A small book not on how to sew books, but rather about the observations, thoughts, and feelings that arise in the process of this patient and meditative labor. A reflective essay written while binding a large hand-sewn edition of the Alder & Frankia book Our daily lives have to be a satisfaction in themselves. An earlier version of this essay was published on the CBAA Book Art Theory Blog.

Hand-sewn with metallic gold-colored thread. Riso printed in orange and copper on yellow and cream French papers. Images are from Mary Van Kleek's "Women in the Bookbinding Trade" (1913). Bibliography linked via QR codes throughout.

Thinking What We Are Doing is a new essay series by Emily Larned.