Before my dear friend Carl Bilderback passed away, he had one suggestion as to how I should change my life: Sign my name more neatly.
Today I was so glad I rejected that advice.
I drove to our Indianapolis warehouse in the morning and spent the day unpacking 1,000 books, examining them for damage, signing them in red ink and repacking them. If I had taken Carl’s advice, I’d still be at the warehouse making beautiful “S” shapes.
As we examined every book, here are two things we noticed:
- The pages appear to be stuck together on some volumes. This is a result of painting the edges black. The black paint protects the pages from moisture and dirt. But the pages also need to be separated before you read the book. Simply fan the pages and they will separate without tearing.
- The smooth cover appears a bit burnished in places in raking light. This is also a result of the manufacturing process. We used a smooth cloth for this cover. When the cloth is glued to the boards of the book it can look a little burnished in some light. It’s not noticeable except in some light and after someone points it out to you.
I finished up signing the books late Monday afternoon. Our warehouse guy said they expect to have all the books in the mail by the end of the week – Monday at the latest.
— Christopher Schwarz