Clamshell Cases

[bospress.net]

Hi,
I know that I am a bit of a bibliophile and there are others here that are as bad as me, but I was curious if anyone here has ever taken protecting your books this far?

This was made by me. I may do more as it seems a very cool way to protect these. I could not afford the price to buy custom made clamshell cases, so I learned to make my own. The great thing about this is that I have the font that was used on the cover of the book. I plan on getting some matching white card stock, letterpress printing it it and attaching it to the cover of the clamshell (and the spine)

Does anyone else have any books in clamshells?

 

[james]

i don't have any but i would most certainly definitely buy one like that. it's funny, as i was looking at the pictures, i was thinking it would be cool if you made a mock up cover for the clamshell, and then you say you're planning to. genius! sign me up baby...

 

[Purple Stickpin]

No, but I would gladly pay you well for a second version of that clamshell (with cardstock) for At Terror Street.

 

[bospress.net]

Hi,

Thanks. I was thinking about doing some more, so I'll let you know if I decide to get into the custom clamshell business. I don't see how I could NOT make more of these. I also thought that it would be cool to print some with "SREET" from those people lucky enough to have one.

Best,
Bill

 

[chronic]

Wow, Bill... beautiful. I've considered making these for a couple of my books but, what was that quote?... "My ambition is handicapped by my laziness(?)" I do have a few books in clamshell cases but they were issued that way. It's probably the best way there is to protect a book for the long-term.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

Thanks. I was thinking about doing some more, so I'll let you know if I decide to get into the custom clamshell business. I don't see how I could NOT make more of these. I also thought that it would be cool to print some with "SREET" from those people lucky enough to have one.

I was going to mention the SREET thing as well, but you realize that you'd have to print those directly on the red paper. Of course, that would be a fairly small market (18 max, IIRC).

While you're at it, you might as well try to match the red color better, and print that black border for the cover... :D

Seriously though, if you're serious about making some of these, I've got four or five books that could seriously benefit from these, and I'd trust you to do as good a job as anyone on the planet.

 

[mjp]

Oh man...I just figured out how to make my own clear covers, now I gotta make clamshell boxes?!

 

[bospress.net]

mjp;
I know it is a madness, but when you run out of books to buy (meaning that all I need now are the ones that I cannot afford), then you have to do something to improve the collection....

psp;
I would print the "SREET" on the red cloth, but thet could be tough getting everthing to line up correctly. Still, I agree that I need to do a darker color red. What other titles were you looking at? I could easily do BSP hardcovers, but they look so damned nice on their own. I thought about doing the Loujon books. I could even cover those in the exact same cork paper. I have found a distributor...

Bill

 

[Bukfan]

Great idea, Bill! It looks great.
I would be interested in buying clamshell cases for the Loujon books, in case you make some!
What materials do you use - cardboard and cloth?

 

[bospress.net]

Hi,
I use book cloth and acid free book board. All glued together by acid free PVA.

Bill

 

[Bukfan]

Great materials! It couldn't be any better. I hope you start a small production!

 

[bospress.net]

Hi,

I'll let you know. I need to come to a price that is fair for me and for those that want these. The first one took me a solid 5 hours. I can imagine that if I was doing three or four of one size, it would take that time down slightly.

Anyone interested should e-mail me the titles of the books that they would like to see. If I have enough requests for one title, it may be a good one to start with. I do know that the cork paper is pretty expensive, so I would prefer to perfect these before I waster $20 worth of cork on one mis-measurement....

bill@bospress.net

Bill

 

[PBBUK]

Bill

I love what you have done BUT I originally had a few of my books in cases and was disappointed when looking at my bookshelf.

Part of the beauty of Bukowski books is their appearance - how lucky are we that the great author teamed up with BSP and Loujon - perhaps the 2 'prettiest' publishers.

During video conferences people are always complaining I'm looking off to the side (my bookshelf!!).

All those colours and title names - I just can't imprison them - especiually as I bought a signed The Days Run Away last night and can't wait to bask in the glow of lime greeen!!!

But respect to the clamshell as they do look fine.

 

[bospress.net]

Hi,

I would agree if I had all of those lettered copies too!

Still, some titles (like the PB of Terror Street) do not look as impressive in a bookshelf with the HB editions of the other BSP and LouJon titles.

Bill

 

[jordan]

i have a book i'm dying to put in a clamshell... it is an extremely rare book, and it is a large, white paperback that is really hard to keep clean. it's around 12" tall, so i think a clamshell would be expensive, but if you want to make a little money...

 

[hoochmonkey9]

what? I'm not supposed to store my books like this?

seriously, Bill, great idea and beautiful work as always. it's perfect for paperbacks, like you say. I have some paperbacks that I've always wanted to protect, but not wrap them in plastic. a few of those cheesy Avon, Dell, Signet versions of Celine and Hemingway, etc.

and my copy of HST's Curse of Lono.

I may be interested.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

psp;
I would print the "SREET" on the red cloth, but thet could be tough getting everthing to line up correctly. Still, I agree that I need to do a darker color red. What other titles were you looking at? I could easily do BSP hardcovers, but they look so damned nice on their own. I thought about doing the Loujon books. I could even cover those in the exact same cork paper. I have found a distributor...

Bill

They do look nice on their own, but here are a couple of thoughts on books I would consider these for:

At Terror Street
Horsemeat (with a clear cover pocket for the prospectus (I guess I'll have to score one of those!))
Scarlet
You Kissed Lilly

Each with a clamshell of complimentary color. Also, a thumb-cutout halfway up the spine would be nice for ease of book removal. Hopefully you'll find a way to create 32 hour days so you can delve into clamshell box production. :D

 

[LickTheStar]

I like them, but I don't know if I'd use them on my Buk books... Just the same, that is one cool looking way to store your books.

I picked up one of the limited copies of Gonzo (the HST photo and memorabilia books released about a year ago) and it came in a beautiful clamshell case. The photo is also right inside the cover of the case and it looks great in there. Until I frame it, that is.

 

[ROC]

Thanks. I was thinking about doing some more, so I'll let you know if I decide to get into the custom clamshell business. I don't see how I could NOT make more of these. I also thought that it would be cool to print some with "SREET" from those people lucky enough to have one.

Ah.. I'll take one of those please!

I have both Crucifix and It Catches in cases. I've mounted prints from the publication year on to the inside front cover. I''ll post scans tonight.

I agree that one shouldn't do this with lettered BSP books though. Who wants those babes dressed when they look so nice naked?
I'm happy to protect the beautiful, oversized Loujons though.

Video conferencing? What do you do PBBUK?
(I ask coz I'm in that racket now.)

 

[CRBSMILE]

Beautiful work Bill. Good luck with this fantastic idea!
hooch, That's a pretty cozy corner you have there.:)

 

[nymark]

Bill, many years ago I bought a nice signed copy of POST OFFICE in wraps. As you know, the blue on the cover is prone to fading so in order to protect it I took a clamshell case class at the Center for Book Arts in Manhattan and made a case for it. It turned out okay. We made our own PVA!

Later on, I got of copy of POST OFFICE 1/50 and 1/250. I wanted a clam shell case for each but didn't want to leave it to an amateur like myself, so I contacted the Dragonfly Bindery in Connecticut. They did a beautiful job.




Yea, if you're going to start manufacturing these for the Loujon books and TERROR STREET, count me in.

 

[nymark]

And just for the fun of it, here's a pic of the inscription in my 1/250 copy. It's to his attorney, Arthur Applebaum.

 

[Purple Stickpin]

Later on, I got of copy of POST OFFICE 1/50 and 1/250. I wanted a clam shell case for each but didn't want to leave it to an amateur like myself, so I contacted the Dragonfly Bindery in Connecticut. They did a beautiful job.

:cool: Yeah, very fucking cool. The books are nice too. ;)

Bill, looks like you're gonna need some apprentices. Seriously, that's beautiful work you've done, and I'll bet you didn't expect such a landslide of requests when all you were looking for was some opinions...or did you have an agenda...:cool:

 

[Bukfan]

And just for the fun of it, here's a pic of the inscription in my 1/250 copy. It's to his attorney, Arthur Applebaum.

Wow, what a great inscription, you lucky devil!

Great clamshell cases! I like the way the text looks at the spine...

 

[justine]

Bill, looks like you're gonna need some apprentices. Seriously, that's beautiful work you've done, and I'll bet you didn't expect such a landslide of requests when all you were looking for was some opinions...or did you have an agenda...

i keep telling jordan we should move to delaware so bill can teach me this stuff! i LOVE clamshell boxes... we have a few, including my super special ultra expensive best-gift-ever-given-to-me ray caesar art collection: it's covered in black linen, with beautiful embossing. i keep meaning to take pics to post somewhere on the forum, but my camera is so shit it just wouldn't do it justice.

 

[chronic]

i keep telling jordan we should move to delaware so bill can teach me this stuff!

Rubyred, if you're feeling adventurous, here are step-by-step instructions.

Later on, I got of copy of POST OFFICE 1/50 and 1/250. I wanted a clam shell case for each but didn't want to leave it to an amateur like myself, so I contacted the Dragonfly Bindery in Connecticut. They did a beautiful job.

Mark, as usual I am impressed. I think that I may try to make one for my signed first edition Hell's Angels.

Bill, I think that you may have started a little clamshell fad here.

 

[LickTheStar]

Now I really want a signed, limited Post Office... Like, a lot... That's a gorgeous spine right there...

Rubyred, if you're feeling adventurous, here are step-by-step instructions.

Mark, as usual I am impressed. I think that I may try to make one for my signed first edition Hell's Angels.

Bill, I think that you may have started a little clamshell fad here.

Thanks for the link. Also, I assume that's the HST Hell's Angels. I'm jealous of that too.

 

[chronic]

Yep, signed in person about twenty years ago. He did a Q&A sort of thing at a club in Long Beach. A couple of us stayed behind for about a half hour until he came out. He didn't seem too happy to see us but he (grudgingly) signed our books.

I also had him sign a first of Fear and Loathing in LV which is signed twice. Once with a pen that was running out of ink as he was signing it and again on the same page with a new pen along with the note "Get a decent pen!"

 

[LickTheStar]

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

 

[ROC]

The prints most of you will recognise.



I had these cases made in the US after emailing the company the dimensions of the books.

They sent them and told me to pay if I was happy with them.

Old school.