The Nine Gates - NEW PHOTOS (page 12)

Re: The Nine Gates - In Progress

Fantastic work, Flattery.

I'm simply stunned...

You are mastering your craft quite well.
 
Re: The Nine Gates - In Progress

Here are some detail shots of the finished binding.

I extend a huge and heartfelt thank you to Rogue428 for providing me with material I was missing. Without his assistance, this project would have been far less substantial.

Please note that I did reformat the text and character spacing so that it looks more in keeping with the period. The paper is mostly cotton, so it is very soft, but durable, though does not have a "crinkly" sound. Even so, it will never become brittle or fox (no iron content = no ferrous oxidation).

Without further ado -- the Nine Gates, Kessler copy.













"Look at this slight imperfection here..."













 
Re: The Nine Gates - In Progress

It turned out great!

Btw, I found the text and woodcuts I mentioned before. I doubt you have any need of them, but I'll send them if you'd like.
 
Re: The Nine Gates - In Progress

Hey, Risu. Sure, send'em on over whenever convenient for you. No harm in checking them out. ;)
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

The entire book looks great. What a fantastic job. I think the endpapers look prfect for the material involved.
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

This book turned out amazing. Congratulations Flattey, this is simply stunning :)

A special thanks for let us being part in how you did this book. Very informative and interesting to read. Many many thanks.
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

Just wanted to stop by and say how impressed I am with the finished book! You really have done an amazing job, and I think the colour turned out great! :thumbsup

Regards,

Andy
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

The book turned out great and the tooling really finished it nicely. I can't believe how quickly this went from thought to a completed prop! Well done!
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

Looks most excellent. I was wondering why you didn't emboss some pattern into the pentagram itself? Also, what was the reason for having the margins that wide?
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

Thanks, everyone!

@Clutch: Mainly I didn’t tool the interior of the pentacle because it would require a hot foil stamping machine, like a Kwik print. I don’t have one, but even if I did, I would have to had the die stamp custom engraved, and that would be just too costly. Embossment by stamping has been around for quite some time – in the Middle Ages monks used some form of machinery to emboss book covers. But, the embossment on the props is clearly a modern production to my eyes and didn’t fit the period. I prefer to do things by hand anyway.

Another reason is that the way bookbinding tools are designed, it would be extraordinarily difficult for me to find something that would fit within that space, tooling it blind (i.e. no gold), then having to tool the lines of the pentacle on top of it… it just wouldn’t work well.

The margins were increased to match some books I’ve handled from that period, plus it gets the text to re-flow in such a way that I could achieve the right amount of pages with my paper stock (starts out at 19x26 and is then folded down to size).

Cheers!
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

This is spectacular - I second and third what everyone else has said.

That is truly a work of art, and I think I like the binding more than the contents :lol

It's simply beautiful.

(I'm thumbing through my replica now, and wishing it was as nice as yours)

I also love your Simarillion.

I like seeing all the steps and stages something like this goes through. And I can't believe how fast this came together!

And this is your day job, too? :lol

What's next? What's next?!

Thanks very much for sharing all this :)


-Mike J.
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

Hi, folks.

Again, I am very appreciative and flattered (heh) by your compliments.

Just a heads-up that I will be offering these for sale. I am having my FAQ proofread, and am in the process of finding a price that is both affordable and remunerates me a little bit. Stay tuned.
 
Re: The Nine Gates - COMPLETED

@Mike J: Thank you -- very much.

Yep, I do this for a living, mostly. I still put in a few hours per week where I used to work full time in management, a local printing company, in a purely consultation role. But, more than that, I know this is what I'll be doing for the rest of my life, so long as I can help it. I do it when I need to think, and when I don't need to think, it's meditative, and is one of the only things that puts me at ease.

Next project... not sure. I like this one so much I want to do a run of them.
 
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