Treasure Island

by Robert Louis Stephenson
Bound by Maudie Casserly, 2016

Bound in a green goatskin.
Sewn onto linen tapes.
Laced into boards.
Hand sewn endbands in gold silk.
Edges are trimmed and hand gilded and decorated with gold leaf and clay.
Endpapers are hand gilded in gold leaf.
Cover and deblurs in green goatskin.
Cover hand lettered, with gold leaf on book title.

This fine binding was created as part of my contribution to the Worthing Artists Open Houses exhibition of 2016. It took several weeks to create, having taken the binding back to its sections and repairing them, prior to sewing and binding.

Once hand sewn and laced into the boards, I started the decorative process by gilding the edges of the textblock as well as the endpapers. The juxtaposition of the gold leaf and red clay is used to create an impression of treasure and travel, both the luxury of wealth with the roughness of expedition.

Finally the green goatskin was used as a token gesture to the original binding, in a bright green cloth, so to keep a little of its origins within the binding. The decorative lettering on the cover of the volume shows the first chapter of the book and starts in the top left corner, carrying across the full width of the book, so that it can be read.

The words 'Treasure Island' shows only three times in the text of the book, two of which are on the first page. These have been strategically placed so that they are on the cover, and have been pulled out of the text with gold leaf.