{"id":3369,"date":"2012-12-30T01:00:51","date_gmt":"2012-12-30T06:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=3369"},"modified":"2025-09-15T16:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:30:13","slug":"bookbinder-of-the-month-jan-sobota-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/30\/bookbinder-of-the-month-jan-sobota-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

I’m finishing off this month of Jan Sobota bindings with another miniature book that was created in collaboration with his wife Jarmila. Inside the hand-sculpted robot lives an accordion book of sixteen panels. The text explores the birth and usage of the word “robot”, which is first used by the Czech playwright Karel \u010capek in 1920 (the word “robot” derives from a Czech word meaning forced labor or serf). The term “robotics” was coined by the Russian writer Isaac Asimov.<\/p>\n

The accordion-fold panels fold ingeniously into a compartment in the back the 2 3\/4″ tall metal robot. A metal panel is held in place with a magnet affixed to the back of the robot’s head, securing the pages inside the robot. The robot is made with the use of A+B EpoPutty plasticine and metal parts and finished with an application of patina, the front is engraved with three lines: Karel \u010capek \/ I, Robot \/ Isaac Asimov.<\/p>\n

This binding was created in 2007 in an edition of 30, each copy is signed by both Jan and Jarmila Sobota. The book object is housed in a suede-lined clamshell box.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"asimov_sobota2\"<\/a>resource: J. & J. Book Arts Studio<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m finishing off this month of Jan Sobota bindings with another miniature book that was created in collaboration with his wife Jarmila. Inside the hand-sculpted robot lives an accordion book of sixteen panels. The text explores the birth and usage of the word “robot”, which is first used by the Czech playwright Karel \u010capek in […]<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,68,13],"tags":[516,1867,560,559,480,482,558,557],"class_list":["post-3369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-binder-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","category-feature-book-of-the-week","tag-book-object","tag-bookbinding","tag-i-robot","tag-isaac-asimov","tag-jan-sobota","tag-jarmila-sobota","tag-karel-capek","tag-robot"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-Sl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2764,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/01\/december-bookbinder-of-the-month-jan-sobota\/","url_meta":{"origin":3369,"position":0},"title":"December \/\/ Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Jan Sobota grew up engulfed by books, about 20,000 to be exact. His father was an avid collector of literature, most specifically children's literature, filling their small house to the brim with books. Every available square inch of wall space was covered with bookcases leaving only the windows and doors\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\/2012\/12\/perrault4_jansobota.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/perrault4_jansobota.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/perrault4_jansobota.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/perrault4_jansobota.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2913,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/02\/bookbinder-of-the-month-jan-sobota\/","url_meta":{"origin":3369,"position":1},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Jan Sobota produced several miniature bindings, which were included in various exhibitions. This binding of Edgar Allen Poe's\u00a0The Black Cat was published in a small edition of 20 by Jan and Jarmilla in 2009. This book-object was designed as a 'Jack-in-the-Box', the book is permanently attached to a spring that\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\/2012\/12\/edgarallenpoe2_jansobota.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3224,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/23\/bookbinder-of-the-month-jan-sobota-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":3369,"position":2},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In the spirit of Christmas, I offer this binding by Jan Sobota that appears like box within a box. In 1986, Sobota completed this layered book object of Frantisek Rachlik's\u00a0Komedie\u00a0plna lasky (Comedy Full of Love), a story about the life of Jindrich Mosna, a famous Czech actor during the nineteenth\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\/2012\/12\/rachlik3_sobota.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/rachlik3_sobota.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/rachlik3_sobota.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/rachlik3_sobota.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3061,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/16\/bookbinder-of-the-month-jan-sobota-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":3369,"position":3},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This book object and stand were crafted by Jan Sobota in 1987, the book is Rimska Lyrika (Lyrics of the Roman Empire). The book is covered in natural calfskin with blind tooling, decorative edges and headbands. The stand is made of binders board and balsa wood covered with natural goatskin\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":"rimskalyrika_jansobota","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/rimskalyrika_jansobota-964x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/rimskalyrika_jansobota-964x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/rimskalyrika_jansobota-964x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2943,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/09\/bookbinder-of-the-month-jan-sobota-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3369,"position":4},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the course of 10 years, Jan Sobota participated in four Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Competitions. Every three years the Bridwell Library on Southern Methodist University's campus chooses a book from their collection to be rebound by an individual binder. Each participant offers a proposal binding for the chosen title\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\/2012\/12\/degolyer2003proposal_jansobota-1024x644.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/degolyer2003proposal_jansobota-1024x644.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/degolyer2003proposal_jansobota-1024x644.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10458,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/30\/making-miniatures\/","url_meta":{"origin":3369,"position":5},"title":"Making Miniatures with James Reid-Cunningham","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year, I took a workshop at North Bennet Street School on Miniatures Bindings with James Reid-Cunningham. Bookbinding itself has a certain lure, but miniature bookbinding can pull you in even further. There is always this challenge of how small can one actually go while still keeping some integrity to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "my hand"","block_context":{"text":"my hand","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/my-hand\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/MiniWksp8-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/MiniWksp8-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/MiniWksp8-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/MiniWksp8-ErinFletcher.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369","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=3369"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3376,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3369\/revisions\/3376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}