As much as I would have loved to be able to select a book from the Special Collections Library at Wesleyan I am unable to due to my full time job as a public school teacher and distance from campus. I would be lying if I did not say, I’m a bit jealous of all of you who are fortunate enough to spend time with those rare and special books! All of this to say, please bear with me as I attempt this assignment using a contemporary illustrated book.
The book I have selected is Acorn, by Yoko Ono. The cover is a steel blue with a smooth texture. The title on the front cover is an illustration of an acorn. The text is written in silver, “Yoko” appearing in all capital letters on the top of the cover and “Ono” on bottom. The image of a simple silhouette of an acorn sandwiched between the authors first and last name, highlighted and housed within a slight square indent imprinted in the cover of the book.
The book itself is small in size. It measures at six and a quarter inches in height by five inches in width. The small stature of the book lends itself to an intimate relationship between book and reader, as it fits quite nicely in the palm of one’s hand.
The book was printed in 2013, and therefore I can assume was printed using contemporary book making processes. I believe this to be a “case bound book.” Upon opening the book viewer is presented with a gray end paper (which is mirrored at the end of the book, leading me to believe this is where its name “end paper” comes from?) followed by the first title page. The second title page includes the note “Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 2013” at the bottom of the page. The following page side includes the copyright page.
The copyright page is useful in gaining insight into the specifics of the book’s publication. It was published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, which according to the copyright page is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Apparently Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill is a division of Workman Publishing located in New York. The copyright page also does indicate that this book was printed in the United States, however, after some digging, I am unable to find the specific company that printed this book. As a result I’m going to refer to a New York Times article for support as it followed the modern printing process, to help me better understand perhaps how this book was made. (Again apologies for not having the specific printing company!) In this article they are following the printing process of an entirely different book, however, I’m assuming the printing process of contemporary books is relatively similar? So for this example I’ll use Lakeside Book Company, a printing company located in the United States.
According to Elizabeth A. Harris’ reporting in the article “How a Book is Made” the printing process at Lakeside Book Company begins with giant rolls of paper that are fed into a press. The press, a large machine, where plates containing the text and/or illustrations are inserted into by press assistants. Presses are typically changed out after a certain amount of pages are printed, in the case recorded by the article 32 pages are printed before the press is changed out. Once printed, sections are organized and bundled together until they are bound.
The following step, binding, in which the sections of pages are glued into covers. The pages are processed through a “gathering machine” which puts the pages in order. The pages are then sent through the binder where the pages are trimmed and glued. One of the most interesting aspects of the article, I thought, were the images of the glue that does the binding which appears very similar to an Elmers type glue (at least visually in its color and consistency). The books are then sent to a “backer” machine which applies the case or hardcover to the book. I found this article helpful in imagining how a contemporary book is made and feel it hopefully gave me more insight into how my pet book was made.
Final notes on the physical appearance of the book. There are no page numbers to the book. The content of the book is organized, generally, with the page on the left containing the text and the page on the right with the illustrations. However, this pattern is occasionally broken when the text extends onto the following page or shares the page with some text. At the end of the book you find a sign off from the author and the author’s photograph and biography.
Sources:
Harris, E. A. (2022, February 20). How a Book is Made. How a Book Is Made Harris https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/19/books/how-a-book-is-made.html