How to Make Books: Fold, Cut & Stitch Your Way to a One-of-a-Kind Book

Esther K. Smith’s How to Make Books introduces bookbinding through 30 projects. Smith co-founded Purgatory Pie Press, and her artist books are held by MoMA, the Whitney, the National Gallery of Art, and the Tate. The projects move from single-sheet folds to accordion books and multisignature bindings, including a Coptic-stitch structure made without specialized equipment.

Materials range from recycled paper scraps to artists’ papers and leather. Many projects use an awl, a curved needle, and waxed thread. The book’s own pages incorporate hand-set antique wood type.