First, the changes in our subscription and production schedule for Library, Libraria, and History may have left some people confused with regards to what the current subscription books are. They are as follows:
LIBRARY: The Tale of Genji Vol. I by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. (Oct-Dec 2025)
LIBRARIA: The Tale of Genji Vol. I by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. (Oct-Dec 2025)
HISTORY: The Art Of War in the Middle Ages by Sir Charles Oman (Sep-Dec 2025)
CATHEDRA: Prayer and the Contemplative Life by Thomas Aquinas. (Jul-Dec 2025)
Second, the Bindery has finished binding both volumes of THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE for subscribers and they are being shipped to the US warehouse today. Depending upon how long it takes for them to clear customs, they should begin arriving to History subscribers the week after next.
We have not finished binding the entire print run of this History set, since we are waiting for the arrival of our new casemaker to do so, but once we do, we should be able to make around 100 sets available for purchase by non-subscribers. The new casemaker is scheduled for installation in three weeks and if the current approach to the new hubbing tool works properly, we will finally be able to declare that we are fully operational.
Third, we are busy this week packing up and shipping out five of our original machines that we have fortunately managed to sell because they were unsuitable for making the genuine leather books that we produce. One thing that we have learned along the way is that virtually no one in the publishing industry actually knows anything at all about leather bookbinding, particularly the large-scale leather bookbinding that our print runs require, but they all think they do because they don’t understand the very significant material differences between paper and leather.
This is why it has taken us so long to get the Bindery to a fully-operational state. However, there have been some advantages to this long and arduous learning curve, and the result is that we are now among the handful of world experts in the A-Z process. Thanks to our new laser that permits us to turn leather hides into casing-ready covers in about 10 seconds per book, one could even conclude that the Bindery is quite likely the most advanced leather bindery on the planet.
Fourth and finally, there are still four copies of the Bindery edition of THE MEDITATIONS available in case anyone would like to acquire one. They must be purchased from the Arkhaven store as the NDM Express stock is already sold out.
For questions about subscription status and billings: subs@castalialibrary.com
For questions about shipping and missing books: castaliashipping@gmail.com
Any update on Chesterton?
Might these final 5 have the pig leather and or the hubbing that the prior post mentioned some may actually have?