Handpainted Leather Journal, One of a Kind blank book on astrology - The Ancient Times
This one of a kind journal is bound in white vegetal tanned leather and free hand painted in great detail. The theme of the journal is astrology - cartography, inspired by very early representations from books from 16th century by the astronomer Giovanni de Sacrobosco who published On the Sphere of the World, talking about the Ptolemaic universe. The "sphere" is in fact the celestial sphere – the imaginary representation of Mundi, the world with the sky and the stars, as it was considered at that time. The book contains a clear description of the Earth as a sphere, however the Celestial sphere is considered infinite, as it has no limit in radius. It was a conceptual tool in astronomy to specify the position of an object in the sky without consideration of its linear distance from the observer. In this representation zodiacal signs are depicted on the ecliptic - the path of the Sun across the sky over the course of a year. The back cover is a representation of the world map within a Portolano coastal chart, depicting a carrack at sea. On the spine of the book, the planets Mercury, Saturn and Venus are personified as mythological characters. Mercury was historically associated with speed, communication, and trade. Venus symbolizes love, beauty, and fertility and Saturn was the deity of time and agriculture.
The painting is made with leather dyes and sealed so that it does not wear off during time. A patina was applied to the entire book with transparent glazes make it resemble an old manuscript.
The book measures 10.2 x 7.3 inches (26 x 18.5 cm) and has 138 pages (276 sides). It is filled with artist quality paper, Laguna Prisma, ivory color, blank, 160 g/m². The paper is hand torn and works for any media including watercolor. It is acid free and does not bleed through.
The endpages are made of hand marbled paper that I made myself to resemble and astronomic view of the sky. It is monochrome, using just black and white. The headbands were hand sewn from black and silver threads.
This book is an art object. Whether you will use it as a magic journal, a secret diary, a family heirloom, it will make a beautiful addition to your home library.
