Period Fine Bindings

Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows.

Nonus Porta…..Probably the finest version of the Ninth Gate….Ever!

This site is regularly updated

The Nonus Porta is not a shelf item you can buy, but is hand made for commissions only, using 17thC techniques and hand made materials that will hold true for as many centuries as the great Masters work of past millennia.

This version of The Ninth Gate is exactly to period formulae, from the sewing ….to the animal glue.
The text is a 17th century type face, the woodcuts are the signed AT and LCF originals. As I produce all 3 versions, Balkan, Kessler and Vargas, all 19 engravings including the Ceniza forgery and the genuine VIIIIth engraving + the 2 versions of the title page can be used. The leaves are sectioned and flexibly sewn on raised cords in a 17thC herringbone style with laced – in boards.
The leather is consecrated virgin calf, vegetable tanned and cured by hand, then paste washed. The colour is a carefully blended 17thC formula, and the binding is exactly to the mid 17th century.

This video partly shows how the layers of colour are applied:

The text for this commission is nine different occult and alchemy texts separated by a “gate”

printed on vellum laid

There are 6 different versions of engraving VIII and 7 versions of engraving VIIII of which I have all signed versions including the genuine VIIIIth engraving which of course was never in the film prop book….This copy has all 31 engravings, 9 within the text according to the film prop, the rest are appendixed to the back of the book.

The end papers are hand marbled black or brown and sewn in, the book is trimmed on 3 edges with the option of having the edges gilt and “gauffered” with Sigils…..The spine rounded and backed. Head and tail bands are hand made and sewn in before the boards are made, laced onto the book block and splayed out. To watch some videos of Paul’s work and ‘The Making of the Nonus Porta‘ plus other interesting stuff….

Creating the Nonus Porta.

The chosen leather is vegetable tanned, consecrated virgin calf. The skin is paste washed thoroughly and Picric acid is applied to give an even yellow colour. An even coat of Salts of Tartar is then applied to give a rich brown colour followed by a final coat of Ferrous Sulphate which changes the skin to a rich midnight black colour which is then “fixed”. The skin is then cut to size and a grain is bordered into it by hand before ironing out and paring by hand on all edges.

As you can see….The hidden mysteries of Nature and Science play a large part in my work 😉

The book is turned-in on all edges and the edges are blind tooled with several fillet rolls. The edges of the boards and the inside boards are also blind tooled by hand.

Nonus Porta………The Ninth Gate

The pentagram is mapped out and tooled in 24 carat gold leaf, the spine is rolled off in blind over the raised bands just like the film prop…..The client did have the option of having seals and sigils gilt within the compartments with a title……. but opted to go “au naturelle” just like the film prop, to retain an air of mystery.

Finally the leather is glazed and polished with a hot iron.

Not forgetting of course a hand made clam shell box to keep it safe.

Flauros gets ready to leave the bindery to star in a unique occult collection

What’s this???…Does Corso have the Balkan and Vargas copies at Bernie’s Rare Books?? Or are they fakes from the Ceniza Brothers Bindery??

Or maybe just pure Craftsmanship of the Highest Quality from Period Fine Bindings 😉

The Balkan, Kessler and Vargas editions in the 17thC brown calf. Only one of the 15 film props were done in brown.

Variant copy on the left. 

Balkan, Kessler and Vargas variant copies with their clamshell boxes

This is a special edition with all 31 engravings.

 Paul produces no more than 6 copies per year of the Balkan, Kessler and Vargas versions, and only by commission. For details on how to commission Paul for your own Ninth Gate…email: paul.ninthgate@gmail.com

Click here for these 3 new Magickal texts

Click HERE for the Necronomicon

email paul.nonusporta@gmail.com or paul.ninthgate@gmail.com

Prices upon application

Gloria & Divitia in donio eius & Justitia eius manet in Seculum Seculi.

Paul regularly puts completed commissions of restoration and period bindings on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Period-Fine-Bindings/237653069641955?ref=hl

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