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6646 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA, 90028
United States

(213) 223-6921

Stephanie Gibbs, a bookbinder in Los Angeles, CA, offers edition and fine binding, book conservation, custom boxes, and paper repair for contemporary and historic books, manuscripts, and documents to clients throughout California.

studio news

Codex 2017

Stephanie Gibbs

It's time for Codex 2017, a gathering of book artists, publishers, and collectors in California. Read about the event at the New York Times: https://nyti.ms/1vtplFJ 

I am exhibiting four artist book editions, as described below and available for purchase (email stephanie.gibbs@gmail.com for details):

Between, Among, Within

Indigo pigment pastepapers by Stephanie Gibbs. Photographs of the Catskill water supply system in process of construction, 1918, with A topographical map of Hudsons River, Claude Sauthier, 1898, both from The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Printed on Asuka paper on an Indigo printer. Full cloth binding.

Edition of 22. 2016. $175.

Natural Philosophies

Botanical engravings from A Curious Herbal, Elizabeth Blackwell, 1739, from the New York Public Library Digital Collections. Herbal remedies from historic sources. Monoprints on pages from the Encyclopedia Britannica, volume C, 1969, by Stephanie Gibbs. Printed on Asuka paper on an Indigo printer. Bound in quarter cloth.

Edition of 20. 2016. $175.

Family Style

Recipes collected by Helen Marchese, primarily from the late 1940s through the 1980s. Endpapers from Paul Bercy, Simples Notions de Francais, New York, 1894.

Printed on Mohawk Superfine on an Indigo printer. Bound in a three part binding with stamped linen spine and gingham fabric over boards.

Edition of 50. 2017. $200.

Amissa Anima: a book of the dead

Two volumes. Eye engraving, Dioptrique oculaire, Chérubin d’Orléans, 1671. The Spirit Photographs of William Hope, the National Media Museum. The Ouija, Kennard Novelty Co., Museum of Talking Boards.

Printed on Asuka on an Indigo printer with Joss paper endpapers. Bound in laminated Asuka paper over marbled paper.

Edition of 50.  2016. $250.

somersaulting into the new year

Stephanie Gibbs

The holiday edition 2015-2016 -- somersaulting into the new year!

Earlier this autumn I discovered the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Archive, a trove of indexed and searchable images which extends to the early twentieth century.

As I was planning the holiday edition, I was especially charmed by previous celebrations of Christmas on the beach and in the desert:

Then I discovered the French National Library online archive, which, while having the disadvantage of being indexed and described in French, has the great benefit of containing antique comic books, with build-it-yourself flip-books!

(note that I am quite aware it is my own fault that I studied Italian and not French)

Therefore, combining an Ansel Adams Christmas Show / Santa's Circus print from the Los Angeles Photo Archives, with a somersaulting acrobat from the French National Library, and closing it all with decorated palm trees, only made sense.

The flip-book was edited and typeset in Photoshop and InDesign, and laid out over two 11x17 pages. The pages were cut into strips, then into panes; collated; drilled for sewing; the covers folded and stamped in bright red foil; and the booklets sewn with matching red thread into the wrappers.

This was the largest holiday edition to date, encompassing recipients from both sides of the Atlantic and stretching across to the Pacific, so more industrial techniques were used than in prior editions -- a Challenge paper cutter, a drill press, commercial printing (well, I've always used commercial printing, but there was more of it this year). The entirety was shipped off using USPS circus posters stamps, which were still in print, and perfectly suited to sending happy new year greetings.

With all best wishes for the year ahead!

fugit inreparabile tempus

Stephanie Gibbs

stat sua cuique dies

stat sua cuique dies

To travel faster than the speed of light is to travel forward in time. Hypothetically and theoretically, tachyons are able to do this, as they have an imaginary mass (the square root of minus one:  √−1 ), but tachyons in all likelihood aren't a thing. The rest of us travel forward in time at exactly the speed of whatever time is.

Einstein's special theory of relativity states that a finite speed of light protects us from time travel: without it, we could wander around in time essentially the same way we can wander around in space. This protects the past from the future; it's up to us to protect our future from the past.

just like that, the weather changes

just like that, the weather changes

a toolkit for occasional thoughts

Stephanie Gibbs

riding the rails (redux)

Stephanie Gibbs

what to listen to: the memory palace episode 38

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We seem to be experiencing a sibling-transport parallel.

Two brothers, automobiles and trains.

The next in the series must be planes and ships, for the sisters.

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The entire book is constructed from postcards: the slipcase, the cover, the pages.

Shelburne Falls is a tiny village populated by artists, old-school Yankees, and escapees from New York City. There’s a range of galleries, cafes, and bookshops, and a reserved parking spot in front of the coffee shop for the police. The upstairs of the Town Hall shows old movies every month, and there is a candlepin bowling alley with two lanes and a small bar. The downtown is two blocks long.

I was there most recently in May 2015, and found myself, for the first time, in town at the same time the Trolley Museum was open (Saturdays, 11 am to 3 pm).

So I went in, and discovered this array of vintage postcards. From the numbers stamped on the backs, they were apparently the “master stock” of cards that could be ordered for sale. From the range of locations of the images, my guess is that they were photographs taken by one of the engineers as he traveled throughout the region. The staff were somewhat shocked when I purchased so much of the stock, but these are some of the best railroad photographs I’ve seen.

The Registry sends postcards as license renewal reminders.
Yes, my first thought upon receiving this notice was "re-purpose!"
My second thought was: "Do I or do I not keep my current photo?" (undecided)

cover postcard: reproduction from Historic Northampton

explanatory text, since that's my thing

cards hinged into sections

sewn on a concertina, since postcards lack flexibility

image: engineer at his retirement party