Album amicorum ter gelegenheid van de veertigjarige ambtsvervulling van de heer G. Schleper 1923

This is a book made by J.J. Reynders. I think I know the kind of joy you get when you find that perfect marbled paper to bind a book. Reynders’ binding is like a party trick with a wink: the cover’s pink-red pattern over a cream base almost looks like the veins in marble, or even an extreme close-up of human tissue. I think I can feel Reynders’ hand, too. Was it hard to choose that paper? And did they labor, lovingly, over the book’s construction for G. Schleper? I imagine they did. The book's binding is an event: the marbling a visual echo of the ink and pigment held inside. The veining is full of possibilities and suggests the creative potential held between the covers. Bookbinding is an under-appreciated art, one that often leads to a conversation across time and place, and where the artist, the bookbinder, and the reader are all connected.