The Book of Unlimited
The Book of Unlimited was designed, handmade and bound for Athletes Unlimited and serves as a record keeper of its women’s professional softball, volleyball, lacrosse, and basketball leagues.
The champion, along with all who competed in each season, is inscribed into the book. It is opened during the Opening Ceremonies and closed after the champion is named. The tradition began during the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited Softball in 2020.
The book was handmade for Athletes Unlimited by Tikhon Verygyn in his studio in Kyiv, Ukraine. From cover to cover the book is hand-bound leather, with hand-tooled designs that are hand-painted and dyed. Inside is handmade paper, eco-friendly pages made in a Swedish mill that has been in operation since 1871.
The book weighs nearly 25 pounds, measures approximately 12 inches by 18 inches and contains nearly 500 pages.
Everything within the book is also hand-drawn and inscribed. Lindsey Hook is the first and central calligrapher for the Book of Unlimited. She inscribed the first athletes and champion recorded from Athletes Unlimited Softball’s inaugural season. She also designed the gold embellishments and illustrations within the book.
The “helping hand wreath” is a calligraphic embellishment created by Hook to abstractly represent the Athletes Unlimited family and their connection to one another: athletes, fans and the local community.