After the successful completion of our first custom silk design project The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare we were proud to collaborate once again with The Folio Society to produce the fabric which bound each book for their latest collection; The Jane Austen Complete Novels.
The new edition of novels were created to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and to provide a beautiful way to enjoy these classic pieces of literary history.
Limited to 750 copies, the collection contains novels Sense & Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion & Northanger Abbey. Each one woven in a different colourway specifically chosen to represent the character of each work.
To begin the project, we worked on a number of quality trials to translate the beautiful artworks of Sarah Young, an artist and engraver whose artwork not only feature on the fabric binding of the books but also printed on the pages inside.
“We wanted the books to feel very natural and really quite pastoral and beautiful”.
After trialling many variations, the combination of cotton and silk allowed us to perfectly reflect the skill and artistry of the illustrator and obtain the necessary amount of detail required.
Utilising our precision, bespoke weaving techniques enabled us to bring these covers to life and do justice to the historical text contained within. Each custom cover is finished with a perfectly placed monogram, denoting each specific novel title.
Quality is at the heart of the entire process. Not only do we carry out rigorous quality checks throughout every project, but the full fabric length is examined one final time before it is released to be bound for the books.
Beth Humes, Key Account Manager who worked closely on the project, explains:
“Once the fabric is woven, it comes off the loom and is taken to our quality control department, where every metre of fabric is inspected by hand.”
“I think Jane Austen would have been thrilled…It’s such a pleasure to pick up the books, I can’t think of a better reading experience, to be reading Jane Austen bound in this amazing cotton silk”
To see more details of the project for yourself, take a look at behind-the-scenes video
We would like to take this opportunity to thank The Folio Society for once again entrusting us with this beautiful and inspiring project.
Visit The Folio Society’s website : www.foliosociety.com/uk/
