East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Made to order — allow ten business days for binding.
Steinbeck's novel follows two families over three generations in the Salinas Valley,
retelling Cain and Abel's story from the book of Genesis. It's a story about legacy and agency.
This copy began as a used trade paperback, the Penguin Steinbeck Centennial, with deckled edges. I've taken off the cover, reinforced the text block, cut new binder's board, and cased it into burgundy bookcloth by hand. The title and author are pressed in gold on the front and spine, and a line from the novel on the back.
I chose Pietro Novelli's "Cain Fleeing from the Body of Abel", painted in Sicily in the 1630s, for the cover. On the back, the angel from John Faed's "Expulsion of Adam and Eve" from the 1880s.
Made individually, after you order — please allow about 10 business days for binding. Wrapped in kraft paper with a handwritten card.
The text block is a genuine used paperback, and it shows the signs of having been read. :)
How it's made
The paperback is taken apart, the text block reinforced, fresh binder's board cut, and the whole cased into cotton bookcloth by hand. Title and author pressed in gold on the spine. Decorative endpapers and a paper bookmark complete the charm.
Every copy is made individually. Small variations in the cloth, the grain, and the placement of the artwork are part of how it's made :)
Making and shipping
Each book is bound after you order it. Please allow ten business days before it ships. Every order arrives wrapped in tissue with a handwritten note card — add a message at checkout and I'll write it in :)
