The hands shown in the top photo are derived from Sandro Botticelli’s painting of the Madonna of the Pomegranate. They hold a book bound in sixteenth-century style on volume one of the Limited Editions Club’s 1966 edition of Lives of the Most Eminent Painters by Giorgio Vasari (Verona: Limited Editions Club).

For volume two, the dress tooling that crosses over the spine had to start out almost excessively thick and consistent because the working of the book will thin them over time.

Books are made to be handled; and a well-built book can improve with age and use. My decorative bindings are meant to be read.