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ben elbel

@ben.elbel

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Invention and refinement in bookbinding.

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Plegando esquinas de un papel, ¿armamos un álbum de fotos?
📸🎞️

@the.paperacademy @ben.elbel

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L’été avec Camus

« Au milieu de l’hiver, j’apprenais enfin qu’il y avait en moi un été invincible. »

Cette phrase, l'une des plus célèbres de Camus, apparaît dans « Retour à Tipasa », l’un des huit textes réunis dans L’Été en 1954.

Écrits entre 1939 et 1953, ces essais ramènent Camus vers les paysages méditerranéens qui traversent toute son œuvre : Alger, Oran, Tipasa, la mer, les ruines, la chaleur et cette lumière dont il fait presque une manière de penser.

L’Été prolonge ainsi Noces, publié quinze ans plus tôt. Mais entre les deux livres, il y a eu la guerre, la Résistance, les grands romans et les essais, puis le désenchantement de l’après-guerre. Lorsqu’il revient à Tipasa en 1952, Camus ne retrouve donc pas simplement le paysage de sa jeunesse : « Il me semblait que j’étais enfin revenu au port, pour un instant au moins. »

Notre exemplaire est l’un des 25 numérotés sur Hollande, tirage de tête de cette édition en partie originale.

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Summer with Camus

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”

One of Camus’s most famous lines appears in “Return to Tipasa”, one of the eight essays collected in L’Été in 1954.

Written between 1939 and 1953, these texts return to the Mediterranean landscapes that run throughout his work: Algiers, Oran, Tipasa, the sea, ruins, heat and the brilliant light that becomes almost a way of thinking.

L’Été continues the journey begun with Noces fifteen years earlier. But war, the Resistance and the upheavals of the postwar years now stand between Camus and the landscapes of his youth.

Our copy is one of only 25 numbered copies on Holland paper, the deluxe issue.

#AlbertCamus #Camus #LEte #Summer #Tipasa #Algeria #Mediterranean #FrenchLiterature #LitteratureFrancaise #Gallimard #FirstEdition #Bibliophilie #RareBooks #AntiquarianBooks #LibrairieAncienne #LeFeuFollet

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Een boek maken als cadeau met bijdragen op papier van verschillende mensen is altijd een uitdaging. Zeker als die mensen niet allemaal in hetzelfde land wonen. Want gebruikt iedereen hetzelfde papier? Met de goede looprichting? Is alles op tijd binnen om er nog een boek van te maken?

De oplossing: een Shrigley binding, ontwikkeld door @ben.elbel, maken met van iedereen een ansichtkaart erin. Geen “gedoe” met looprichting en zelfs op het allerlaatste moment kunnen mensen een kaartje inleveren. En ik heb mijn planning van het maken helemaal zelf in de hand!

Het boekje moest wel robuust worden, een wat luxere uitstraling hebben en beschermd zijn om mee te kunnen op reis. Daarom heeft het stevige platten en een schuifcassette gekregen.

#boekbinden
#bookbinding
#handmadebooks
#boekbinder
#shrigleybinding

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My completed bookbinding for @handbookbindersofca members’ exhibition featuring the Set book, Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut published @suntupeditions Opening September 12 through December 26, 2026. @bookbindersmuseum. Inspired by Vonnegut’s description: “Dresden was like the moon now, nothing but minerals. The stones were hot. Everybody else in the neighborhood was dead… It was peaceful in the ruins.”
Case binding is covered in stone veneer (thank you @benjamin.elbel); silhouettes of bombed-out buildings are onlays cut from wasp nest paper; painted with ink made from guns. (Guns are dissolved in acid. Iron sediment remains; then mixed with sumac as a mordant. Made by @a.rural.pen) Actual dental gold crowns, represent 3,900 tons of bombs dropped, and the souls rising from the deaths of 25,000 people.

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Numbered and Lettered editions of THE DRAGON MASTERS & THE LAST CASTLE by Jack Vance are now available for pre-order at the link in our bio.

The Numbered and Lettered editions are printed letterpress, and each copy is signed by Julie Bell, Ted Nasmith, John Vance and Michael Moorcock.

#suntupeditions #jackvance @juliebellartist @ted_nasmith @ben.elbel

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We are pleased to announce our edition of THE DRAGON MASTERS & THE LAST CASTLE by Jack Vance, with illustrations by Julie Bell and Ted Nasmith. PLEASE NOTE: Artist edition is complete and will be shipping soon. Pre-order price will be available only until shipping begins. To order, visit the link in our bio.

This edition brings together two of Vance’s most celebrated novellas, both recipients of the Hugo Award and regarded as seminal works in the science fiction genre. With a new introduction by John Vance, a new afterword by Michael Moorcock, and illustrations by @juliebellartist and @ted_nasmith this edition celebrates Vance’s singular imagination and enduring literary legacy.

The edition is a tête-bêche binding structure, presenting each story as a self-contained book with its own front cover, paying homage to the classic Ace Doubles format in which these novellas were published in 1963 and 1967 respectively.

The Artist edition is signed by Julie Bell and Ted Nasmith, and is printed offset. The Numbered and Lettered editions are signed by John Vance, Michael Moorcock, Julie Bell and Ted Nasmith, and are printed letterpress on Neenah Cotton and Arches mouldmade papers.

ARTIST EDITION
The Artist edition is limited to 500 copies with a dust jacket illustrated by Julie Bell and Ted Nasmith. It is a full cloth binding with a foil blocked front cover. Endsheets are printed with a custom pattern design and the edition is housed in a coated paper covered slipcase. It is printed by offset lithography on 100gsm Munken, and is signed by Julie Bell and Ted Nasmith. To order, visit the LINK IN BIO.

NUMBERED & LETTERED EDITIONS
If there are any Lettered or Numbered editions available following the Matching Pre-Order, depending on quantities, these copies will be available for purchase either by lottery or directly through the online store beginning on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 9 a.m. PT. For more info on these editions, visit: https://suntup.press/

#suntupeditions #jackvance #juliebell #tednasmith @ben.elbel @ted_nasmith

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The beings I spend most of my time with are my tools. And they had better look good!

Highlighting the importance of a tool’s beauty might seem superficial, but I believe that aesthetics are deeply functional. As the bookbinder and toolmaker @jeffpeachey argues, when we use a tool, it essentially disappears – it becomes embodied, an extension of our hands and minds. “Once we are proficient, we use it, generally concentrating on what the tool is doing to the material being worked. […]. But tools do have aesthetic qualities, ranging from modern sleek functionality to a worn, well used patina of wear patterns and scratches - what one can call their use value, their record of being in the world and being used. These marks and accretions are evidence from their time used unconsciously, which is perhaps why we find them beautiful.”

I agree, but this essentially ‘romantic’ take is not the whole story. When we are using a tool, any ugliness or clunkiness would create friction and break our concentration. Many bookbinding and boxmaking tools that are developed and produced today look like colourful plastic toys rather than efficient tools crafted with care and for generations to come. Most of them are visually distracting. Like a headache or any other kind of physical or mental hindrance, a pain in the eye would prevent me from entering a state of complete immersion and focus. And it is precisely in such a state of flow, where all distractions have faded away, that magic can happen.

* To be honest, I also have some tools that I consider ugly, or at least visually less pleasing than my ever-growing collection of Shinwa rulers and squares, my Swann-Morton scalpels and my new Timbentool Corner Mate. Most of them seem to be tools that were originally developed outside the fields of bookbinding and boxmaking, and for tasks completely different from the ones that I use them for. My favourite is probably my long plastering straightedge, which I originally fused for plastering the walls of my studio and now use for the lengthy turn-ins on oversized boxes.

Actually, on second-thought: aluminum plastering edges do have a beauty of their own. Check the work of @erikhaemers!

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~ L’Atlantide de Pierre Benoit ~

Pour rafraîchir ce bouquin (lui aussi trouvé dans une boîte à livres), j’ai eu plusieurs idées de décors en lien avec le récit se déroulant dans le Sahara. 🐫

J’ai finalement opté pour le projet le plus minimaliste aux couleurs chatoyantes, avec la volonté de parfaire de mon mieux les finitions. ✨

Et pour une première reliure à plats rapportés, je ne suis pas mécontente du résultat 😊

Dos en veau orangé, mosaïqué de fines bandes de cuir noires et rouges en tête et queue. Plats recouverts de toile Alsace jaune. Tranchefiles pékinées brodées main.
Gardes en papier canson rouge. Listel de cuir sur les gardes contreplats.

#reliuredart #bookbinding #reliure #metierdart #capartsdelareliure

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As a child, Christmas presents were often things to make. So at this time of year I like to spend time making and playing with something new.

Here is Marja Wilgenkamp & Ben Ebel’s @ben.elbel knitted boards binding. I was drawn to it as a knitter, and as a dyer I couldnt resist trying to find a way to colour it.

There were problems to solve along the way, holes that appeared during stretching became an opportunity to stitch into, creating a design feature. Adapting the embroidery to suit the substrate another challenge. The embroidery led me to a beautiful glassine paper supplied by Shepherds. @shepherdslondon

I love this process!

#bookbinding
#designerbinding
#artistbooks #stitchedbook
#embroideredbooks #handmadebooks

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Stage 3/3 📚

J’ai eu la chance de pouvoir repartir de ce stage avec un livre que j’ai réalisé de A à Z, avec l’aide de Benjamin !

J’ai utilisé la plaque de déchets réalisée à partir de chutes de tissu, de pigment bleu et de colle de pâte !

#reliure #bookbinding #livre #book #circulareconomy

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Stage 2/3 📚

Benjamin Elbel souhaitait profiter de ma présence pour élaborer un projet personnel ! Dans le cadre de l’économie circulaire, il souhaitait fabriquer des plaques de matériaux réalisées à partir de déchets qu’il pourrait ensuite réutiliser dans des reliures. L’objectif est de réaliser une série de livres faite avec ces plaques de déchets.

Nous avons ainsi réalisé plusieurs plaques présentées ci-dessous. Il fallait être imaginatif !

Ce projet m’a également permis d’apprendre à réaliser le corps d’un livre et son dos : couture qui relie les cahiers, gardes, tranchefiles, fabrication du dos avec le cuir, etc.

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