Capturing the flavour of finely wrought Renaissance-style leather bindings, Paperblanks Midnight Steel Address Book pays homage to the craft of delicate gold tooling, originally introduced to Europe via the flourishing trade routes to the East. The timeless beauty of an antique leather binding is brought into the present on the cover of this deep blue book.
New York City is home to an endless number of famed landmarks and tourist attractions, including the eye-catching skyscrapers that punctuate the city skyline. Described in an original brochure as the “mise en scene for the romantic drama of American business,” one such tower is the Chanin Building. This midtown Manhattan landmark was built by developer Irwin S. Chanin in the late 1920s and its magnificent lobby is a major draw for architecture aficionados. Ornately adorned with bronze grilles representing some of the finest Art Deco in the city, the lobby was modernly styled around a “City of Opportunity” concept. One of these ventilator grilles, with loops, spirals and geometric lines symbolizing human thought and emotion, is reproduced here. The Chanin Building’s exuberant craftsmanship led it to be designated a city landmark in 1978 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Its uniquely New York City take on the Art Deco style is just one of many reasons to pay attention to the architectural achievements lining the city’s streets.
Reproducing an expensive goatskin leather book binding crafted in Amsterdam in 1835 by Friedrich W.J.C. Kolb, our Onyx journal celebrates the harmony between art and science. The binding was originally designed to contain a Latin oration on the physiology of plants by the renowned Dutch botanist Willem Hendrik de Vriese. De Vriese, a member of the Royal Dutch Institute of Sciences, Literature and Fine Arts, named many species of plants in the Asterales order (Asterids). Today this significant binding can be found in the KB, National Library of the Netherlands, which was founded in 1798 with the intention to celebrate the written word and share Dutch creativity and innovation with the world.
These intricate details of spring and summer flowers are from an 18th-century Japanese paper screen by artist Watanabe Shikō (1683–1755), who painted in the Rinpa style (and was reputedly a rōnin!). Beautiful gold accents make up every intricacy of the leaves and flowers in this rich and romantic composition. Rinpa is a leading historical school of Japanese painting, established in 17th-century Kyoto, whose artists were known for working in a range of formats, notably screens, fans, hanging scrolls and kimono textiles. The design on our cover shows a section of a screen with various types of flowers often believed to follow the ancient Japanese language of flowers, called Hanakotoba. Flowers were used to convey emotion and communicate with the viewer without using words. We are honoured to have the use of this original work from the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Oxford, where Japanese material has been exhibited since the earliest stages of the Museum’s history.
Luxuriate in the brass and regal blue tones of this Blue Luxe cover design. The original book, crafted in the heart of Amsterdam in 1715, was bound in goatskin with elaborate gold tooling. Contained inside the volume was the Oratio Dominica (Lord’s Prayer) in almost 150 languages and dialects, compiled by English courtier John Chamberlayne, creating a document of global appeal. The intricate details of this design reflect the tapestry of cultures in its original pages. The translations spanned from Europe and Asia to Arabia, Persia, Syria and Turkey. Chamberlayne, who was a writer and translator, spoke 16 languages himself. Let the many cultures that once lived within this 18th-century binding inspire you against Blue Luxe’s opulent backdrop.
Luxuriate in the brass and regal blue tones of this Blue Luxe cover design. The original book, crafted in the heart of Amsterdam in 1715, was bound in goatskin with elaborate gold tooling. Contained inside the volume was the Oratio Dominica (Lord’s Prayer) in almost 150 languages and dialects, compiled by English courtier John Chamberlayne, creating a document of global appeal. The intricate details of this design reflect the tapestry of cultures in its original pages. The translations spanned from Europe and Asia to Arabia, Persia, Syria and Turkey. Chamberlayne, who was a writer and translator, spoke 16 languages himself. Let the many cultures that once lived within this 18th-century binding inspire you against Blue Luxe’s opulent backdrop.
Let a swirl of turquoise inspire you to write your chronicles. This cover is based on the binding for a book titled Chroniques, published by Salel Binder in Paris in 1514. The exuberance of the design reflects the splendour of the Renaissance approach to decoration. In this green-blue journal cover you may see the intricacies of your own stories.
Taking their slightly sullen cues from previous artistic movements, the New Romantics of the 1980s brought their hairstyles and attitudes to new prominence. Our Urban Glam guest book celebrates the drama that made the New Romantic movement some of the most ironic good times popular culture has ever had.
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