What is a “talisman”?

Essentially, a talisman is an object that is believed to bring good luck , and we want the users of all of our journals and sketchbooks to enjoy safe travels, success, happiness, and general well-being.

When I taught History of the Book, I was simultaneously attracted and repelled by Medieval “treasure bindings,” books that had been encrusted with jewels and gold vermeil in order to convey their worth to a population that was largely illiterate.

This method of demonstrating the value of books failed, of course, when Medieval marauders prized the gemstones from their covers and threw the books in the fire. Very few of these books, or those from their reprisal in the Middle Ages, survive.

I was traveling when I started to wonder if I could incorporate some baubles or good luck tokens into the covers of books, and picked up a few at flea markets for experimentation.

Sourcing talismans is a lot of fun. I work with coin dealers, ebay sellers, etsy collectors, antique merchants, etc. to find objects that are usually under 1/8” thick. I can’t anticipate everyone’s interests, but for custom orders, the buyer and I will often shop together for the perfect object.

All of our books at High Class Booker contain a talisman because we could all use a little extra charm and good fortune!

I worked out ways to securely attach these items to the covers of books, following the method of the coin collecting folders I’d kept as a child, recessing them into the book board so that they’d snap in, then securing that with construction adhesive.

At first, I only imagined the talismans as small charms, but in meeting many of our buyers at art shows and market fairs, I learned that a lot of people really prize the tokens as much as they do fine book-binding, and that they wanted me to include more rare, historical, or precious items than pennies and small, vintage, transit tokens.