Artists' Statement

In today’s world, books and paper are easy and cheap to mass-produce. It’s much more efficient than when it was all done by hand...but in that efficiency, we have lost something. A mechanically produced book, made with mechanically produced paper may look nice and be lovely to read, but it contains nothing of the person who made it.

When an artist creates, their creation acquires just a little of their essence, their spirit, their soul. So it is when we hand-pull a sheet of paper, when we design and hand-bind a book. Each sheet of paper, each book, has just a little of us in it, and that sharing of ourselves enriches us as well as the recipient.

Our Craft

Our business started as an experiment in papermaking in New Zealand in 1996. Three countries and several years later, Those Great Little Books  has developed into a cottage industry in Victoria, BC, still experimenting with paper, but more keenly focusing on producing a range of handbound books. We no longer use all of our own paper for the books, having added other handmade and recycled papers where they are appropriate, but many of our books contain at least a little of our own paper. We have a number of books, which we are adding to all the time, that we carry as a regular line. These include sketchbooks, notebooks, diaries, gratitude journals, romantic books for lovers, guest books, photo albums and more. As well, we are always looking for unique one-off projects, either of our own creation or as special commissions from individuals or organizations.

You can find us at Bastion Square in the heart of Victoria’s historic downtown, Thursday to Sunday in April then Wednesday through Sunday till October. We’re at the lighthouse lamp, in front of the Maritime Museum.

 The Bastion Square Festival of the Arts is the only full-time, juried artists’ market in the Victoria area, possibly in all of B.C.

If you're going to be in Victoria between October and April and want to touch base with us in person, email us and we can probably arrange to meet with you.

 When you can’t see us in person, you can always visit us online, here at www.greatlittlebooks.com.