Where Handbound and Digital Meet: About Bind-Your-Own-Books

As we all know, technological developments in recent years have led to major developments in the world of reading and publishing. Yet repeated studies show that, useful as digital texts no doubt are, many people prefer reading from a physical book, and engage better with the text when doing so. This is particularly true of sacred texts, which beckon us to a slow reading that engages multiple senses.

The last few years have also witnessed a notable interest in the world of bookbinding. While this was partly sparked by people having time on their hands during the pandemic, it is arguably also related to our need for the tactile and grounding reality of working with our hands. Moreover, in Christian perspective, how we relate to matter matters, for, as Saint John of Damascus tells us, it is by assuming material reality that God has saved us. This is why Saint Benedict tells his monks that the pots and pans are to be treated with the same reverence as the vessels of the altar.

This Bind-Your-Own-Books project stands at the intersection of these two realities. It takes advantage of the technological developments that have made historical texts increasingly available, and have enabled their publication and distribution around the world. But it also offers people the possibility of transforming these digital files into physical books, through a process that will enable them to gain skills and relate to texts in new ways.

In practical terms, this means that anyone with access to a printer, paper and a bit of glue will be able to transform these digital files into a physical book. Each of the digital products consists of a PDF tutorial, a file for the textblock that is printed out in black and white, and a file providing resources for the cover and endpages that are printed out in colour. There is also a tutorial on YouTube, together with videos for additional options that will continue to be expanded.

This project is still in its pilot stage and is currently only available for miniature books, which are being sold at a 50% opening discount. B it will soon also be available for hand-sized books, with various new titles currently in the pipeline, and you can sign up here to be notified of developments.