Building My Library

I have taken it upon myself to continue building my personal library during this time.These are massive titles from Thomas Watson and Stephen Charnock, one of which necessitated that I divide the fourteen discourses of The Existence and Attributes of God into 3 volumes, else I would have terrible difficulty in binding it due to its thickness. Book One is 450+ pages long. Book Two is 650+ pages long. Book Three, which I will still be printing soon after our pleading tomorrow (Lord willing), is larger than Book Two. Charnock's discourses are almost 1600 pages long, and as I perused its pages I am astounded at the wisdom God has given to men for them to write these. 

 

I also have William Gurnall's The Christian in Complete Armour, which is another huge read. The letters of that particular book are already small, but the book itself is still around 4 inches thick.

 

Thomas Watson's Body of Practical Divinity is a tremendous read. I took some pages with me last night to bed before resting and I already learned so much. I cannot wait to start reading once I am done binding it. This is truly a must read.

 

The titles I wished to acquire would total to around Php40,000 - the shipment from overseas being a large part of the purchase. I obviously cannot afford it. The next best thing would be to print out my own titles instead.

 

I took up bookbinding two years ago and my first patient was my wife's Magandang Balita Bible. It was a pain to dissect each page by hand as it was a large book and the insides were already torn. After peeling off the entire book from its spine, I assembled the previous edge glued pages into spreads and sewed it instead, making it stronger than the original.

 

I constructed my own version of an old book binding jig using wooden chopping boards and a few hooks lying around the house. The process of sewing each signature on to the next is both enjoyable and relaxing, more so while I listen to my favorite composers. You can see when you peer underneath the contraption that I stole some of my wife's clothes pins. They're supposed to be wooden tongs to hold the spool in place, but I haven't got those. My tools are embarrassingly crude, but they do the work fine.

 

The covers are made of wood, taken from clipboards. The four ribs are sewn into it, making the book one whole piece. Finally I wrap the covers in soft leather. I will be studying gold leaf lettering with brass next, as my works have yet to have titles. For now I am looking for cheaper alternatives to the process, which is expensive in itself. After all is said and done I have yet to figure out how to absorb these huge reads. Making a book is one thing, reading it is another. I wonder how long will it take me to finish reading these? Lord help me.