Old book, new tricks
July 11, 2024 9:32 AM Subscribe
Watch the process of re-binding an old book by Wainwright Bookbinding, interviewed here about her process by the Victoria and Albert Museum. (Instagram links)
I did bookbinding for a few years of Tuesday evenings in the basement of the library of the university I worked in many years ago. What I learned is that every aspect of the craft is towards the functionality of the book: so it stands upright in the shelf; but opens flat so that the pages can be read; the end-bands which follow the inside curve of the spine are reinforcement so you can pull a tight wedged book off the shelf multiple times without doing it damage; if you have to sew that leather band into the binding then why not jazz it up a bit with two colours of thread?; ditto the end papers which join the leaves of the book to the 'case' they are structural but why leave them blank so they show the dirt. Form follows function in the most satisfying way.
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:04 PM on July 11 [6 favorites]
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:04 PM on July 11 [6 favorites]
I've been taking classes for the last several years at the American Academy of Bookbinding* in Telluride, Colorado. Seconding everything BobTheScientist said, there is structural purpose to virtually every detail. A working conservator might shriek at the lack of actual cords/tapes (Ms. Wainwright used french sewing instead), but having been in classes with working conservators arguing paste recipes, you're going to make someone shriek regardless.
Wainwright's endband sewing was textbook, which has become a particular madness of mine since learning to do it.
* Anyone interested in learning fine leather binding should look here as an option. Amazing school, amazing courses, and absolutely at the top of the craft.
posted by fatbird at 2:58 PM on July 11 [2 favorites]
Wainwright's endband sewing was textbook, which has become a particular madness of mine since learning to do it.
* Anyone interested in learning fine leather binding should look here as an option. Amazing school, amazing courses, and absolutely at the top of the craft.
posted by fatbird at 2:58 PM on July 11 [2 favorites]
Such a fine job she did. Splendid sewing and I love the spine.
posted by doctornemo at 3:31 PM on July 11 [1 favorite]
posted by doctornemo at 3:31 PM on July 11 [1 favorite]
She recently collaborated on a handbound binder containing all the instructions and pcbs needed to build a modular synthesizer .
posted by TheCoug at 7:44 AM on July 12 [1 favorite]
posted by TheCoug at 7:44 AM on July 12 [1 favorite]
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