Inventor's Library

My latest project was to transform a bland electronic copy of a U.S. patent into a book, and here I mean a book with real paper. This is something I'd wanted to do for a really long time. I thought it'd be interesting to have a patent portfolio in book form.

When I first had the idea to make a patent as a book, I imagined that the book would be a miniature book, i.e., a book with no dimension (height, width, thickness) exceeding 3 inches. Miniature books occupy very little space while being really charming, I thought. However, when I began to set the text and drawings of the patent, I saw that the miniature size may not work quite so well if I wanted the drawings to be legible, which I did.

Patent drawings are often filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on a US Letter page size. If the page size is US Letter, a drawing figure may have a height of up to 9-1/2 inches and a width of up to 7 inches. Thus, I was confronted with the problem of squishing a drawing figure of, say, 9-1/2 inches by 7 inches into a space of, say, 2-7/8 inches by 2-7/8 inches (< 3 inches by 3 inches to allow for the usual space at the head, foot, and fore edge of the finished book).

I had various thoughts about how to solve the problem. Some examples are:

1. Print the drawings on a larger paper size. Then, fold the larger paper size so that it can fit on a miniature page. The folded paper can be unfolded while reading the book.

2. Make the book in accordion form so that a drawing figure may span more than one page. 

3. Prepare the drawings on separate sheets and attach an envelope to the finished book. The envelope will hold the drawings.

Eventually, I decided to make the book longer than a miniature book—it was going to be less headache than any of the options mentioned above. I settled on a page size of 2.5 in (width) by 5 in (height) for the book. Although I wasn't thinking about it at the time, the book ended up being just a bit taller (~ 1/2 inches) and wider (~ 1/4 inches) than an iPhone 4.

What was new and exciting in this project was dust jackets. I made them for the very first time. Normally, I prepare book covers using book cloth.

While trying out an accordion book idea, I printed a book cover design on paper and liked it. I decided then that I'd prepare a book cover for the patent book using paper—I was confident that I could do this based on paper-covered hardcover books I had on my shelves.

I took the opportunity to order enhanced inkjet paper from Epson. But the enhanced paper was too thick—it created an ungraceful bulk at the hinges between the cover boards and spine board. The accordion book didn't have such hinges, so this was a new problem. Meanwhile, the inkjet printing on the enhanced paper was simply gorgeous. So, I decided to cover the book with book cloth as usual and to prepare a dust jacket using the enhanced paper. I was pleased with the result.

I still have trouble with miniature-type books, i.e., with widths less than 3 inches, not closing firmly. When I'd discussed this problem with a seasoned bookbinder in the past, he said it was quite a problem with miniature books. He said they had been discussing the problem at a gathering of the Miniature Book Society and hadn't quite figured out the perfect solution. He said the problem of not closing firmly may be the reason miniature books tend to come with closures, i.e., metal clasps and the like. But I wasn't so sure.

I have a miniature book I bought from Barnes & Noble, and it closes firmly. I tried to diagnose why this was the case. I noted that the cover cloth of the B&N book was thinner than the rayon book cloth I was using for my books. The paper of the text block was also thinner. I also noted that the spine of the text block was glued to the spine of the cover. While I do not intend to glue the spine of my text block down, I may try working with a thinner book cloth to see if the book will close firmly.

Figuring out what to name the book was as exciting as making the book. I thought of the book being a volume in an Inventor's Library. I should be making more volumes of the Inventor's Library in the future.

Accordion Book

I made an accordion book this past Saturday. It's the first accordion book I've ever made. Forming even-width folds across the book was a pain in the hide. By the time I was done with folding each sheet and gluing all the folded sheets together, I intimately understood the term "chain of dimension" or "dimensional chain," which an inventor had been trying to explain to me a few days earlier. I will have to talk more about my troubles with folding later on. But I love the book. I have it sitting by my bedside and admire it every time I set my eyes on it. It's fun to play with also.

Beth's Book

Nothing makes me happier than waking up at 6:30 am and setting out to attach a cover to a text block and putting the two under a press, knowing that the next morning I’d be able to hold a freshly bound book in my hands. Sometimes I can’t wait until the next morning to hold the book. Once or twice, I’d go and crouch by the press, take the book out of the press, smile, and put the book back in the press. When the next morning comes, I’d take the book out. If I was especially proud of the binding, I’d tell myself so. Then, I’d take photos of the book.

“You’re full of yourself,” my mother once said when I was about 15. Many years later, when I told an older friend what my mother said about me, he asked, “What else should you be full of?” Major Pettigrew would have said, “My dear woman, what else is a woman to be full of if not herself?” My mother was accusing me of being prideful. I was lucky that she wasn’t vicious. Another mother might have attempted to reduce me to at least half of myself with a slap or two to the cheek.

But I think pride in the work of one’s hand is a good kind of pride.

Beth’s book is the latest book I’ve bound. Its dimension is 4 in. high by 3.25 in. wide by 0.625 in. thick. I used Belgian linen for the cover. I call it a miniature book, even though purists might not agree with me. Now, I hope Beth would like it.

Mrs. Samuels and the Petticoat Thief

Every now and then I do really stupid things, like forgetting to add endpapers to a text block prior to trimming the text block. From the dictionary, "an endpaper is a blank or decorated leaf of paper at the beginning or end of a book, esp. one fixed to the inside of the cover." In the latest case, I'd even gone as far as applying adhesive and crash to the spine and adding headbands to the top and foot of the text block. I was ready to prepare the cover when I noticed that there were no endpapers. Oy!

There was only one thing I knew to do; start all over again. But I wanted so badly to see the finished book that I worked doggedly at it and was able to go from preparing the text block to preparing the cover to attaching the cover to the text block in about 24 hours. I could have done it for less hours if I didn't have to wait for the adhesive to dry. I use rice starch for adhesive, which is slow-dyring but forgiving.

The journal has a dimension of roughly 3-1/4" (width) by 4" (height) by 5/8" (thickness). As far as I'm concerned, it's a miniature book. I used silk charmeuse for the cover. Now I have to send it off.