Sabine d'Angers

The Honorable Lady Sabine's device. Purpure, a mermaid in her vanity proper crined Or a ford proper. Artist: Frederick Badger

Sabine d'Angers attended Ursulmas A.S. XXIV / January 1990 with a gypsy friend and never looked back. (Although there was a hiatus from 2002 to 2009.) She resides in the shire of Shittimwoode and is known for her bookbinding.

Current Projects

14th Century Girdle Binding

A Laurel scroll for Annisa Gabrielli, scribal work by Wynn Constantine, in a girdle binding. This is a thrilling collaboration with the immensely talented Lady Wynn Constantine. It was presented to Mistress Annisa at her elevation ceremony, May Crown 2010. (She's sending it back to me so I can complete it.)

Elizabethan Working Woman's clothes

The corset is killing me (as in, "It's difficult to sew." It's actually surprisingly comfortable to wear). This is a pretty ambitious project since the only sewing I've done has been HEAVILY supervised. Me with a sewing machine solo is scary.

• Smock / shift
• Corset
• Petticoat with bodies
• Partlet - this turned into a standing collar shift since there was not definitive documentation for partlets in this time and place.
• Coif

Italian Renaissance Bookbinding

I just began the research for this project. Knowing so little about the time-period I've been intrigued by the Humanist philosophy that led to wide-spread reading.

This project is still in work.

Paste Reconstruction

I'm uber-jazzed about this one. I obtained a reproduction of the earliest illustrated bookbinding manual (De Bray, Dirk. 1658/1977. A Short Instruction in the Binding of Books followed by a Note on the Gilding of the Edges by Ambrosius Vermerck, trans. H. S. Lake. Amsterdan: Nico Israel.) In it I found mention of a 'stifsjel-doos' or 'starch box' used to store paste.

I've been curious about the various adhesives used during the bookbinding process. Wheat starch paste intrigued me most so I started investigating historical wheat cultivars. I have several questions: Was wheat starch used or wheat flour? Which wheat cultivar was most common? Does the wheat variety vary the adhesive property of the paste?

I discovered that the more common varieties during the 1500s in England were Rivet wheat (Triticum turgidum L.) and Common or Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). (Not Emmer as I previously thought.) I've obtained a small (10g) sample of Rivet wheat (it is no longer in wide-spread production). Since Rivet is a soft red winter wheat (SRWW), I've substituted modern cultivars of SRWW in my experiments. I also learned that Common wheat comes in both soft red winter (SRWW) and hard red winter (HRWW) varieties. So I've substituted modern bread wheat with modern SRWW for my experiments. AND I learned that starch was made either from wheat or from Rye (Secale cereale), so I've included Dark Rye flour in my experimentation.

Arts and Sciences: Competitions and Displays

Sabine holding entry to a Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship competition. Photo: Tenzicut

An Tir Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XLIIII / 2010

I competed in the Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XLIIII/2010 for overall champion. I didn't make it to the second day but I'm very proud of (most) of the work. I challenged myself with 3 entries.

Entries

• Object: Italian Renaissance RED binding!
• Object: Is it a Partlet or a Shift?
• Process: Paste Reconstruction with Paste Box

An Tir Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XLIII / 2009

I competed in the Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XLIII/2009 for overall champion and was chosen as the Laurel's Choice winner. I was also selected as a finalist - along with two Members of the Order of the Laurel, Jack Tyler (aka Dyon de Mantel) and Hlutwige Wolfkiller (how exciting is THAT?!?!?)

Entries

• Object: Late 16th century binding - Dutch/German binding style, Latin text
• Paper: Was Bookbinding Women's Work?

Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XXXV / 2001

In AS XXXV I competed in the Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XXXV / 2001 with a single item, a 15th century hand-dyed and tooled book. I received the highest score for single item.

Artisan's Display at Coronation XXXIIII / 2000

This was a collaborative project with Miranda Katherina de Montpellier. She created the amazing calligraphy and illumination of Hildegard of Bingen's vision and the music which accompanied it. I simply put it in a box. On the table you can see a scroll on vellum with period inks and pigments by Isabella Lucrezia Veneziano Martini.

Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XXXIII / 1999

This was a 15th century student's book, half bound in leather with oak boards.

Completed Projects

Most of my projects have been in the context of a display or an arts and sciences competition. I'm not particularly competitive but I DO need an external deadline to bump up against. Otherwise I just keep researching, researching and then researching some more. However, these projects were completed for reasons other than A&S.

• Birthday gift for Antonio Cavaliere Sangomano - half bound oak/leather book. (This was my FIRST medieval book!)
• May Crown Tournament AS XXXII/1998 - small half bound oak/leather book as largess. Now serves as the royal signature book in Avacal.
• Birthday gift for Steffano da Gucci al Khabeelah - quarter bound oak/leather binding of his pamphlets. This was the first book I bound that had content!
• Quarter bound oak/leather binding of pamphlet series, "Early Period".
• Book Box Collaboration with Miranda to create a book-shaped box which displays a two-sided scroll inside.
• Gothic Book Workshop with Jim Croft.

Research

Again, most of my research has been in the context of displays or competitions. However, I did considerable digging into these topics for various reasons.

• Coptic textiles and tunics: I have a considerable library and some original research from the V&A.
• White books: the Dutch and German books absolutely intrigue me. The Dutch particularly were quite advanced in bookbinding technology and had a very distinct style. I own a couple extant examples.
• 12th century French garments: Images from statuary in Europe for clothing research.

Teaching

Clinton War

• Introduction to Bookbinding

University of Ithra

• Survey of European Bookbinding (3)
• Bookbinding I (3)
• Bookbinding II (3)
• Introduction to Bookbinding (2)
• History of Bookbinding (1)

Judging

Madrone A&S 3 Oct AS XLIV/2009: I was thrilled to be asked to judge at the Madrone A&S championship competition. Rather than "judging" per se, I really consider it an opportunity to learn from and collaborate with an expert or budding expert. I'm always impressed by the passion and knowledge of the artisans.

Awards

• Forget-me-not | 28 Jun AS XXXII / 1997
• Award of Arms | 10 Jan AS XXXII / 1998
• Jambe de Lion | 4 Sep AS XXXIIII / 1999
• Forget-me-not | 15 Jul AS XXXV / 2000
• Magister University of Ithra - bookbinding classes
• Forget-me-not | 13 Jan AS XXXV / 2001

I am very proud of having made it (back in the day) into Baron Steffano's Guide to Parties and Partiers: Being an examination of fun. by Baron Steffano da Gucci al Khabeelah. p. 10 "Sabine d'Angers - improbably lithe, Sabine has charms that soothe the savage beast. Or, at least one of the more notorious savage Sir beasts. It's a shame we can't bottle that magic, because with a rifle and some hypodermic darts we could calm this Kingdom right down."

Miscellanea

I made a very exciting discovery when researching wording for my apprentice scroll. The British Archives had two manuscript of ACTUAL indentures for apprentices to the Stationers' Guild (which included bookbinders).

For more about the Book Arts in An Tir, check out The College of Book Arts (Aelana Cordovera's brainchild).

Has been seen as hanger on to

Eduardo Francesco Maria Lucrezia - Antir Who's whoEduardo Francesco Maria Lucrezia - Antir Wiki

The Incomparable Sir Maximus Amoricus

Miranda Katherina de Montpellier

Marc Rene Sebastian Dubois

Isolde de la Vielle a Roue

Ariel de Courteney

Martin le Harpur

Aalais Martin d'Avignon

Aidan Carlysle