Road Trip!

Darryl’s Valentine gift to me was a three-day Road Trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to attend the talk given by Julia Miller, author of BOOKS WILL SPEAK PLAIN. http://www.lib.umich.edu/events/plainly-spoken-remarks-book-binders-and-bindings

            I was privileged to share this experience not only with my husband—without whom none of this would have happened—but also with my friend since college, Patti Perkins, who lives in the area.

            As you see from my blog, I am a repairer of books, not a fine binder. I never thought that I would enter an exhibition. But Julia’s book captured my imagination, and so here we stand in the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library’s Audubon Room. My binding is in the company of Audubon’s Birds of America and a 2^nd-century papyrus that contains part of an Epistle of St. Paul in Greek.

             Julia Miller paired rare books with the new bindings to show historical references and connections. I was matched up with a New Testament “written by the scribe, Vasil” in Armenia in 1161. Julia placed written comments next to each of the 17 bindings. Of mine, she wrote: “Pairing this Armenian binding with the O’Connor binding was irresistible given the strong materials and massive presentation of both bindings. The metal studs used to decorate the cover of the New Testament are referenced by the metal boot catches on the spine leather of the O’Connor binding….” There’s more, but you get the idea.

            I accidentally left my camera in our van, so these blurry photos are the best I could do with my outdated cellphone.

            My husband drove me to Michigan and back. In February. (It was minus 9 degrees when we left Ann Arbor Wednesday.) Now that’s true love.

PHOTOS to come, I hope. Blogger has problems. So I'll try Facebook.