I've been making books for about 14 years and it took me a few to realize that libraries actually bought hand-made books. At first I sold almost exclusively to private customers. Institutional buyers in North America have bigger budgets than those in the UK. One of the first institutions to buy a book from me in the UK spent over half of their annual budget in doing so.  They had slightly more than three hundred pounds to spend, and I felt highly honoured that they chose to spend almost two thirds of it on something I had made.  

One of the questions asked was 'who were the private purchasers of artists books', and in my experience they are enthusiasts who appreciate and enjoy them for the same reasons that librarians do. My customers are mainly but not exclusively miniature book collectors. They sometimes focus on specific subjects or artists. Those with large collections sometimes donate their collections to a university library with which they have a connection, and this is good because it then becomes accessible to a wider public. Sometimes artists buy work from each other, although they tend to be the people who probably have less to spend. I always feel honoured to sell to another book artist. Customers have remarked that they would rather buy one really good book that they love, and I know some of them save up or request them for Christmas gifts or birthdays, and also give them as gifts. Some buyers become subscribers to a particular artist or press's work, buying one of each new publication at a discount. This was traditionally done in previous centuries, because a  printer could not afford to buy paper, print and publish a book unless he knew he could rely on a certain number of sales. So those who buy artists books are a real cross-section of humanity, and many of them are equally as knowledgeable and discerning as librarians. 

With so many people now making artists books, all chasing the same budgets, there could be a danger that they are tailoring what they make to suit a certain market, rather than making what their creative juices suggest. I know it happens from comments made. However, this has always been the case in the art world, even Leonardo Da Vinci had to paint what his patrons wanted. I prefer to work the other way round, make what I'm passionate about (after all, I 'eat breathe and sleep' each book for at least a year) and if the book is any good it will find buyers.  Moira Steven summed up most of what I feel about making books, it is the variety and the challenge - designing,writing, illustrating, printing, binding - 'the perfect piece of art' indeed!  I'm just very thankful that the thing I so enjoy doing is saleable. Thank you librarians. Hope you don't mind my 'two cents worth'. 

Jan Kellett
De Walden Press


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