Bookmaking
From around the world!
• When were books invented?
• What is a handmade book?
• How are books made today?
Bookmaking & Papermaking
Make decorative paste paper for the
book cover
Build cover and spine for book
Assemble (put it together) the book
Create a paper weaving
Chose 2 more activities to include
inside your handmade journal/book
The History of Bookmaking
Bookmaking really began with the
invention of writing. (over 5000 years
ago)
The first forms of writing were ideas
expressed through pictorial forms
such as hieroglyphics, inscriptions on
rocks and clay tablets.
There are many examples
of such early forms of writing.
Chauvet Cave, France, see cave paintings:
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/
Early forms of writing:
Early writing techniques began with
the Mesopotamians, Egyptians,
Mayans and Chinese.
These early forms of writing gave
birth to all other styles of writing
and book making.
Cuneiform Writing
Some of the earliest
writings come from
Mesopotamia and
Egypt. (3000 BC)
Mesopotamians
wrote in cuneiform
on clay tables.
1. pictorial example, 2. Cuneiform clay tablet, 3. Cuneiform Epic
of Gilgamesh clay tablet, 4. Assyrian cuneiform in rock
Mayan Hieroglyphs
The Mayan
culture began
around 1800
BC and
developed
through 1500
CE.
The Mayan
people
became the
people in
Mexico today.
The Egyptian Scroll
The first book to be made was the scroll.
This was made from many sheets of papyrus
which were glued together in a long strip, then
rolled up and stored in a jar.
The Egyptians had official scribes that were trained in
writing hieroglyphs on papyrus scrolls. In 300 B.C. there
was a great library in Alexandria, Egypt that was said to
contain over 500,000 papyrus scrolls.
The papyrus scrolls below are from the Egyptian Book of
the Dead!
First day: Make
decorative paste paper
for the book cover
What is paste paper? Paste paint was
used to decorate paper for centuries. The
decorated paper was used to cover gifts,
decorate boxes, books, wall paper, lamp
shades and more.
See example here:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_paper_crafts_make_pa
per/article/0,1789,HGTV_3292_1369899,00.html
First you will need
– 2 pieces of paper – one for the front
– and one for the back of the book.
Write your name on the back of your paper
before you begin!!!
Use the paint mixed with paste (clear glue)
and scraping tools to make your design.
Paint a thin even coat of paint in a small area
and scrape in the design.
The paint dries quickly – do not wait to
scrape.
Do not “blob” the paint on because it will
drip, be messy, and take forever to dry.
Second Day
Warm up:
Go to this website and
visit the Egyptian scribe to
translate your name:
http://www.museum.upenn
.edu/new/exhibits/galleries
/egyptian.html
Review:
What were some
early forms of
writing?
When were
books invented?
What did the
first books look
like?
Day 2: Make the cover
of your hand made book.
Today, we will construct the cover for our
hand made journal.
What you need:
– 2 of your paste papers,
– 2 big pieces of cardboard 8”x8”,
– 2 long pieces for the spine 8”x 2”,
– glue and
– a spreader
Demonstration:
Spread a thin coat of glue on the back of
the paste paper all the way to the edges.
Carefully place the cardboard as I
demonstrated.
Do not “blob” the GLUE on because it
will create bubbles, drip, be messy, and
take forever to dry.
Write your name on the card board side
of the book cover.
CHECK FOR DRIPS OF GLUE!!!
Third Day
Review:
What is the difference between
handmade books and machine
made books?
What was the first book made of?
What is a book?
What is a book?
In the 4th century B.C.
the Mayan, Greeks and
Romans wrote on
plaster or wax covered
wooden tablets that were
hinged together with
leather thongs or pieces
of metal, and were called
a codex. This style is the
earliest form of what we
would call a book.
The Codex
The
Mesoamerican
codex was first.
(The
Mediterranean
continued to use
the papyrus
scroll as well.)
Parchment & Vellum Paper
Christian monasteries
produced hand made
books from 476 to 1453.
The people of Europe,
Africa, and Asia for over
2,000 years used the skins
of animals to write down
their thoughts.
Sheep and goat skins were
the first to be made into
writing sheets called
parchment.
For a complete picture library see the web
site: http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/Paperexhibit/Default.html
 It would take 12 sheep to
make a 150 page book. It
was discovered the calf’s
skin would make an even
finer type of parchment
called vellum.
15th Cent. Spanish Vellum
From China to the world . . .
Cities like Damascus and Baghdad were centers
for book production. (Middle East)
The Muslim
bible,
the Koran,
was compiled
by copyists
by 651 A.D.
These same
copyists
worked to
translate the
works of the
Greek
philosopher
Aristotle.
The Koran
The First
Printed Books
1. Diamond Sutra, 2. Gutenberg Bible
The first block printed scroll
was a Buddhist document
called the Diamond Sutra
from China in 868.
Then printing with movable
type was invented by
Gutenberg during the
Renaissance (15th century)
and permanently changed
the way books were made.
Bookmaking
As you have learned, there
are many ways to make a
book.
One of my favorites is a
book with a rubber band
and stick binding. The
binding is what holds the
book together.
With this type of book, you
can go back and add as
many pages as you want!
Day 3: Stick and rubber band book
First glue construction paper on the inside
cover. (Don’t worry about covering the
cardboard with the holes – you won’t be able to
see it.)
All you need is a stick
1 rubber band
2 cardboard covers
2 construction papers
And white paper to go inside to make the pages!
Putting it all together
Poke holes through the paste paper where the
cardboard is drilled.
Align the inside white pages with the holes in
the front and back cover.
Put the rubber band all the way through 1 hole.
Decide which side is the front and loop the
rubber band around the stick on the front.
The tricky part is to stretch the rubber band
down and through the next hole.
And then loop the rubber band over the other
end of the stick.
When you finish – help someone else!
Then complete the bookmaking worksheet.
Fourth Day
Warm up:
Watch a video
on how paper is made.
Review:
What is the
difference between
handmade books
and machine made
books?
What is a book?
What is paper?
The Papyrus Plant
The word "paper" is
derived from the word
"papyrus," which was a
plant found in Egypt along
the lower Nile River.
About 5,000 years ago,
Egyptians created
"sheets" of papyrus by
harvesting, peeling and
slicing the plant into
strips. The strips were
then layered, pounded
together and smoothed to
make a flat, uniform sheet.
Chinese Characters and scrolls
•
While the Egyptians used
papyrus, the people of Asia
used different materials to
make scrolls. They wrote
their ideas on silk, palm
leaves, birch bark and
stems of bamboo.
1.
Chinese characters, 2. Chinese document, 3. Chinese scroll
The Chinese Invent Paper!!
It was the Chinese that were given credit for
inventing paper about the 2nd century A.D.
 Paper was first invented by Ts'ai Lun (about 104 CE),
who lived in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
 He took the inner bark of a mulberry tree and bamboo
fibers, mixed them with water, and pounded them with
a wooden tool.
 Then he poured this mixture onto a flat piece of
coarsely woven cloth to drain the water.
 Once dry, Ts'ai Lun discovered that he had created a
quality writing surface that was relatively easy to
make and lightweight.
 He presented the invention to Emperor He Di in 105
CE, and knowledge of papermaking was passed along
to Korea, Samarkand, Baghdad, and Damascus.
The History of Paper
The invention of paper changed the world
forever! See the interactive timeline below:
http://www.paperlinx.com.au/cpa/htm/htm_paper
_history.asp?page_id=56
Check out this link for an incredible history
of paper spreading all over the world:
http://www.hqpapermaker.com/paper-history/
Day 4: Paper Weaving
Today you will find 2 images to weave
together to make a new picture.
The pictures need to be the same size
The pictures need to have contrasting
colors and look very different
Don’t forget –
– One image has strips cut up and down,
– and the second has strips cut side to side.
Day 5: Chose 2 other great ideas
for your book:
This site contains information about bookmaking,
papermaking, pop-up books, deconstructed books,
accordion books, and more!:
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/
paper.htm
Make a book within a book.
Make a small accordion book or a scroll.
Create a paper weaving or a collage.
Make handmade paper.
Make an altered book using an old book.
Add any artwork that you have created into the book,
like your color wheel, prints, or drawings.
The sky is the limit! Happy bookmaking!
Bookmaking Websites
Coiled accordion book:
http://www.drstamping.com/accordian3.html
Paste Paper, Accordion books and more:
http://www.sdmart.org/educationplans.html#book
Princeton online, (paper making, bookmaking,
altered books, and more) Incredible Art
Department:
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/
middle/paper.htm
Resources
http://www.hass.usu.edu/~anthromuseum/writing.html
http://www.halfmoon.org/trans.html
http://www.thebookbinder.com/html/samples.htm
http://www.bunzlfinepaper.co.uk/NewDesign/Information/Hi
story.htm
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/Paper-exhibit/Default.html
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/CUNEI.HTM
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/Paper-exhibit/tguide.html
http://www.xs4all.nl/~knops/timetab.html
http://www.silk-road.com/artl/diamondsutra.shtml
http://www.ukans.edu/~bookhist/medbook1.html
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/galleries/egypt
ian.html