The publication The Good Book is dedicated to the book that enriches our lives with a fulfilling cultural experience – due to its exceptional quality in terms of paper, workmanship and content. As an inspiration and guide, the publication provides detailed information on how to turn a commodity into an object of cultural value – through the highest quality paper, processing and bookbinding in harmony with nature.
In addition, international authors, designers, curators, readers and experts from publishing houses and specialty printers share in The Good Book what books mean to them and what they love most about them.
New enthusiasm for the paper book
Despite and perhaps even because of the digitalization of the world, there is a growing number of young adults who are enthusiastic about books. These young readers between the ages of 12 and 18 have brought publishers high sales of books printed on paper in recent years. It is a special sight to see these digital natives queuing for hours at book fairs to get their favorite author's autograph.
Bookmark for Love
“Bringing a book into the world and having it printed on paper is an interesting feeling. You dreamed up something in the non-physical world, and suddenly, it’s physical. The paper it’s printed on is the concrete manifestation of that process.”
Melanie Raabe, Author
There are many sides to the love of books. The Good Book asked authors, designers, curators, readers and experts from publishing houses and specialized print shops what books mean to them and what they particularly love about them.
Amongst them are voices and stories from bestseller author Melanie Raabe, book lover Caroline Rosencrantz, artist and designer Stefan Sagmeister, publishers Ewa Stiasny and Simone Stibbe, curator Dr Thomas Gilbhard and production experts Hubert Pédurand and Adriana Rodríguez.
The Journey from Paper to Book
What turns a book from a commodity into a cultural object you can smell, feel and marvel at? A treasure you can pick up again and again to find something new.
In addition to inspiring statements and stories, The Good Book contains an extensive information section about what it takes to produce a high-quality book: the interplay and love for the craft from everyone involved in publishing, design, printing, book art and authorship. Paper that speaks to all the senses and is made in harmony with nature. And state-of-the-art processing technologies.
People have been refining the art of papermaking and bookmaking for almost 2000 years. To transform a book into a valuable item, it needs to be composed down to the smallest detail: design, paper and workmanship can only be of the highest quality and matched to the content with sensitivity.
Paper is to a book what fabric is to a dress. It makes a book tangible and gives it its own scent. Everyone who loves books knows this feeling. The Good Book follows the long journey from fiber to uncoated book paper with a natural surface that makes a book even more tangible for our senses.
The Good Book also describes how masterful bookbinding turns individual sheets of paper into unique objects.
“When we hold a beautifully published book, we appreciate its shape, its texture and the way the pages turn.”
Ewa Stiasny, Publisher