A few years ago, at Gulf War I took a class in Islamic-style book binding. It was taught by Margavati Bai (who is now a Laurel), from Meridies. A few aspects of the style are particularly appealing: the completed books are lovely, with a wrap-around flap that holds the book shut. The pages were often made of cotton paper (much more economical for the reenactor on a budget). And the covers were often made leather or cloth over pasteboard, rather than leather over wood as was found in European bindings.
When I got home I excitedly mixed up a batch of wheat paste and used it to glue together multiple sheets of cotton resume paper, then dried the sheets between blotter paper and weights to keep them flat.
That was an adventure in itself, and I'll make a separate post about it in the future.
Then I set the dried sheets aside and got sucked into other projects, and forgot all about them.
Until a winter gift exchange paired me with Behiye Bint Kismet, and I realized that a book would be just the thing to give her.
