The Tome, part VI: Completion

(Enter BINDER, who clears throat.)

BINDER: Allow me to present to you...the Tome, a hand-bound book in its final state.

(Enter BOOK.)

BINDER: It seems to be a little shy, but we'll soon fix that.  For the moment, you can see more here than you might think: the dapper red ribbon, the hand-stitched headband, a bit of Brian's handwriting, the pattern on the endpapers.  A book has a lot to say in its edges and corners.

Still, if you'll bear with me, perhaps I can convince it to show its cover.

(aside, whispering) Only a corner?  All right, that's fine, but you must get it together soon, promise? (addresses audience) We're still getting over our nerves, but here's a detail of the leather.  The headcap was shaped with a piece of yarn and the leather was pressed down around a knotwork relief on the front.  Now let's see if...

Aha!  So, it's not entirely spineless after all!  I think it may be ready.  Ladies and gentlemen...the leatherbound cover of Brian's Tome!

Here you see featured in relief the writer's coat of arms: a sword, two olive branches, and a shield.  Parts of the branches were stamped onto the leather; the rest was pressed down around those cardboard forms I so painstakingly carved.  Beneath you'll find the volume number.  That's correct, Volume I; for I don't expect this man to soon stop writing.  Perhaps next year I'll make Volume II and see how far my craft has come.

Lifting the cover, we get a look at the handsomely marbled endpapers. (As usual, you may click for a larger view of the image.)

Though not hand-marbled, these papers are a step above printed papers and no two are quite the same.  This picture lets you see how the endpapers, ribbon, and headbands have been coordinated in a red-black-yellow scheme.

Now, turning the page...

...we find that the book has been given a title—a nod to the Doctor's own Journal of Impossible Things.

The writer has already begun his work in this volume, but I'm afraid that's not yet ready for display.  We can hope that someday, perhaps, something written in this volume will be lucky enough to catch some publisher's eye; when that happens, I will most certainly show you the manuscript.

(BINDER gives a bow.  Exeunt BINDER and BOOK.)

Thanks for watching.

Go to: Part V | Retrospect