Ambulo Ergo Sum: Nature As Experience in Artists’ Books (2015)
Anne Moeglin-Delcroix and Richard Sadleir, trans.
Case bound, printed paper over board, with green endbands and matching doublures. H225 x W155 mm. 96 pages. Acquired from Book Depository, 21 August 2019.
Photo: Books On Books Collection.
Handscapes (2016)
Margaret (Molly) Coy & Claire Bolton
Casebound, hand sewn and bound with doublures and two ribbon bookmarks. H260 x W310 x D30. 80 folios. Edition of 12, of which this is #9. Acquired from the artists, 19 October 2023.
Photos: Books On Books Collection. Displayed with artists’ permission.
Co-founder of The Alembic Press with David Bolton, Claire Bolton is an independent historian of printing and type as well as an aficionado of handmade paper. She recently donated works in shifu (a spun and woven paper textile) to the Bodleian. Although she disclaims classification as a book artist, her works in the Books On Books Collection — especially her collaboration with Molly Coy called Handscapes (2016) — argue with her persuasively.
A Little Black Book (1995)
Claire Bolton
Miniature, exposed-spine, stab-bound with red cotton thread to hard boards. H73 x W60 mm. 64 pages. Edition of 100, of which this is #4. Acquired from Oak Knoll Books, 11 October 2023.
Photos: Books On Books Collection. Displayed with artist’s permission.
Washi Tour, Japan: October 1995 (1995)
Maureen Richardson
H151 x W225 mm
Twenty-eight pages bound in four-hole Japanese stab binding. Cover paper produced by Mr. Seiki and Mr. Michiharu Kikuchi, visited during the tour. A limited and numbered edition of 100 copies Monotype set and printed in 12 point Old Style by Claire Bolton of The Alembic Press. Published by Richardson, Romilly, Brilley at Hay-on-Wye. Ten copies were set aside for a deluxe edition. This is number 81 of the main edition.
The cover papers supplied by two of the papermakers Richardson visited.
Clockwise from the top; Hon Mino-shi; Najio-Maniai-shi (the gray square is recycled accounting book paper mixed with clay); paper cloth made from kozo fibre, shaken in only one direction for strength; kozo fibre coated with hon’nyaku, crumpled and cooked in lime; mitsumata.
Added to the pleasure of the text is the ability to touch and examine the samples of washi in this exquisite little book.
Marbled Samplebook (2017)
Maureen Richardson
H100 x W350 mm
Sixty leaves of marbled papers folded into alternating squares, rectangles and triangles. Case bound in blue leather, blue headbands, papers tipped into sewn binding, marbled doublures. Unique.
It is hard to resist unfolding a sheet to enjoy a larger view of its pattern and the feel of the paper.
The First Seven Books of the Papier Biënnale Rijswijk
Bolton, Claire, and Richardson, Maureen. Isis Papyrus (Oxford: The Alembic Press, 1990).
Richardson, Maureen. Plant papers : handmade papers from garden plants and re-cycled papers with domestic equipment (Hay-on-Wye: self-published, 1986).
Richardson, Maureen. Plant papers’ paper plants (Oxford: The Alembic Press, 1989).
Richardson, Maureen. Vegetable Papyrus (Hereford: Berrington Press, 1998).
Richardson, Maureen. Grow your own paper : recipes for creating unique handmade papers (N.P.: Diane Pub Co., 1999).
Books On Books 