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

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
Corset
Petticoat with bodies
Partlet
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.

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 variety during the 1500s in England was Emmer wheat (called Farro modernly). I found some that is non-pearled (pearled is partially cooked) and I've begun some experiments in spoilage and comparing the differences between wheat starch paste and wheat flour paste. I've also extracted wheat starch from wheat flour using modern durum wheat now I need to settle down and mill the emmer into flour and then extract the starch. And THEN I'm in business. Anybody got a flour mill to loan?

Arts and Sciences: Competitions and Displays

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

An Tir Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XLIII

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 (link to documentation)
Paper: Was Bookbinding Women's Work?

Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship XXXV

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 - half bound oak/leather binding of his pamphlets. This was the first book I bound that had content!
Half bound oak/leather binding of pamphlet series, "Early Period".

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."

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