The embroidered book, bit by bit: Unravelling the bookishness of the Penguin Threads editions

This paper examines how the 2011 Penguin Threads editions, a series of books whose covers were hand-embroidered, intertwine the materiality of the book with digital technologies, thereby evincing Jessica Pressman's concept of "bookishness." By analyzing the historical foundations of the early English embroidered book, particularly its emphasis on the bespoke nature of embroidery, along with an analysis of early-2000s understandings of the digital, the paper argues that even as the Penguin Threads editions privilege the materiality of their handcrafted nature, they are also inevitably, and inextricably, digital products. This is, as the paper demonstrates, borne out by their conception, production, and reception.