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Tapley

Title

Subject

bookbinding proposal

Description

The text is to be bound in a variant on Jean De Gonet's exposed sewing and Renaissance slotted spine styles, the head colored with graphite before sewing with red linen thread over grey box calf tapes. The areas between tapes will be covered in black goat and titled in gilt with no further decoration. The sewing tapes and spine panels are brought over onto the sides where they form the tongues for the planned tongue and slot board attachment. The boards, made with a slot on their spine edges, will be laser cut to a "skyline" in order to accommodate mounted "book spines," five on each board, of various widths and heights, the board edges covered in black goatskin with edge-to-edge shaped doublures of gold sprinkled green kozo facing cinnamon colored suede flyleaves. The faux spines, shaped in low relief, will themselves be covered in a range of leathers and colors, including tawed deerskin, calf, and goatskin, with smooth spines and raised bands, gilt and blind tooled in various styles from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries, and will result in softly undulating board surfaces. These spines are meant to reflect the range of historical leather bindings brought for repair to a busy workshop and center upon Middleton's text, itself presented in a twenty-first-century binding style.

Creator

Publisher

Bridwell Library Special Collections

Date

Rights

This work is protected by copyright law. No commercial reproduction or distribution is permitted. This file may be used for educational uses only, provided it is not altered in any way, and the copyright line is cited. (Bridwell Library Special Collections, SMU).

Format

Displayed as .jpg

Language

Type

Book

Collection

The 7th DeGolyer Competition

Citation

Tapley, James, “Tapley,” Bridwell Library Special Collections Exhibitions, accessed April 18, 2026, https://bridwell.omeka.net/items/show/2304.