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(Sayaka Fukada - Bookbinder) Chink: A Woolly Coated Little Dog and other stories from Lives of the Hunted and Wild Animals at Home by Ernest Thompson Seton. Hodder & Stoughton. London. n.d. 128p. 7.5” x 5.5”. Unique binding by Sayaka Fukada in 2004. Bound in full blue suede, decorated with reverse transfer prints from photographs taken by binder. The design consists of overlapping images of a dog’s face. A dog collar with a name plate, which carries the title of the book and its author’s initials, is fixed on the front board. Pink silk panel doublure, hand printed dog paw-prints in red and green on endpapers. Hand sewn headbands in pink, white and blue cotton threads. All edges decorated with reverse transfer prints from the same images as the cover of the book. Laid in blue cloth dropback box with spine area in printed green suede; lined with pink suede. In the box is a card with image of binding; relief printed title and the words ‘Bound by Sayaka Fukada in 2004”, plus Fukada’s stamp and signature in Japanese. Fine.

Fukada writes: “When I bound this book, I thought a lot about texture and colours as this is a children’s book and aimed to bind a book, which [could] be heavily handled. All [the] materials I chose [have a] different feel and although it may look [an] unusual combination of colours, I think they work well together.“

The only object on the cover is a sturdy dog collar and it does not come apart easily even if children play with it as it is fixed under the panel [doublure]. I also chose not to apply any delicate decoration such as onlays and gold tooling either. I tried to appeal to children but at the same time, I tried not to make it childish. I think I managed to finish this book [to be] equally pleasant to adults’ eyes.”

Related items: Fine Designer Bindings, Sayaka Fukada