American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001

American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001

American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001

For sale is a signed, first edition copy of'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman. Published in 2001 by William Morrow. I have re-bound this book in a contemporary style known as'design binding'. This was undertaken for an international competition for the Designer Bookbinders last year. As such, this is an unread and pristine object and most certainly one of a kind.

This book comes with a custom solander box made with a rounded spine and a full leather case. The brief for the competition was'myths, heroes and legends' and while I love the classic stories connected with a brief like this (Beowulf, The Odyssey etc) I wanted to do something a little different. As a huge fan of this book and the author I decided to take a punt. I re-read the book and began the design process. Designing the cover of a book in a contemporary fashion is a little different from developing ideas for many other kinds of art.

You are constrained by materials and space as well as the proper function of the book itself. As such, ideas often need to be simplified while at the same time still producing a striking image. The colours of black white and red were chosen for this reason (as well as the white and red nicely replicating the stripes in the American flag). This book is predominately about the battle between the'old' gods and the'new' and, as such, I wanted my binding to reflect that.

As you can see on the black leather part there are lines and lines of stock market numbers representing the'new'. Laid over the top is the shape of the raven in the spiders web representing the'old' (Odin as the raven, Anansi as the spider). As a point of interest, the spaces between the web strands make up the number of US states. Inside, the collage endpapers are made up from a number of dollar bills. Some of which have been doctored (I can't take credit for these as they were images that I had found). The endpapers almost certainly represent the'new'. To balance things out I decided to give the design of the box to the'old'! The design of the box is extremely simple.

Mostly so as not to take away from the design of the book and also because, after all, it is just a box! This book has been rebound in black goatskin leather with a very large white goatskin'onlay'. The white leather has been pared down to as thin as possible, cut to shape and then laid carefully over the black. The lettering underneath has been produced with type and coloured foils. On all four inside corners the leather has been pleated around the slightly rounded boards.

The endpapers are a collage of dollar bills and are joined by a white leather joint which allows the book to open more freely. To the head and tail of the book the end bands have been made from black and white leather while the page edges have been professionally coloured black with gilders foil. Quite simply, the box is made to measure.

The book fits snugly in the smaller of the two trays and will be kept safe while at the same time sitting on your bookshelf looking splendid! The spine has been rounded to give the appearance of a book and the case which wraps around the trays is made fully from black goatskin leather. The trays are made from a black canvas cloth. The case has been foil blocked in white with the motif of two ravens and lightning bolt to the spine. Also, this is where you can find the title of the book (as it doesn't appear on the actual book itself).

Please feel free to contact me if you would like any further information or photographs of this item. And also, please take a look at my Facebook page. I documented quite a lot of the design process on there -'LyrasBooks. BUYERS FROM OVERSEAS WILL RECIEVE THIS ITEM VIA INTERNATIONAL COURIER, FULLY INSURED. The item "American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001" is in sale since Saturday, June 03, 2017. This item is in the category "Books, Comics & Magazines\Antiquarian & Collectable". The seller is "lyrasbooks" and is located in Ludlow. This item can be shipped worldwide.
American Gods GAIMAN First Edition SIGNED Design Binding 2001


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