The Tales of Uji Shūi 宇治拾遺物語 

Material: 

  • Textblock: Japanese paper, Hon-torinoko
  • Ink: Letterpress black ink by Cranfield Colours Ltd. A traditional ink made from carbon black ground into boiled linseed oil
  • Sewing: Yellow silk thread
  • Cover: Alum tawed calf dyed with indigo. Brown calf spine lettered in gold foil. Abalone shell with warigai (craquelé) technique onlays. Inlays of red Japanese lacquer
  • Doublures: Blue silk fabric with arabesque peony pattern
  • Endbands: Hand-sewn red and yellow silk
  • Adhesive: wheat starch paste, lacquer

The Tale of Uji Shūi, attributed to Minamoto no Takakuni, published from Bensei Shuppan, Japan, 2008, translated by © Prof. Hidemi Kobayashi, edited by © Anthony Wilkes, illustrated by © Stella Campion, hand printed by Richard Lawrence, Dr Paul W. Nash, Stella Campion and Makiko Tsunoda, calligraphy by © Akemi Kauffmann. The handpress was an Albion press, mostly printed on a Harrild and Son machine previously used by Leonard Baskin at The Bibliographical Press, the Bodleian Library under the supervision of Dr Alexandra Franklin. The cover design was inspired by the famous cherry blossoms of Byōdō-in temple in Uji. The binding was illustrated at the catalogue for “Designer Bookbinders International Competition 2017” and the prints are collected at the John Johnson Collection in the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

Designer Bookbinders International Competition 2017 Heroic Works