Robin Brandes

A book is beautiful in relation to the human hand, to the human eye, to the human brain and to the human spirit. — John Hoyer Updike

THE HILL Words by Max Porter. Wood engravings by Hilary Paynter. Nomad Letterpress, England. The Hill is a celebration of collaborative work between author and engraver, between word and image, between the hand and the machine. The wood engravings throughout are printed directly from the artists lemon wood blocks onto Zerkall mould-made paper, the last to come from the mill following its closure. Bound in 2024. 25.5 x 27.5 x 1.5 cm. Fine binding with laced-on cords. Sewn montage sur onglets or stub binding. Full leather covering of black goat skin. Leather hinges. Onlays made of Ostrich leg skin and Ring lizard skin. Endbands are hand sewn with white silk and silver thread. Edge-to-edge leather doublures hand painted with black and silver inks.

Artist Statement: The orchestration of exotic skins’ natural textures emanate movement in the hills while echoing Paynter’s exceptional wood engravings.

DOG SHOW Poems by Billy Collins, USA Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003. Watercolors by Pamela Sztybel. Fine Press Poetry, Andrew J. Moorhouse, 2023. Edition of 109. Signed, by both Billy Collins and Pamela Sztybel. Bound in 2024. 25 x 26.5 x 2 cm. Fine binding with laced-on cords. Full leather covering of Harmatan purple goat leather. Leather hinges. Raised leather onlays for title. 1.5 mm leather inlay dots on spine and verso. Red goat leather end bands. 23k gold foil tooling on recto and verso. Edge-to-edge paper doublures (made with Chena River double-marbled papers) “Hologram” glitter sprayed, burnished and waxed blue endsheets.

Artist Statement: Inspired by Billy Collins’ humor and love for dogs, and Pamela Sztybel’s watercolor portraits, I chose to showcase the feelings of excitement and anticipation before a long-awaited performance. Once the book is opened, the excitement builds for the dog show to begin. Finally, the cast of performers are revealed — 15 endearing dogs we cannot help but fall in love with.

Fritz Eberhardt’s Finishing Tools & Technique Hans Halbey, Peter D. Verheyen, Don Rash. Illustrated by Fritz Eberhardt, Plains, PA: Boss Dog Press, 2020. Edition no. IV / 80. Bound 2024. 22 x 16.5 x 2 cm. Full leather fine binding with laced-on cords. Bound in dark red goat leather. Edge-to-edge doublures in dark red goat leather, flyleaves in spun gold rayon. Endsheets are white Chairmen Kingin Washi sprinkled with gold and silver leaf. Natural edges. Gold lamé leather end bands. Seven custom finishing tools were made based on Fritz’s marks to blind tool the “grass” pattern. Mark Kirchner, bookbinder, made the snail tool based on Fritz’s drawing and used his Kensol to stamp the parade of snails I designed for this book.

Poe’s Phantasia and the companion volume The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s Phantasia contains three sections: “Fantasies,” “Fantasias,” and “Fever Dreams,” each of which is introduced by a celebrated poem. The Raven features drawings by Natalie Frank. Arion Press, San Francisco, CA, 2022. Copy number 52 of an edition of 300. Poe’s Phantasia: 31.5 x 23.5 x 2.5 cm. The Raven: 31.5 x 23.5 x 1.5 cm. Poe’s Phantasia, a fine binding with laced-on cords fully covered with Hewit aniline straight grain black goat leather. Metallic silver leather end bands. Crimson aniline straight grain goat leather edge-to-edge doublures. Gray goat suede flyleaves. Onlays made with distressed mirror mylar composed with image transfers and exotic leathers. The Raven, a fine binding with laced-on cords fully covered with Hewit aniline straight grain crimson goat leather. Pink leather end bands. Black aniline straight grain goat leather edge-to-edge doublures. Gray goat suede flyleaves. Raven wing feathers are composed with layers onlays of Lynel Fur and distressed mirror mylar. Bound in 2023. Bindings showcased here: https://www.hewit.com/showcase/view/?item=141 And here: https://www.hewit.com/showcase/view/?item=147

Artist Statement: In his short lifetime, Edgar Allan Poe, became the pre-eminent chronicler of the unquiet mind. A mixture of unusual materials and striking color palette were used to emanate an enigmatic yet dramatic presentation. The haunting cover portrait I created for Poe’s Phantasia is a mosaic suggesting shapes of 2 ravens. Image transfers of Poe’s eyes on distressed mirror Mylar and onlays of exotic leathers evoke Poe’s unquiet, disturbed mind filled with illusions and wishing for the return of lost love. For the covers of The Raven, I designed the raven wing feathers to be a bold presentation for one of the most translated poems in history. It speaks to the power, drama and darkness of Poe’s unquiet, restless mind.

A Shimmer of Joy–– One Hundred Children’s Picture Books in America by Chris Loker. The Book Club of California, 2019. Edition AP/200.
28 x 22 x 4 cm. Unique flat back case binding with offset spine attachment. (Structure designed by Daniel E. Kelm). Harmatan orange goat leather spine and pink goat leather end bands. Boards covered in hand-painted Abaca laminated to laser cut design on “Martin Silver” handmade paper by Hook Pottery. End sheets hand painted using acrylic inks on Hanji. This book is held in the library collection at The Book Club of California. https://www.bccbooks.org Bound in 2023.

Artist Statement: My binding for A Shimmer of Joy is based on how it feels to directly experience joy. Imagination comes alive, visions are generated. It is the feeling of joy shimmering within, giving us the ability to form pictures or ideas that are new and exciting. This alchemy of imagination goes hand-in-hand with creativity— influencing everything we do.

2020 Vision featuring nineteen wood engravers, one collector, and the artists who inspired them. Compiled and introduced by Nigel Hamway. Edited by Peter Lawrence, Nomad Letterpress and the Society of Wood Engravers, 2020. “A year on the press, this book links past with present, and provides a fitting tribute to the skills of the engravers and the part they play in society.” Edition: A/P. 34.5 x 26.5 x 3 cm. Fine binding with laced-on cords. Full leather covering of Harmatan “white” Katsina goat leather. https://www.harmatan.co.uk/gallery/gallery_7.html Black goat leather onlays. Hand sewn silk end bands. Edge-to-edge doublures made with Harmatan “mint” goat leather. Black pig suede flyleaves, End sheets laser-printed with pattern designed by Robin Brandes. Bound in 2022.

Artist Statement: 2020 Vision cover design was inspired by the wood engraving by Geoffrey Wales, (1912 - 1990), “The Waves”, 1969, which originates in the shape of shells, rocks, and the shoreline of Norfolk, England. Abstract images were not common to British wood engravers. Most images developed took their shapes and design from landscapes or still-life forms. .A wood engraver carves the “light” into their wood block leaving the remaining wood to be inked and printed. To pay tribute, I created this binding to appear as an oversized wood engraving. To emulate the raised surface of an engraved wood block, 125 cushioned onlays were applied.

FIRST PLACE WINNER of the Rocky Mountain Guild of Book Workers 2023 Traveling Exhibition https://rockymountain6.wixsite.com/rmgbw/2023-traveling-exhibition-winners

Lowlands Away, an oratorio by Adrian Henri with pastel drawings by Adrian Henri, The Old School Press, Hinton Charterhouse, Bath, UK, 2001. Edition no. 250/450. 27 x 20 x 1.5 cm. Simplified binding. Cover illustration archival pigment printed on cotton vellum laminated with abaca. Spine covered in dark blue Harmatan goat leather. Endbands and leather hinges made with dark blue Harmatan goat leather. Doublures and flyleaves painted with acrylics on abaca by Robin Brandes. Endsheets painted with acrylics by Robin Brandes on handmade St. Armand Old Masters paper. Bound in 2022. Private collection. https://theoldschoolpress.com/ospnews/ospnews20220915.htm

Artist Statement: The tattered sail during a grave storm suggests the dark dreamy moments before the message in a bottle, “Farewell to all we love: last clinging barnacles of hope; …” written by the Captain of the Medway sailing barge was entrusted to the sea and “lost in the vague play of the waves.” From Lowlands Away.

LISTEN, Book design and content inspired by the recording of “The Maids of Cadiz” performed by Miles Davis and arranged by Gil Evans, “Miles Ahead” 1957. Original paintings and poetry by Robin Brandes, San Anselmo, California. Book designed, written and bound by Robin Brandes. Simplified Binding. 179 x 147 x 14 mm. Edition of one. Covered in dark blue Harmatan goat leather with various color leather onlays. Hand tooled in silver foil. Edge-to-edge leather doublures. Suede fly leaves. Leather endbands. The paper is 100% cotton Cheloniidae Rag, designed by master printer, Harold P. McGrath. Bound in 2022.

Artist Statement: Listening, with eyes closed, charcoal piece in hand, music traveled through my fingertips. Under the darkness, drawing on the smooth paper, soft-hard-thick-thin-quick-slow-swirls-lines reaching to the far corners of the sheet until the end of the music. Eyes opened in silence to see the beginning of creating the book, LISTEN.

FIRST PLACE WINNER of the Rocky Mountain Guild of Book Workers 2023 Traveling Exhibition https://rockymountain6.wixsite.com/rmgbw/2023-traveling-exhibition-winners

The poem I wrote for LISTEN:
Coaxed from a trumpet, hear melancholy pull out blue nostalgia. It tumbles, never rushes or fumbles; bends time to pass in a flash or linger an eternity. Instincts soar with immaculate freedom bouncing over like search lights through the New York skyline. Late-night introspection of drift and space. Hard to disagree with easily digestible airy lightness. Digs deep into the heart— a strong spell weaves between dark and hilarious— An unlikely collision. All of life is here. — Robin Brandes

The Muse of the Forest, Robin Brandes and Ira A. Wagner, RB Editions, 2021, San Anselmo, California. Signed: Ira Wagner. Limited edition no.1 of 8. Designed, printed and bound by Robin Brandes 280 x 215 x 20 mm. Laced-on boards Millimeter Binding covered in 100% Japanese Kozo painted with acrylics and soft pastel by binder. Trimmed in Harmatan black goat leather. Forest green pig suede fly leaves. Brown calf leather endbands tooled in 23k gold foil. Edge-to-edge Abaca doublures painted with acrylics and 23k shell gold by binder. Abaca fly leaves decorated with acrylics and 23k shell gold by binder. Cover title stamped in 23k gold foil. Text pages printed with archival pigment on acid-free neutral pH paper made with eco-friendly Japanese papers i.e. Kozo, Mitsumata and Bamboo, and sewn on Kozo montage sur onglets or stub binding. Bound in 2021. Private collection.

Artist Statement: When walking in the forest, there is a hush, prompting me to stop and listen. Naturally, I’m engaging in a conversation with the forest— listening to the muffling crackling sound of leaves, unidentifiable bird songs; seeing sunlight penetrate through tree hollows; smelling the crisp scent in greens and golds; tasting bright air inviting me to pay still closer attention. That was the inspiration for this fine binding. To bring the Muse of the Forest to life, I chose handmade papers sourced from the forest to emulate textures seen in the woods. The sound of leaves rustling in the wind comes to mind while turning the single sheets made from Abaca. The Muse of the Forest is an invitation to the reader’s imagination to sense its presence while leafing through the book.

When in Doubt, Wash! David Blamires, Wood engravings by Chris Daunt. Incline Press, Oldham England. 276 x 183 x 14 mm. Copy number 91 of an edition of 240. Semi limp binding in black goat leather with red foil stamp and white Katsina goat onlay. Sewn montage sur onglets or stub binding made of laminated black and red Kozo paper. Red eel skin end bands. Red suede doublures. Fly leaves designed and archival pigment printed by Robin Brandes. Bound in 2021. Private collection.

Inside the Book, David Esslemont, Solementes Press, 2002. 263 x 172 x30 mm. Full leather binding with laced-in boards. Covered in white Katsina goatskin. Edge-to-edge paper doublures. White Katsina leather hinges. Archival pigment printed fly leaves on Awagami Bamboo paper. Brackets laser cut by Sarah Pike. Titling in palladium leaf by Samuel Feinstein. Bound in 2020. To learn more about this binding, visit: What happens when you've got only one shot to get it right?

Papermaker’s Tears, Essays on the Art & Craft of Paper, Volume 1. Tatiana Ginsberg, Editor. The Legacy Press, 2019. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
260 x 177 x 30 mm. Full leather binding with laced-in cords. Covered in maroon goatskin. Hand tooled copper foil on pillow onlays. Paper collages using handmade paper and binder’s paste papers. Edge-to-edge Huun paper doublures, hand tooled with copper foil. Maroon goatskin leather hinges. Titling in copper foil by Samuel Feinstein. Bound in 2020.