Decorating Paper: Pattern & Technique

(Vancouver): Heavenly Monkey, 2015. Cohen, Claudia. Two large quarto volumes. (55); (50)ff. From an edition of thirty-six copies, this is one of thirty, signed by the two authors. Binder Claudia Cohen and book designer Barbara Hodgson, makers of The WunderCabinet, Cutting Paper, and a four-part series on color, come together once again for their sixth collaborative work. This staggering sample book includes hundreds of papers originating from Europe, Asia, and North America between the late 1700s and modern day. These samples span the spectrum of decorating methods, including marbling, paste, embossing, pulp manipulation, lithography, block and linocut printing, and stenciling. The text is interspersed among the full-page samples and multi-sample specimen sheets and includes descriptions of their techniques and history, as well as an extensive bibliography. While each specimen is beautiful in its own right, the meticulous craftsmanship brings the entire production together. Each page of the painstaking labor of love was created with an eye to the design, from the careful selection of black or white background paper to best complement the papers, to artistic cut-paper designs featuring multiple samples and tiny details, like handwritten sample numbers. A sheet of vintage notepad paper is inserted into each volume with a handwritten list of sources for the paper samples. Letterpress printed by David Clifford in Bembo on Arches mouldmade paper. Bound by Claudia Cohen in decorated paper over leather-edged boards with a leather spine. The papers chosen for the cover of each volume reflect the techniques within; Volume One features blue and gray paste papers, while Volume Two is in bold red and navy stenciled papers. Housed in a blue cloth clamshell box, with marbled paper spine label and decorated paper accent to the interior. Prospectus laid-in. A breathtaking work. Fine.