After seeing the movie Circle of Iron (AKA The Silent Flute) (1978), I've decided to make my own 'Book of Enlightenment', or 'Book of All Knowledge'. It doesn't have any great practical use, it just symbolises the fact that by interiorizing, looking into ourselves, we can discover our defects, eliminate them, getting to know our own real Being, and getting closer to Divinity.

Of course, girls/women can use the book when applying their make-up, but that's not the point.

My book's title is in Hungarian, translated: 'Book of All Knowledge'.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Materials I used:
- a larger piece of cardboard
- A4 sized paper
- 12x19 cm (4.7 x 7.5 inch) mirror
- at least 2 different colours of artificial leather
- glue

Tools I used:
- scissors
- stapler
- ruler
- cutter (not shown in the picture)

Step 2: Making the Inside (the Pages)

I wanted the book to have 49 pages in total, the 49th being the mirror. This would symbolize the 49 levels of the mind.

Fold 12 pieces of A4 sheets into 2. Those will eventually make 48 pages.

Put them together, and staple them. My stapler couldn't do the job, so I poked 3 x 2 holes on the middle line, and added the staple manually.

After this you will notice that the edges of the sheets aren't regular (the sheets from the inside are a few millimeters out). I solved this by cutting the edges with a cutter.

I chose the pages to be totally blank, of course you can use coloured paper, or print outlines, or number the pages with Maya numerals or whatever you can think of.

Step 3: Prepare the Cover

This will be the 'skeleton' of the cover. Cut the cardboard to 31.5 x 21.5 cm (12.4 x 8.5 inch), slightly bigger then an A4 sheet - so the inside part will be a bit smaller than the cover.

In the middle i marked 1.5 cm (0.6 inch), to be folded. When folding, use a ruler, otherwise the folding won't be in a straight line.

Step 4: Add the Mirror

Before putting the mirror on the cover, I glued another A4 sheet on it, so when I want to insert the inside part, I will glue the last page to the loose page of this sheet.

Apply glue on the back side of the mirror, and palce it symetrically on the inside of the cover.

Step 5: Cutting the Artificial Leather

I didn't really complicate it with calculations: placed the cardboard on the back side of the artificial leather, drew its outlines, and added + 2 cm (0.8 inch) for the side without the mirror, and + 3 cm (1.2 inch) for the side with the mirror.

You can see the '?' there -> initially I was thinking to make some design on it, but then continued on the concept of simplicity (just like I did with the blank pages). So where you see the '?', there was +3 cm after all.

Step 6: Dress Up the Cover

I've cut out a stripe from white paper, and glued it to the middle of the cardboard, so it will hide the texture of the cardboard, at the edges (up and down). Glue this before glueing the artificial leather, otherwise it will be hard.

After the artificial leather is cut to size, glue it to the cardboard: first of all glue the front, and back of the cardboard, let it dry. Don't glue the middle, because it has to remain flexible for opening/closing.

I've applied another folded A4 sheet to the front page too, but here, since I added it after the artificial leather, I had to cut the top and bottom of a side of it, so it would look more esthetic. The uncut part of the sheet will be exactly the size of the other pages, from the inside part, and you'll have to glue them together.

Step 7: Cut Out, and Glue the Letters

Draw the letters on the back side of another coloured artificial leather. Be careful: the letters should be written in mirror, so when you see it from the frint side (the brown side), it shows the actual letter.

I've written 'MINDEN TUDAS KONYVE', which means 'BOOK OF ALL KNOWLEDGE' in Hungarian.