Book Spotlight: Off the Deckle Edge

Neeta Premchand was born in India but spent her adult years living in London and Germany. Her paper making began as a hobby but developed into a passion which she writes about in her book 'Off the Deckle Edge'. This, her first book, follows in the footsteps of Dard Hunter, whose accounts in the 1930's documented the tradition of paper making in India, China, Japan and Europe.

Subtitled A paper-making journey through India, Neeta's book examines this fast disappearing world of hand paper making and discovers that there are villages which know no other craft. Neeta meets the men and women who for generations spent their lives making the looms, weaving the mats and treading the pulp to make the sheets of paper. 

Every eighth page of this fascinating book are sheets of the special handmade paper that Neeta encountered during her journey. The natural colours and tactile textures are there for you to see and feel, giving you a full appreciation of the skills used to create the sheets.


An excerpt from 'Off the Deckle Edge'


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