A Tribute to Encyclopaedia Britannica

This project made possible by the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse and the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1961 Edition.

Encyclopaedia Britannica’s announcement that they were discontinuing the print edition of the publication marks the end of an era. So I decided to embark on a tribute project of sorts with the goal of turning the archaic volumes into new things – pretty things, practical things? I don’t quite know yet. I’m just playing.

This wallet was created from a 1961 Encyclopaedia Britannica purchased at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse. The vinyl covering for the ID window was cut from a vinyl tote I bought at a goodwill store. I added some fabric from my stash for stabilization. The project is entirely sewn, no glue or tape was used in the process.

I was a bit nervous about sewing paper, especially paper thin encyclopedia paper, but it was actually surprisingly easy to do. Paper doesn’t slip and slide like fabric can, it wasn’t as prone to tearing as I expected, and all in all it went together surprisingly quickly. The only thing I’ll change when I make another (which I do plan to), is to add some additional fabric stabilization in the spine, which I did tear a tiny bit during top stitching. I didn't think of it at the time, but fusible interfacing might have been a good idea!

I have 20 encyclopedias from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s to play with, so I'm hoping to make a whole series of this type of project :-)