Extreme Bookbinding

Read this detailed and exciting account of some book restoration taken to the extreme: very old book (6th century Abba Garima Gospels) in a very old monastery (Monastery of Abuna Garima) in a very old country (Ethiopia). The actual book restoration starts about a third to half-way down the page.

Skin Deep Newsletter

I'm fascinated by the binders who worked nearly 1400 years ago in the middle of what must have been a hot dry mountainous desolate place but still made beautiful and enduring books. Coptic binding, of course, as Ethiopia is the home of coptic binding (from Wikipedia).

And here's a sample of coptic binding from Two Brides and SugarAdded blogs:

For those interested, here is a quick video about coptic binding: