American manufacturing is on the decline? Not at Ma Nao Books

Let's make books.

Many deadlines have converged, so that as I round up the art for the manuscript, I'm also remaking the models in the book and finishing some commissions. The studio hums. What I love about bookbinding is how low-impact it is—just a few tools and some paper and you're ready to roll. So long as you recycle the paper and bookboard scraps, it's also waste-free and carbon neutral.

The rest is all in your hands.

In verifying measurements and methods, I return often to one of my primary sources: the journals that I kept while learning Chinese bookbinding in Beijing. This little spiral ring notebook went everywhere with me and over the months grew fat with lessons, intrigue, adventure, and appreciation of the Middle Kingdom.