Mr. Smith does something very interesting with the first book in his eight part "Book on Books" series:

"Books without Paste or Glue" speaks of an approach to binding. In creating a book, as opposed to binding an existing one, binding should not be an afterthought but an integral part of the book statement. Physical structure facilitates action of turning pages. Design continues, if not determines content. Craft is useless without function, and accessibility is sterile without content. (from the back cover)

The first few pages of the book truly surprised me. Mr. Smith takes an almost philosophical view of the process of binding a book:

"The term for [a piece of paper] folded in half is a folio. Where two planes meet, the fold creates a valley. That is not true. It is equally a mountain peak. It is my point of view which creates the valley. If i turn the folio over, the fold then appears to be a mountain peak. I must be alert, not to assume a "truth" but to understand that fact is dependent upon context." (pg. 17)

And on and on he goes for several pages describing the process of how he approaches binding a book. He has taken the "artistic" of binding a book to it's logical and absolute extreme, and manages to keep from getting too lofty but speaks with extreme clarity.

Much of the book is devoted to how a binding affects the overall reception of a book, but he also goes into technical detail of how to accomplish such bindings. With many different illustrations and projects for the reader to try.

True to the title, to do any of the bindings in this book you do not need adhesive, unless you choose to use some.

I cannot speak for all the books by Mr. Smith, but this one I can highly recommend to anyone who is interested in bookbinding. From the amateur hobbyist to the expert, the information in this book is highly beneficial and helpful. ( )