slices’ by Ben Denzer (Photo courtesy of Catalog Press)

This is already basically a book … these things look like pages, they’re kind of packed together, there’s an order, all I really did was bind those together and give them the cover. I thought it was interesting how it just becomes a book through that process

This image of the Bodleian’s “pristine” copy of 20 Slices was taken by the Conservation team in May 2021 as part of the documentation of the object to record its condition.

’20 Slices’ by Ben Denzer (Cons.Res. 41)

I think of it as a book. But I also have a very broad definition of a book

20 Slices is on display as part of the Sensational Books exhibition at the Weston Library in Oxford until 4th December 2022.

Photos courtesy of Ian Wallman.

Introducing BOOKNESS, a podcast about artists’ books

BOOKNESS is a podcast series that wanders into the Bodleian Library’s collection of artists’ books, pokes around a bit and asks ‘what’s all this then?’

In the series we will be talking to artists, makers, researchers and curators and pondering matters such as what makes a book a book, anyway? What happens if a book is made of something that decays? Are there any limits to what a library can collect? And, of course, what does this book smell like?

BOOKNESS is hosted by conservator Alice Evans and librarian Jo Maddocks, and the release of this series coincides with the final month of the Bodleian Library’s Sensational Books exhibition, which is showing at the Weston Library until the 4th December 2022. It’s brought to you by the Bodleian Library’s Centre for the Study of the Book and has been supported by a generous donation to the Bodleian Bibliographical Press.

Listen to episode 1 here.

In this introductory episode, BOOKNESS is joined by Chris Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections, and Professors Emma Smith and Adam Smyth, to set the scene of the Bodleian’s artists’ books collection and some of the ways these objects can be used and thought about.

Curator Emma Smith in the Sensational Books exhibition. Photo credit: Ian Wallman

… artists’ books reflect on ‘bookness’ … they are metabooks, they are books about books … they are about the book form …

The following artists’ books from the Bodleian collection are mentioned in this episode…

**The three ‘pages’ are difficult to handle… and witty!** ‘Endless Sleep’ by Stephen Emmerson (Cons.Res. 44)

**The uncut pages are gently provocative, does a library understand that? ‘**A little book of birds’ by Gaylord Schanilec (Erm. e.129)

**It’s a very heavy and profound subject, which is contrasted by the physical format of the book, which is printed on kitchen paper.** ‘It is bitter to leave your home : a true story depicted in typographic images’ by Romano Hänni (Rec. d.629)

Useful links and glossary checks in this episode:

You can read the full definition of ‘artists’ books’ from the Library of Congress here (.pdf)
The Bodleian oath is taken by all new staff and readers. The current version, in use since 1970, reads: “I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, nor to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library, or kindle therein, any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library.” If you want that on a Tea Towel we can make it happen.
The next edition of Inscription on ‘Folds’ is out later this month.