{"id":9828,"date":"2015-07-19T01:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-19T05:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=9828"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:47:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:32","slug":"bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/19\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sonnet-BenElbelandMarjaWilgenkamp\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In Sonnet<\/a><\/em> XVII<\/a>, Dutch bookbinder Marja Wilgenkamp has reimagined Shakespeare by using a process developed by the artist collective\u00a0La Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Anonyme<\/a>. The sonnet was initially read out aloud and recorded, which was then encoded into binary code. The code was then printed making it potentially accessible to the future.<\/p>\n

Offset printed in an edition of 65 copies on Hahnemuhle Ingres paper, the book is still available for purchase here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ben Elbel<\/a> executed the binding according to Marja’s design. The binding is covered in So Silk paper. The text has been laser cut into the cover boards and flyleaves; inspiration for the design came from costuming seen during Shakespeare’s time.<\/p>\n

\u2018Dos Rapporte\u2019 is another structure that you\u2019ve developed and is the style of binding you used on Sonnet XVIII<\/em>, a collaborative project between you and Marja Wilgenkamp<\/a>. Can you talk about its design and function and why you chose to use it on this project?
\n<\/strong>There have been many efforts in recent years to improve the opening of books and the dos rapporte is my own personal contribution to the subject. In a few words let’s say it is a mixture of a type of industrial brochure as practiced by (among others) the dutch company Hexspoor + Gary Frost\u2019s sewn board binding + the old fashioned springback binding.\u00a0What is special about my design is that the spine is made separately from the book (this is what \u2018dos rapport\u00e9\u2019 refers to) and is attached by gluing its inner part, the one that folds back on itself, onto the boards. This makes for a very fluid opening action as well as an interesting profile and a very clean hinge on the outside.<\/p>\n

\"Sonnet3-BenElbelandMarjaWilgenkamp\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We thought that the strict character of the structure would work well with the laser cut pattern that Marja designed for this edition.<\/p>\n

\"Sonnet2-BenElbelandMarjaWilgenkamp\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Sonnet XVII, Dutch bookbinder Marja Wilgenkamp has reimagined Shakespeare by using a process developed by the artist collective\u00a0La Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Anonyme. The sonnet was initially read out aloud and recorded, which was then encoded into binary code. The code was then printed making it potentially accessible to the future. Offset printed in an edition of […]<\/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":[1834,1867,1842,1840,1841],"class_list":["post-9828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-binder-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","category-feature-book-of-the-week","tag-ben-elbel","tag-bookbinding","tag-la-societe-anonyme","tag-marja-wilgenkamp","tag-sonnet-xvii"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2yw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9790,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/05\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel\/","url_meta":{"origin":9828,"position":0},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For the\u00a0Designer Bookbinders International Bookbinding Competition\u00a0in 2009, binders were invited to produce a binding for the set book Water, a collection of poems and illustrations based on the the theme of water.\u00a0The set book was published by\u00a0Incline Press\u00a0in a limited, letterpress edition that included images from various talented illustrators and\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\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9803,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/12\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9828,"position":1},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I love this structure developed\u00a0by Ben Elbel, which he appropriately named Onion Skin Binding. A lovely description inspired by\u00a0layering effect that creates\u00a0the mesmerizing maze-like spine. In this post I talk about this structure with Ben starting with its development to how he's adapted the structure. The Onion Skin is another\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\/07\/OnionSkin2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/OnionSkin2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/OnionSkin2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9838,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/26\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":9828,"position":2},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am wrapping up this month's interview with\u00a0Ben Elbel\u00a0by showcasing his recent binding of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Read on to discover the technique behind the decorative covers and what secrets lay within the binding. Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s is covered in beautifully decorated leather, which caught me by surprise. Having only\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\/07\/BreakfastAtTiffanys6-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9772,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/01\/july-bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel\/","url_meta":{"origin":9828,"position":3},"title":"July \/\/ Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Boven Kamers\u00a0is a collaborative Dutch pop-up book between neuroscientist Gerard J. Boer, professor Harry B.M. Uijlings, paper artist Ingrid Siliakus and graphic designer\u00a0Moon Brouwer. 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I want to extend my gratitude to the people who have helped contribute to the blog this year: I also want to thank everyone who reads the blog, subscribes to the blog\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\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bestof2015e.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1474,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/16\/bookbinder-of-the-month-sybil-pye-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":9828,"position":5},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Sybil Pye","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"September 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Sybil Pye was a long-term companion to artist and poet Thomas Sturge Moore and throughout her career bound several copies of his book of poetry\u00a0The Little School. This copy was printed on vellum by Eragny Press in 1905 and bound by Sybil in 1916. Covered in green goatskin with inlays\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\/09\/GetImage-1-752x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828","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=9828"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9835,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828\/revisions\/9835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}