Exploring the origins of the book, the author traces the early history of communicating by paper pages. She offers illustrated instructions for four of the first forms of books on paper, developed by the Chinese, which can be replicated today using simple tools and available materials. This book blends history, how-to expertise, and a journalist's eye for detail into a compelling narrative of both cultural continuity and contemporary change.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-189).
Language note
Text in English.
Contents
China: where books began
Guanxi make the glue
Manual introduction: finding paper grain and cutting
Friends and folding
Folding the text block for jingzhe zhuang/sutra binding
Assembling the jingzhe/sutra
Paper makes it all possible
Preparing and affixing covers for the jingzhe/sutra
Binding the hudie zhuang/butterfly
Completing the baobei/wrapped-back and xian zhuang/thread-bound bindings
Open and shut cases
Preparing the shutao/case
Covering the shutao
Setting the biezi/clasps in the shutao
Love and pilgrimage
The crowded south
Decision time
Glossary
Sources
List of images and illustrations.
ISBN
9780967026442 ((paperback))
096702644X ((paperback))
LCCN
2016918994
OCLC
979994094
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