The Marginalia Collection – readers' marks pressed in leather

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of leather stamping studies.

Volume II

A September study.

Readers leave marks in books – a pointing hand beside the good part, a note against the line worth returning to. Bookbinders left marks of their own, pressing engraved brass into cloth covers, which is exactly how a leather stamp works. The Marginalia Collection brings the two hands together: five stamps in the reader's own shorthand.

First, the oldest mark of all. The manicule – the little pointing hand – has been singling out the good part in margins for five centuries. We drew it with its ruffled cuff and gave it the two words it has always meant: READ THIS.

The black-and-white READ THIS manicule stamp plate from the Marginalia Collection.

It looks genuinely beautiful on the warm red keychain.

A warm-red leather keychain blind-debossed with the READ THIS manicule from the Marginalia Collection.

The black fob carries the design in gold.

A black leather keychain stamped in gold with the READ THIS manicule from the Marginalia Collection.

Next, the journals. NOTA BENE – note well – is what a scholar writes beside anything worth coming back to. We set the two letters large over the full phrase, so the cover promises what the pages are for. One journal in pale warm greige, the color of the page, and one in deep espresso brown.

The black-and-white NB NOTA BENE stamp plate from the Marginalia Collection.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

A pale warm-gray leather journal blind-debossed with NB NOTA BENE from the Marginalia Collection.

A dark-espresso leather journal blind-debossed with NB NOTA BENE from the Marginalia Collection.

Then, the luggage tags. We dressed each tag as the spine of an old clothbound – raised bands and a titling panel reading TRAVELS, with a smaller panel below it reading VOL II, because every trip is another volume. Deep wine and deep green take the blind press, the two classic binding cloths.

The black-and-white TRAVELS VOL II book-spine stamp plate from the Marginalia Collection.

The black tag carries the design in gold – gilt on cloth, the way the binders did it.

A black leather luggage tag stamped in gold with TRAVELS VOL II from the Marginalia Collection.

A deep-wine leather luggage tag blind-debossed with TRAVELS VOL II from the Marginalia Collection.

A deep-green leather luggage tag blind-debossed with TRAVELS VOL II from the Marginalia Collection.

After that, a printer's trick for the toiletry bags. The catchword is the first word of the next page, printed at the bottom corner of the page before it, so the thread is never lost. We gave the bag's corner a catchword of its own: ONWARD. Warm tan over chestnut, blind debossed.

The black-and-white ONWARD catchword stamp plate from the Marginalia Collection.

Caramel and chestnut leather toiletry bags blind-debossed with ONWARD from the Marginalia Collection.

And finally, the cover the collection is named for. Nineteenth-century publishers stamped whole gardens onto their cloth bindings with engraved brass, the closest cousin our dies have. We composed one for MARGINALIA – a titling cartouche with leafed stems climbing past it – and pressed it at full size into the golden tan catchall tray.

The black-and-white ornamental MARGINALIA stamp plate from the Marginalia Collection.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

A golden-tan leather catchall tray blind-debossed with the ornamental MARGINALIA design.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.