Many artists from different areas make artists' books, both to feature their own work and as an artform in itself. This is a practical guide for visual artists who are interested in producing their work in the artist's book format. It examines the history, methods and practicalities involved in making an artist's book, using many examples of the work of contemporary artists as illustration. This book will be a valuable source of reference for any artist considering making work in the artists' book format or anyone wanting to discover more about this vibrant artform.

2007-12-06 This book is NOT 1289 pages long!

Amazon have made a mistake saying the book is 1289 pages long. It's actually only 128 pages long, and a slim volume rather than the heavyweight it looks on the webpage. I was misled by the typo and when I got the book I was expecting a thorough history of artist books, along with whole chapters on how to make an artist book, the different styles of artist books, with lots of inspirational colour photos and an extensive gallery of contemporary artist books. While it is true there is a history of artist books, and photos and descriptions showing how to make a couple of books, the rest is rather dry and academic.

One good thing about this book, however, is the index at the back, which is an excellent resource for finding further information on the genre. I give this book 3 stars because the author Sarah Bodman clearly knows her stuff, but the book format itself could have benefited greatly with being made more appealing to aspiring artists, rather than being the dry read it is.

If you're looking for inspiring how-to books on making books/artist books/altered books, then I would recommend Shereen LaPlantz's "Cover to Cover" and Peter & Donna Thomas's "Making Books by Hand", both of which present book-making in a fun and creative manner and actually make you want to make books!