{"id":1062,"date":"2012-08-20T23:46:06","date_gmt":"2012-08-21T04:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=1062"},"modified":"2025-09-15T16:32:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:32:25","slug":"my-hand-little-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/20\/my-hand-little-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"My Hand…Little Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

In April 2011, I took my first trip out of the country to London. \u00a0While I was there I made my way to the Natural History Museum for their touring exhibition of Sexual Nature<\/em>, a show on the sexual habits of various animal species from the praying mantis to rams to angler fish to humans. I was intrigued and shocked by the facts and imagery presented in the exhibit, particularly the Green Porno<\/a> shorts by Isabella Rossellini. On my way out I perused the gift shop and decided on a whim\u00a0to purchase two books by Ana\u00efs\u00a0Nin<\/a> (Little Birds<\/em><\/a> and Delta of Venus<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

Both books are a collection of short stories published in the late 1970s posthumously. Written in the 1940s, Nin and a group of writers were given the task of writing erotica for an anonymous private collector. Her erotic shorts deal with various sexual themes, some quite taboo (varying from pedophilia to lesbianism), all the while she maintains a focus on the study of women and her female characters.<\/p>\n

The cover design for Little Birds<\/em><\/a> was taken from the title pages of the individual stories, a ‘V’ formation of sparrows. I chose a simple color palette for my simple design, red (the color of love and seduction), white (the color of purity and innocence) and gold (the color of luxuriance). The book is bound in full scarlet goatskin leather from Harmatan. \u00a0The sparrows are surface gilt in gold leaf with white suede inlays.<\/p>\n

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

I covered the inside of each board with a leather edge to edge doublure in the same scarlet goatskin. An edge to edge doublure describes a technique where a thinly pared piece of leather covers the inside of the board, stretching from edge to edge creating a seamless transition from the outside to the inside. \u00a0The doublure also stretches over the joint and onto the text block creating a very strong attachment. Along with the leather doublure is a sunken panel filled with white suede framed in surface gilt gold leaf. The fly leaf is a handmade Lokta paper from Nepal, printed with a pattern of white feathers on a natural base.<\/p>\n

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

The book is housed in a rounded spine clamshell box, using the same materials as the binding. The spine is lined with scarlet goatskin with the title hand tooled in gold. \u00a0The case and trays are covered in the same feather pattern Lokta paper and are lined with Hahnem\u00fchle\u00a0Ingres in smoke.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In April 2011, I took my first trip out of the country to London. \u00a0While I was there I made my way to the Natural History Museum for their touring exhibition of Sexual Nature, a show on the sexual habits of various animal species from the praying mantis to rams to angler fish to humans. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[68,8],"tags":[221,224,173,67,223,75,220,222],"class_list":["post-1062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookbinding","category-my-hand","tag-anais-nin","tag-clamshell-box","tag-erin-fletcher","tag-fine-binding","tag-gold-tooling","tag-leather","tag-little-birds","tag-suede"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-h8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3300,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/31\/best-of-2012\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":0},"title":"Best of 2012","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks for stopping by Flash of the Hand and joining me during my first year of blogging!! These are some of my most favorite posts during the past year. Join me in 2013 for more bookbinders and book artists, plus tons of art and a weekly dose of cats! 1.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "best of"","block_context":{"text":"best of","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/best-of\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bestof2012d.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bestof2012d.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bestof2012d.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/bestof2012d.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2681,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/26\/my-hand-the-twits\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":1},"title":"My Hand…The Twits","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"November 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Only 2 weeks left in my exhibition at Buy Some Damn Art.\u00a0 I found the pranks between the terrible couple in The Twits to be wicked yet entertaining, which is why I read the book so much as a kid. One particularly gruesome trick that inspired the design for this\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\/2012\/11\/TheTwits-ErinFletcher2-1024x773.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/TheTwits-ErinFletcher2-1024x773.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/TheTwits-ErinFletcher2-1024x773.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3403,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/02\/matt-shallenberger\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":2},"title":"Photographer: Matt Shallenberger","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"January 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In a recent series titled\u00a0Trees, Stars and Birds photographer Matt Shallenberger uses light to isolate tree forms through highlights and silhouette in the blackness of night. These eerie images are quite lovely, evoking bleak feelings of loneliness. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/artist\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/treestarbird5_mattshallenberger-e1356803361811.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4010,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/10\/bookbinder-of-the-month-hannah-brown-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":3},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Hannah Brown","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"February 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This edition of Daphne Du Maurier's\u00a0Don't Look Now and Other Stories was published by the Folio Society in 2007 and bound by Hannah Brown in 2008 for the Designer Bookbinders Annual Competition, receiving the Mansfield Medal for Best Book. Bound in a dark grey goatskin with miscellaneous leather bird onlays\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\/2013\/01\/dontlooknow_hannahbrown3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/dontlooknow_hannahbrown3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/dontlooknow_hannahbrown3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11060,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/30\/catching-up-with-hannah-brown-no-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":4},"title":"Catching Up With Hannah Brown \/\/ No. 5","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"April 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"For the final installment, I asked Hannah Brown about her binding of Love is Enough by William Morris.\u00a0Just like The Tempest, shown in the previous post, Hannah used fair calf and an array of colored leather onlays. The design includes four\u00a0beautifully embroidered birds and five beetles. At the points of\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\/04\/LoveIsEnough3-HannahBrown.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/LoveIsEnough3-HannahBrown.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/LoveIsEnough3-HannahBrown.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1801,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/11\/luke-stephenson\/","url_meta":{"origin":1062,"position":5},"title":"Artist: Luke Stephenson","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"October 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographer Luke Stephenson snaps portraits for an unusual band of characters: from balloon animals to show birds to... clown eggs to... the participants of the World Beard and Mustache Championships... \u00a0and many more.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/artist\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/showbirds_lukestephenson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/showbirds_lukestephenson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/showbirds_lukestephenson.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/showbirds_lukestephenson.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062","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=1062"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11095,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions\/11095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}