Anne Covell bridges the domains of book art and the book arts. The Record offers a skillfully constructed artist’s book that documents one of the first Trump Regime’s acts of depredation against history and truth. Historical Binding embodies her respect for the history of one of the book arts’ loveliest of crafts: stitching.

The Record (2017)

The Record (2017)
Anne Covell
Letterpress printed accordion on Masa paper with sumi wash and hand brayering. Housed in a 4-flap French paper enclosure with button and string ties. Enclosure: H165 x W110 x D6 mm. Book: H164 x W108 x D3 mm (closed); H327 x W1080 mm (open). 6.5 x 4.25 x .25 inches (closed), 13 x 42.5 x .25 inches (open) [36] panels. Edition of 60, of which this is #1. Acquired from the artist, 10 September 2025.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

On January 20th, 2017, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. That same day, the official White House website (whitehouse.gov) began the digital transition to archive and replace Obama’s policies with those of the new administration. Immediately, people began to notice that key issues such as health care, education, and immigration were nowhere to be found. Keyword searches for terms such as “climate change,” “LGBT,” and “civil rights” all returned 404 errors. Even more conspicuously, the Spanish-language version and the disabled-accessible version of the site were no longer available. Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library that has been archiving webpages since 1996, captured 167 snapshots of whitehouse.gov that day. This book records the last snapshots taken of Obama’s policies before they came down, the 404 errors that followed, as well as the Internet Archive timestamps for when the information was last available and when it disappeared. (Anne Covell).

The fold-downs enact the digital shredding of the previous administration’s policies referencing existing laws that the Trump Regime opposed.

In response to the 6 January 2021 insurrection, Russell Maret and Sarah Moody published Three Constitutions, whose redactions and translations offer a view of the interim state of affairs reflecting “the cynical, ineffectual state of political discourse in the United States”. On the eve of the 25oth anniversary of the founding of the USA, will there be another work such as Covell’s or Maret and Moody’s to represent the second Trump Regime’s violation and shredding of law, judicial orders, and constitutional rights?

Historical Binding: Sewing Sampler (2025)

Historical Binding: Sewing Sampler (2025)
Anne Covell
Clamshell box. Open-spine binding with cloth-covered boards and plain doublures. Box: H330 x W120 x D45 mm. Book: H305 x W100 x D25 mm. [288] pages. Made to order. Acquired from the artist 10 September 2025.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

Spine sewing is one of the hidden book arts as it is most often covered by a case binding of paper, cloth, or leather (real or faux). Covell’s Historical Binding: Sewing Sampler:

is designed for bookbinders and book enthusiasts as a personal reference and/or for teachers/historians with a focus in book history and book conservation. This is a large folio size blank book featuring varied sewing techniques that can also be used as a ledger or unique journal or sketchbook. It includes one hardcover sampler book with the option to be housed in a custom clamshell box covered in natural linen bookcloth. The sampler includes 16 different sewing methods both sewn on supports (hemp cord, leather and taw, linen and cotton tapes, and Ramieband) and sewn without supports. The sampler highlights the historical sewing styles inherent to their structure and includes title descriptions that correspond to each sewing station. The styles progress chronologically across the spine from the earliest forms of multi-section sewing to more modern adaptations and sewing variants. (Anne Covell)

Alongside Strange Papers: A Collection of the World’s Rarest Handmade Papers (1987) by Fred Siegenthaler, Woven and Interlocking Book Structures (2002) by Claire Van Vliet and Elizabeth Steiner, and The Art of the Fold: How to Make Innovative Books and Paper Structures (2018) by Hedi Kyle and Ulla Warchol, Covell’s volume expands a sweet suite of reminders of the book arts underpinning book art.

Further Reading

Commodore, Debbi. 2018-19. Revealing Invisible Patterns : A Binding Sampler. Tacoma, Wash.: [Debbi Commodore?].

Lavadour, Roberta. 2019. Binding Sampler. [Pendelton, Oregon]: [Mission Creek Press].

Maret, Russell, and Sarah Moody. 2021. Three Constitutions. New York: Russell Maret.

Smith, Keith A. 2002. Non-Adhesive Binding. 3d edition. Rochester, N.Y.: Keith A. Smith Books.

VanderSchans, Arielle. 20 October 2019. “Models of Bookbinding Techniques: Sewing Structures“. Arielle’s Bindery.