{"id":10261,"date":"2015-12-20T01:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T06:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=10261"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:47:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:03","slug":"bookbinder-of-the-month-kathy-abbott-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/20\/bookbinder-of-the-month-kathy-abbott-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Bookbinder of the Month: Kathy Abbott"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BenitoCerano-KathyAbbott\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The 1926 Nonesuch Press edition of Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno\u00a0<\/em>with illustrations by E. McKnight Kauffer was bound by Kathy Abbott<\/a> in 2013. The book was bound in full grey goatskin with recessed paper inlays. The head edge was gilt in Caplain leaf to appear distressed.<\/p>\n

I would love to talk about your aesthetic. Your designs are compelling because of their simplicity, where does your inspiration come from? Are you drawing from the book itself or outside influence?
\n<\/strong>I am a passionate reader, so the inspiration comes from reading and re-reading the text until I get a \u2018sense\u2019 of the book. A colour usually is the first thing that comes to my mind and then I write down the key themes of the text, which stay with me after I have finished reading: that\u2019s my starting point. I then search for the skin of leather that best expresses the essence of the text or that will emphasise my idea for the design.<\/p>\n

My ideas usually get distilled down to their absolute essence: I want to lure the reader in to my books, to entice them to discover what the book is about.<\/p>\n

For Benito Cereno<\/em> I wanted to express the extreme savagery of the text. The story is set on a shipwrecked boat that has been mutinised by its slaves, who have slain most of the crew with cutlasses. I chose the skin because the grain looked windswept and stormy and I also wanted to continue the feeling of a windy storm within the endpapers and in the scratches to the Caplain-gilded head of the book.<\/p>\n

\"BenitoCerano3-KathyAbbott\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After practicing the slash marks many times, I found that the only way to make them look savage and frenetic, was to actually slash the book very fast with a scalpel, once the book was covered. This was hugely stressful, as I only had one chance to get it right: once the first one was done, I had to hold my breath and repeat it three more times!<\/p>\n

\"AStitchInTime2010\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to Kathy’s binding of Benito Cereno<\/em>, I also wanted her to speak about her design for A Stitch in Time or Pride Prevents a Fall<\/em>. This binding was created in 2010 and is also a Nonesuch Press edition published in 1927.
\n<\/strong>A Stitch in Time<\/em> is quite a silly poem about a 1930\u2019s girl about town, who finds herself a slightly dangerous situation when she is duped into having lunch alone with a man who has sexual intentions towards her. She gets herself out of a potential sexual assault because she can\u2019t bear the thought of her assailant seeing a tear in her green petticoat, which she had hastily sewn up with pink thread before leaving her house.<\/p>\n

I tried to make the pink leather onlays on this binding look like they were sewn through the green leather.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 1926 Nonesuch Press edition of Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno\u00a0with illustrations by E. McKnight Kauffer was bound by Kathy Abbott in 2013. The book was bound in full grey goatskin with recessed paper inlays. The head edge was gilt in Caplain leaf to appear distressed. I would love to talk about your aesthetic. Your designs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,68,13],"tags":[1867,1939,1148],"class_list":["post-10261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-binder-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","category-feature-book-of-the-week","tag-bookbinding","tag-kathy-abbott","tag-leather-binding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2Fv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10197,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/06\/bookbinder-of-the-month-kathy-abbott\/","url_meta":{"origin":10261,"position":0},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Kathy Abbott","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Jumping back to 2008 with this binding of William Shakespeare's As You Like It. Kathy Abbott bound this 1903 Roycroft Shop edition in full scarlet goatskin. The cascading hearts are black goatskin onlays. The head edge is gilt using moon gold. I\u2019ve noticed that you never title your bindings. What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AsYouLikeIt-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AsYouLikeIt-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AsYouLikeIt-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AsYouLikeIt-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10293,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/31\/bonus-bookbinder-of-the-month-kathy-abbott\/","url_meta":{"origin":10261,"position":1},"title":"Bonus \/\/ Bookbinder of the Month: Kathy Abbott","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am ending my interview with Kathy Abbott with a bonus post. The binding above is Winged Chariot by Walter de la Mare. Kathy completed this binding in 2012 by covering the book in full burgundy goatskin. The tooled designs are done in Caplain leaf and the head edge is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/WingedChariot-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/WingedChariot-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/WingedChariot-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/WingedChariot-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10278,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/27\/bookbinder-of-the-month-kathy-abbott-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":10261,"position":2},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Kathy Abbott","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This 2006 binding from Kathy Abbott is Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost\u00a0with illustrations by Berkeley Sutcliffe. The binding is covered in full pink goatskin and includes multi-colored goatskin onlays. The top edge is colored pink to match the leather. One of the reasons that I wanted to do this interview with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/NewYorkRevisited-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/NewYorkRevisited-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/NewYorkRevisited-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/NewYorkRevisited-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10182,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/01\/december-bookbinder-of-the-month-kathy-abbott\/","url_meta":{"origin":10261,"position":3},"title":"December \/\/ Bookbinder of the Month: Kathy Abbott","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On a Calm Shore\u00a0is a 1960 edition by Frances Cornford with illustrations by Christopher Cornford. In 2015, Kathy Abbott bound this copy\u00a0in full grey goatskin with recessed and embossed onlays with relief printing. The edges are decorated and printed to match the design on the covers. Can you walk us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/OnACalmShore5-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/OnACalmShore5-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/OnACalmShore5-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/OnACalmShore5-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10247,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/13\/bookbinder-of-the-month-kathy-abbott-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10261,"position":4},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Kathy Abbott","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In the interview at the beginning of the month, I asked\u00a0Kathy Abbott about Tomorrow's Past, an exhibit inspired by S\u00fcn Evrard's article in The New Bookbinder, Volume 19. The idea is to rethink the\u00a0approach of repair work in a contemporary and more visible way. In this post Kathy explains the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/QHoratiiFlacci4-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/QHoratiiFlacci4-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/QHoratiiFlacci4-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/QHoratiiFlacci4-KathyAbbott.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10953,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/26\/my-trip-to-codex\/","url_meta":{"origin":10261,"position":5},"title":"My Trip to Codex","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"February 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"At the beginning of February, I flew\u00a0to San Francisco to attend the Codex Book Fair\u00a0for the first time.\u00a0The Codex Foundation was formed in 2005 by fine press printer, Peter Rutledge Koch and paper conservator, Susan Filter. Since 2007, the Codex Book Fair and Symposium has run biennially,\u00a0growing from 120 exhibitors\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "bookbinding"","block_context":{"text":"bookbinding","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/bookbinding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Codex11-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10261"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10269,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10261\/revisions\/10269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}