Handmade Refillable Vintage Leather Journal Diary

Leather Slip-Cover with A5 Blank Journal

Hand-Embossed STAR PILGRIM Design

- cover will fit standard A5 diaries and notebooks -

- re-fills available -

• • Slip-cover of vintage buffalo hide to fit standard A5 diary or notebook
  • supplied with A5 size insert book with choice of three kinds of paper
  • will also fit standard A5 day-to-page diaries up to 2.5cm thickness (eg W H Smith)
  • overall size of cover 24x17cm
  • Cover hand-embossed with STAR PILGRIM design
  • edge of cover machine stitched for strength
  • smart GENUINE LEATHER alternative to cheap PVC and synthetic leather covers
  • can be re-used with a new diary every year
  • heavyweight vintage buffalo hide matures and improves with age
  • FAST freepost within UK
  • handmade from 100% renewable and recycled materials

I designed this journal to serve as a Wicca grimoire or Book-of-Shadows. The slip-cover of the journal is hand-embossed with the famous STAR PILGRIM design of the astronomer Camille Flammarion, and contains a replaceable A5 book with a choice of three kinds of paper, as below:

1) unlined handmade cotton paper (50 pages/100 sides)
2) lined milled paper (100 pages/200 sides)
3) unlined cartridge drawing paper (50 pages/100 sides)

The cover can also be used with a standard A5 Diary or notebook.

The cover is available in two colours: mahogany brown (offered in this listing) or apple green (from another listing in my eBay store). Amongst the attached photos are two coloured prints of Flammarion's original etching. These are included for purposes of illustration only and are not supplied with the journal.

The listing is for one book, though several are shown in the attached photos.

Size: Cover 9 1/4  inches x 6 inches (23.5x15cm), insert book size A5

Weight: 500 grams (approximately 1lb)

Binding: is 100% genuine water-buffalo hide, stained with a natural dye. The leather is of a heavy quality, and is thick but supple.The cover is designed also to fit standard A5 diaries and notebooks.

I have similar journals in a wide range of sizes and colours (please take a look at my eBay store). I am always open to new ideas and designs.

All my journals are entirely handmade, and each piece is unique.

  RETURNS POLICY

I hope that you will be happy with the quality of my books. If not, you are welcome to return them to me in as-new condition within 7 days of receipt. I will refund the purchase price, less postage.

My Ethical Production Policy

It is my policy to produce books from natural and renewable materials that will have a minimum impact on the environment.

I use exclusively water-buffalo hides and cow hides from mature animals that have come to the end of their working life. No animals are bred and slaughtered solely for the purpose of producing leather for my books. All prepared leather 'blanks' are sourced from Hindu village communities in India and Nepal and are imported to UK by my own company DESTINY HANDICRAFTS Pvt Ltd; I do not purchase or import from any other wholesaler. I am personally responsible for all aspects of design, embossing and finishing. Metal book furniture is - regrettably - imported from China, as all other sources have dried up. But I can make up book clasps/locks/trims etc in silver for custom orders.

To tan leather I use a natural tannin wash as an alternative to the highly toxic chromium salts commonly used in tanning. This natural tannin dye occasionally leaves a small residue on the surface of the leather, and some dye may appear on your hands on first handling of a new book. This is entirely harmless, and will cease altogether on further handling when the dye stabilizes. I hope you will agree with me that this is a small price to pay for a method of production that avoids poisoning our environment.

My handmade paper is sourced directly from the Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, Taj Handmade Paper of Jaipur, and the cooperative of paper producers in Luang Prabang, Laos. It is produced without the use of bleaches and other toxic chemicals commonly associated with paper production.
 

It is my aim to produce books that meet the needs and wishes of the artists, art students, travelers and writers and poets who commonly purchase my books. For that reason I am always interested to hear your comments, and any suggestions you have for improvements or for new products. Of the 200 designs in my 'library' of embossing plates over half were made in response to requests from individual customers - but if you do have a special request, please remember that embossing is a low-tech mechanical process and that etching a plate requires time.

You are very welcome to choose and collect items from my workshop in Sussex rather than receiving purchases through the post - so that you can see exactly what you will get before you make your selection.