Bone Folder #1

A Springback Bind-O-Rama celebrating
a distinctive technique.
See page 24 for the catalog.
On the cover: Pamela Barrios pop-up
and Karen Hanmers dos--dos
springbacks
Volume1, Number 1, Fall 2004
The Bonefolder: an e-journal for the bookbinder and book artist
2
Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2004
Welcome:
Welcome to the Bonefolder, a new peer-reviewed open-ac-
cess e-journal for bookbinding and the book arts. The Bone-
folder is an outgrowth of the Book Arts Web, enabling it to
reach a global audience and contribute to the body of knowl-
edge in the book arts
The namesake of the Bonefolder is the Falzbein, a bookbind-
ing journal which existed under various other names from 1927
to 1966 in Germany, providing generations of bookbinders with
an important source of learning. We also pay homage to the ex-
cellent journals published by Designer Bookbinders, the Society
of Bookbinders, and the Guild of Book Workers, who with their
proven history of excellence in publishing and the promotion of
the book arts have set the bar high.
We will take advantage of the benefits of online publishing to
bring you an e-journal which will complement the offerings of
other publications. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge
waiting to be shared, and we would like to do our part to foster
the continued development and growth of the book arts. Ar-
ticles will be authored by established and emerging authorities
on a variety of book arts topics. These include hand bookbind-
ing, teaching, business practice, the history of the book, general
tips & tricks, exhibitions, how-to technical articles, and reviews.
The articles selected for this first issue will represent a snapshot
of the range of articles we hope to present into the future.
Authors are encouraged to submit articles for publication and
will find the Submission Guidelines on page 31 and at <http://
www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/submit.htm>.
Individuals interested in becoming an editor/reviewer are en-
couraged to apply and will find more information at <http://
www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/editors.htm>.
Editorial Board:
Publisher & Editor/Reviewer:
Peter D. Verheyen: Bookbinder & Conservator /Special
Collections Preservation & Digital Access Librarian, Syracuse
University Library, Syracuse, NY.
Editors / Reviewers:
Pamela Barrios: Conservator, Brigham Young University,
Orem, UT.
Donia Conn: Rare Book Conservator, Syracuse University
Library, Syracuse, NY.
Don Rash: Fine and edition binder, Plains, PA.
Full information on the Bonefolder, subscribing, contributing
articles, and advertising, can be found at:
<http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder>
To contact the editors, write to:
<bonefolder@philobiblon.com>
The masthead design is by Don Rash
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
The Book Arts Web / Philobiblon.com 2004
The Bonefolder (online) ISSN 1555-6565
Table of Contents
Welcome 2
The Study of Bookbinding by Pamela Barrios 3
Bookbinding Education in North America by Jeffrey
Altepeter 4
The Transcendental DRUM LEAF by Timothy Ely 10
Conservation and Tools: An Inquiry into Nature and
Meaning by Jeffrey S. Peachey 19
A Traveling Punching Jig by Donia Conn 22
Spring[binding] Hath Sprung 24
Advertise in The Bonefolder 30
Submission Guidelines 31
3
The Study of Bookbinding
Pamela Barrios, Editor/Reviewer,
The Bonefolder
One might begin the study of codex binding with simple
forms: a pamphlet binding, an accordion in a case. In pro-
gressing through more complicated forms - from flat spine to
rounded spine, from case to laced-on boards - it seems there
are pivotal differences between the forms.
But at some point, we realize that these are all some form
of the codex, and in later learning, begin to see the similari-
ties instead of the differences. It becomes a matter of varia-
tions and details. I am a believer in training as a preparation
for detail. You might call it grounding or centering, but we all
need a good place to start from. Variations without ground-
ing result in paint-by-numbers works, which may function
and may resemble excellent binding, but always seem to have
something missing.
Thats why its important to continue to take classes and
study master writings and techniques. Master writings reveal
technical, but also aesthetic, principles. Here I would include
trade bindery techniques, which combine efficiency with
aesthetics.
Samuel Beckett says it well in his novel Molloy:
And in spite of all the pains I had lavished on these
problems, I was more than ever stupefied by the
complexity of this innumerable dance, involving
doubtless other determinants of which I had not the
slightest idea. And I said, with rapture, here is some-
thing I can study all my life, and never understand.
Our society praises speed, but craft processes are not
mastered quickly. We learn them, practice them, are puzzled
by them, and then its time to learn them again. Learning a
technique is a journey through several minds over time.
I was introduced to conservation at the NY Botanical
Gardens in 1976. Hedi Kyle was the master binder and was
studying with Laura Young. Hedi is an artist and it never oc-
curred to me that there was any boundary between artist and
conservator. I still see no boundary. The skills are the same.
The focus is different.
Later training with Elaine Schlefer reinforced the same
premise. Elaine was trained by Gerard Charriere (an art-
ist) and Carolyn Horton (a conservator). She used the skills
necessary to repair and protect objects, no matter where the
skills were learned.
My hope is that the Bonefolder will uncover more tech-
niques and aesthetic principles at all levels, so we can con-
tinue to discover the links between art and technique in
bookbinding.
Pamela Barrios was introduced to the field of Book
Arts and Conservation by Hedi Kyle at the NY Botanical
Garden in 1976. She also trained with Elaine Schlefer
at the NY Public Library. She held conservation posi-
tions at these institutions and at the Sterling Memorial
Library at Yale and the NY Academy of Medicine before
accepting her current position of Conservator of Special
Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young
University. Her artist books and design bindings have
been exhibited internationally.
4
Bookbinding Education in North America
By Jeffrey Altepeter
A version of this article was presented as a final
paper in partial fulfillment of requirements for gradu-
ation from the American Academy of Bookbinding in
May 2003.
The syllabi for many of the programs listed here
can be found as a separate PDF document at <http://
www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/altepeterappendix.
pdf>. Please note, course content may change over
time.
The path to becoming a bookbinder was once more clearly
marked than it is today. There were well-defined systems of
apprenticeship, later supplemented with technical education.
The training was specifically suited to develop workers that met
the demands and standards of the workplace of the day. The
apprenticeship systems in most countries have largely collapsed.
(Ellenport, Sam. The Future of Hand Bookbinding. Harcourt
Bindery. Boston. 1993) There is no regulated system available
to bookbinding students in North America today. There are,
however, many training opportunities offering a wide range of
approaches to the study of the craft. In fact, the current variety
of study opportunities offers adaptability to individual needs and
to a career landscape far different from that facing apprentices
of the past. Navigating the maze of options is a major challenge.
What is lacking is an organized collection of in-depth informa-
tion about the objectives, content, and structure of the various
training options. Such information would be helpful to students
seeking training to fit their needs, it would help instructors re-
fine the training, and it may help potential employers or clients
better understand a binders training background.
The traditional apprenticeship, as seen in most European
models, is part of a highly regulated system, offering a clearly
defined path toward equally defined career opportunities. The
system is based on specific standards and defined skills. Funda-
mental skills of craftsmanship and work habits are drilled into
the apprentice at every step of the way. Conservator/bookbind-
er Peter Verheyen describes his experience in Germany:
My apprenticeship was spent doing production
library binding, all by hand. As part of that I started
out sweeping the floors and cleaning benches (neat-
ness), sorting the paper and leather drawers (know
your materials and learn how to treat them well), and
then pulling, preparing materials, gluing, making cases,
covering, casing in All that in batches averaging 100
per week. It was all repetition (Verheyen, Peter.
Private email discussion. January 2003)
Repetitious work and training develops highly skilled special-
ists to meet the needs of large trade binderies. Specialization
is the key to productivity and quality. Rather than having one
binder work on a book from start to finish, the book moves
through the various stages of forwarding and finishing from one
bench to the next. By dividing the process between several
specialists a bindery can achieve a high quality product and at a
pace that cant be matched by an individual working alone. The
group of specialists works as parts of a machine. But by the
second half of the 20th century many of the large trade binder-
ies, losing more and more work to real machines, were forced
to downsize or close. (Ellenport) Harcourt Bindery in Boston,
now the largest bindery in the United States offering exclusively
hand bookbinding, currently operates with only about ten em-
ployees. The demand for traditionally trained binders will not
support the training systems of the past.
Economic factors make it difficult for small hand binder-
ies to support even an unregulated form of apprenticeship. At
one time it was common for parents to pay a master craftsman
to take their child as an apprentice. These days, students may
be comfortable paying school tuition but paying to work?
Anything like an apprenticeship is simply viewed as on-the-job
training, and at least entry-level pay is expected.
Another factor that may prevent any revival of the traditional
apprenticeship system is the sheer length of training time.
Historically the apprenticeship period involved several years
of training (7 years was not uncommon). Many of the book-
binding teachers interviewed for this article described instant
gratification as a common desire of students today. And while
many students of the craft today are aware that it is impossible
to master skills in a weekend workshop, the demands of day
jobs and rent make many into weekend warriors.
While regulated apprenticeships dont exist in North America
and informal apprenticeships are rare, there are a wide variety
of very good training opportunities available. However, more
important than simply finding training opportunities is choosing
the right training.
Those seeking training are generally planning to work in one
or more broadly defined areas of the field: traditional hand
bookbinding, conservation, or book arts. There are fundamental
skills common to all of these areasinstructors interviewed for
this paper all included such things as attention to detail, neat-
ness and other good work habits, and a general understanding
of materials and tools. While there are hand skills that should
be considered fundamental to all, specific training is certainly
important. The prospective students must consider how the
objectives of a given program mesh with their own goals. The
objectives are critically important when attempting to compare
various study opportunities because the quality of each can only
be judged in the context of those specific goals.
5
The instructors of several different programs pointed
out: You cant get it all in one program, said Julia Leonard,
lead bookbinding teacher at the University of Iowa Center
for the Book. (Leonard, Julia. Phone conversation. January
23, 2003.) There are strengths and weaknesses in all of the
options, and it will likely require a combination of train-
ing, internships and on-the-job experience to add up to the
equivalent of traditional apprenticeships. Chela Metzger
teaches the hands-on book conservation classes at The Uni-
versity of Texas at Austin and describes her own training as an
example, My background includes a Masters in Librarianship,
North Bennet Street Schools hand bookbinding program, a
one year conservation internship at the Library of Congress,
on-the-job training as Project Conservator at The Huntington
Library, lots of workshops through the years, as well as his-
tory courses at Rare Book School. (Metzger, Chela. Private
email. January 2003.)
There are several sources for locating training opportuni-
ties. The Guild of Book Workers (GBW) publishes the Study
Opportunities List, and the Canadian Bookbinders and Book
Artists Guild (CBBAG) has a Directory of Educational Op-
portunities. Workshops are listed in many book arts publica-
tions, including the GBW and CBBAG newsletters. Regional
and local book arts centers, clubs and guilds are good sources
of information about lectures and workshops in a given area.
Internet resources include The Book Arts Web, the listserv
Book Arts-L, and a bookbinding list on Yahoo. Some resourc-
es are listed in the appendix.
While relatively easy to track down the variety of study
opportunities it is difficult to find more in-depth information
about quality and content. Prospective students must do a
great deal of research with little guidance. There is no single
source that provides a thorough map.
A variety of suggestions came out of discussions with
sources for this article regarding the possibilities for navigat-
ing of the maze of training opportunities. The most common
idea is the creation of a cohesive source of in-depth informa-
tion. An improved version of the GBW Study Opportunities
List, for example, would collect and disclose more informa-
tion about the course objectives, curriculum, and the training
background of the instructors. The disclosure of objective
information would facilitate student choices as well as foster
greater communication between instructors about the quality
of their program content, leading to improvements in the
training itself. Betsy Palmer Eldridge, president of The Guild
of Book Workers, writes:
Based on the listings in the Membership Direc-
tory and the Study Opportunities List, a great deal
of teaching is being done. However little is known
about what is being taught, or where, or how. For
the most part the teaching is isolated, spontaneous,
and random, with no guidelines or consensus as to
what should be taught... The Guild of course is not
in a position to arbitrarily decide what should be
taught However the Guild is in a position to open
up discussion among teachers and instructors, about
what works and what does not work in teaching.
(Eldridge, Betsy Palmer Presidents Report. GBW
Newsletter No. 147. April 2003)
Most of those interviewed for this article agreed that certi-
fication is not the goal. All were interested in a free exchange
of information about the content and structure of training in
the field, and hoped for a cooperative effort toward creating a
more complete map of training opportunities.
The following section presents a small descriptive sampling
of the various approaches available for the study of bookbind-
ing in North America. These options are described by specific
examples, and information about the strengths of the ap-
proach where possible.
Full-Time Bench Programs
North Bennet Street School offers the only full-time bench
program in the United States. The NBSS program is 20
months, 30 hours per week. The program is almost entirely
hands-on bench work, supplemented with demonstration-
style lectures and field trips. Instructors have included
former apprentices of William Anthony (Mark Esser and Sally
Key). The current instructor, Mark Andersson, is a graduate
of the NBSS program himself. The course objective states:
After graduation the student will work in an
institutional or hand bindery, binding new leather
and cloth books, repairing damaged cloth and leather
bindings, constructing protective enclosures, or
performing complex conservation procedures under
the direction of a supervisor. The graduate will also
perform simple finishing operations including blind
and gold tooling, onlays and inlays and edge decora-
tion. The graduate is qualified to seek employment
in a wide range of settings where the work experi-
ence will include opportunities to gain and perfect
the advanced skills that were presented in the course.
(North Bennet Street School course catalog.)
While the NBSS program is clearly focused on book repair
and restoration the approach is quite broad. Students make
models of a wide variety of historical binding structures in an
effort to understand the workings of books they may repair.
Along the way there is exposure to most aspects of traditional
6
hand bookbinding and time allowed to follow individual inter-
ests. The Schools curriculum can be found in the appendix.
Conservation Programs
At the program for Preservation/Conservation Studies
(PCS) at The University of Texas at Austin,
PCS students learn the art and science of collec-
tions care and the methods of managing and pro-
moting preservation activities in order to fulfill the
fundamental goal of extending the life of materials
in libraries and archives to serve the need for which
they are held. (Preservation/Conservation Studies
website.)
Lecturer Chela Metzger points out that PCS is not specifi-
cally a bookbinding training program, but includes a three lab
sequence in book conservation, with bookbinding fundamen-
tals used as a tool of book conservation in each class. The
students here would not always describe themselves as book-
binders, and they often are not they are beginning conser-
vators with more background in bookbinding than most other
conservation school graduates in the U.S. have when they
graduate. The program emphasizes a more comprehensive
view of the care of library materials, including classes on such
topics as environmental control, preservation reformatting
and conservation chemistry. Examples of the book conserva-
tion lab syllabi can be found in the appendix.
Specialized Workshop Programs
The American Academy of Bookbinding in Telluride, CO
offers an annual series of workshops focused on fine binding
techniques. The workshops may be taken independently, but
the school also offers a Diploma Program for professional stu-
dents. The Diploma Program objective is to graduate profes-
sional binders with the knowledge and skills to produce fine
leather bindings of the highest quality. (American Academy
of Bookbinding program brochure.) The director and main
instructor is master binder Tini Miura. Miura focuses on a
modified version of French-style fine binding as the core of
the program with a two-week course on forwarding that may
be repeated five times or more. Other workshops include
finishing (titling, gilding, and onlays), making a chemise,
slip case and drop back box, and others that address specific
fine binding techniques. AAB brings top-level binders from
around the world to teach workshops on vellum, miniature
bindings, and other special techniques. A description of the
diploma program requirements can be found in the appendix.
Book Arts Centers & Other Workshop Sites
The independent Centers for Book Arts in New York,
Minneapolis, and San Francisco (NYCBA, MCBA, SFCB), to
name a few, all host workshops and courses. The courses cov-
er a wide range of topics at all levels, often with an emphasis
on artist books. They all benefit from having well equipped
workshops and many guest instructors. Most provide access
to the facilities by membership or rental.
The Garage Annex School for Book Arts in Easthampton,
MA is another host for a variety of workshops. Daniel Kelm
and his guest instructors provide a wide range of educational
opportunities including internships, weekend workshops,
and longer intensives. Individual instruction is available, as
are facilities for work on individual projects with or without
consultation and support of the Garage personnel. (Garage
Annex School workshop catalog.)
Organization Sponsored Workshops
There are a wide range of workshops offered by the Guild
of Book Workers (GBW) and the Canadian Bookbinders and
Book Artists Guild (CBBAG). GBW workshops are com-
monly one or two day long events, organized by the regional
chapters. They provide excellent supplemental study op-
portunities for learning specific techniques but could not
be considered an exclusive source of training. The CBBAG
workshops, on the other hand, are organized into a complete
program curriculum, offered mainly in one-week segments
(similar to the workshop based program of the American
Academy of Bookbinding). CBBAG students are able to take
the workshops independently, but many combine the entire
curriculum into their complete training. (Smith, Shelagh.
Private email. January 2003.) The CBBAG curriculum is also
available on video for home study.
The Guild of Book Workers also holds an annual Standards
of Excellence Seminar that includes a series of lectures and
demonstrations by masters of the book arts.
Private Lessons
Private lessons are another common approach to learning,
and may be highly personalized to the needs of the student.
While the possibilities for independent binders to offer ap-
prenticeships may be economically limited, private teaching
can be an additional source of income.
Priscilla Spitler of Hands On Bookbinding in Smithville,
TX explains that in her bindery, Due to production demands,
most of the classes offered at the studio are short run series or
workshops. Spitler offers classes for beginners and accom-
modates the needs of serious students with more advanced
7
teaching. A copy of her teaching outline is available in the
appendix. (Spitler, Priscilla. Outline for Teaching Hand Book-
binding.)
Until recently, Bill Streeter of the Silver Maple Bindery in
Northampton, MA offered a three month intensive course
for one student at a time, after which capable students were
sometimes offered an extended internship. By offering an in-
timate look at running the business in addition to the assigned
projects, this course contained aspects of an apprenticeship
combined with the structure of a program. A former student
of Streeters, Barry Spence, explains:
One thing that isnt written on the syllabus but
that was invaluable was being shown in exhaus-
tive detail how to run a bindery and survivehow
to price work and think about the business side of
it. Bill was extremely open about all of this, to the
point of showing his taxes! You also learned a lot
about tools, machinery maintenance and where
and how to get them. (Spence, Barry. Private email.
December 2002.)
The program itself was based on the three-month officer
training at West Point during WWII, whose graduates were
known as the 90 Day Wonders, Streeter recalls. The style of
training was intended to give a solid overview of the job, the
vocabulary, and the basic tools of the trade in a short period
of time to allow them to hit the ground running. Streeter
acknowledges that his students wouldnt finish the course
knowing how to do everything, but would have a foundation
in the fundamental use of tools and materials, and have some
experience with the most common types of jobs that book-
binders face on a regular basis. (Streeter, Bill. Phone conver-
sation. January 2, 2003.) The course syllabus is available in
the appendix.
Internships and On-the Job Training
On-the-job training (OJT) may be the closest thing to a
traditional apprenticeship available in North America, and
is itself essentially a traditional form of training. The repeti-
tious work and training described previously as a key part of
apprentice training is not replicable in a program setting. The
pressures of working in a production setting can be an invalu-
able part of the process of learning the craft. Obviously noth-
ing can prepare one better for a job than doing the job itself!
The limitations of OTJ training are tied up in the same eco-
nomic pressures of production that provide the opportunity
to develop speed and efficiency and enhance skills the need
for production imposes the familiar structure of specializa-
tion. OTJ training may provide the opportunity to master
a specialty, but probably wont offer the chance to learn the
whole bookbinding process.
Internships are an important follow up to other forms of
training. Bench experience comes only with time, and no
program or workshop can provide enough of that to gradu-
ate a master binder or conservator. Deb Wender of the
Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, MA
says, Internships are essential. Programs have a limited time
to convey the information they believe to be most impor-
tantso something has got to be left out. You also simply
dont become skilled and knowledgeable in the length of time
programs have to teach you. (Wender, Deborah. Private
email. January 2003.)
Selfteaching/ Home study
Self-teaching is probably the most common approach to
learning bookbinding in North America. There are obvious
potential problems pitfalls, but due to the large distances in
the United States and Canada, many find it difficult to travel
to existing study opportunities. Some of the tools of this
approach include bookbinding manuals and workshop videos.
The process is often supplemented by attending short work-
shops. Peter Verheyen is working on an annotated bibliogra-
phy of bookbinding manuals that should prove very helpful to
autodidacts as well as everyone else. (Verheyen, Peter. Private
email discussion. January 2003.)
One of the most promising developments in this area is the
video based Home Study Program developed by the Canadian
Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild (CBBAG). The program
incorporates their core workshop curriculum, which includes
Bookbinding I, II and III, Finishing, Restoration and Repair,
Endpapers, and General Information on Leather. Paper Treat-
ments for Binders is another segment being considered for
the Home Study Program. The focus of the CBBAG program
is on restoration and artist books, and the objective is to turn
out trained bookbinders who are able to function indepen-
dently whether as professional or hobbyist. (Smith, Shelagh.
Private email. January 2003.) The Home Study Program is
available in two forms: The Resource and Reference Stream
(RRS) that includes the purchase of the videos and manual,
and the Monitoring Stream (MS) that offer the students
comment and critique of their work. Course outlines can be
found in the appendix.
University/College Programs
The following are just three examples of University/Col-
lege based programs. They all share a whole book approach,
and benefit from the interdisciplinary community of their
settings.
8
The University of Alabama offers a M.F.A. in the
Book Arts
This program takes a multidisciplinary approach,
including printing, paper making and bookbinding to
develop book artists who have well-honed techni-
cal knowledge of the various facets of contemporary
bookmaking, and who have an understanding of the
historical evolution of the book including its mate-
riality, and the role of the book in society. Courses
explore the reconciliation of modern sensibilities
with historic craft. (University of Alabama MFA in
Book Arts program Website.)
Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and
Paper Arts
This 60 credit hour Master of Fine Arts in
Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts is designed
for students who have completed the BFA or BA,
professional artists, writers, librarians, performers
or educators interested in career development and
creative enrichment in the book and paper arts. Stu-
dents develop a personal focus within the book and
paper arts, stretching and expanding the art form
in many directions including installation, set design,
and performance as well as the traditional forms
of the book and paper arts. This interdisciplinary
approach offers an introduction to all five art forms
(art, music, dance, drama, and creative writing)
and the opportunity to collaborate with other art-
ists while being provided with a broad, esthetically
sophisticated background in the function of the book
and paper arts. Understanding the past, present, and
future of the book and paper arts and the relation-
ship to the culture from which they spring is stressed
as is technical mastery and the development of a
strong personal voice. (Columbia College Chicago
for Book and Paper Arts Website.)
The University of Iowa Center for the Book
The University of Iowa Center for the Book
(UICB) offers instruction in papermaking, calligra-
phy, fine printing and artists books, bookbinding,
and other arts and crafts of the book and supports
the study of the book in culture and the use of the
book as a source of artifactual evidence in scholarly
research. It works with departments and faculty to
establish and offer courses of interest to students
in their own departmental disciplines. The UICB
encourages the open exchange of new ideas about
the history, present evolution, and future of the
book through its curriculum, and through lectures,
conferences, and related publications. (University of
Iowa Center for the Book Website.)
Instructor Julia Leonard describes the graduate certificate
program as a well rounded immersion into the book arts;
printing, paper making, binding, and calligraphy. The students
are looking to examine how it all relates to book studiesto
put it all in context. (Leonard, Julia. Phone conversation.
January 23, 2003.) Leonard explains that the students in this
program want to get a taste of all aspects of book produc-
tion, and points out that students interested in more advanced
study of traditional bookbinding have the opportunity to work
with Gary Frost in the Conservation Labs.
Book History Programs
While Rare Book School is not a hands-on training pro-
gram, it provides important historical knowledge that is lack-
ing or limited in many other programs and workshops.
Rare Book School (RBS) is an independent, non-
profit institute supporting the study of the history of
books and printing and related subjects. Founded in
1983, it moved to its present home at the University
of Virginia in 1992.
Each year, RBS offers approximately 40 five-day
non-credit courses on topics concerning old and
rare books, manuscripts, and special collections. The
educational and professional prerequisites for RBS
courses vary. Some courses are broadly directed to-
ward antiquarian booksellers, book collectors, book-
binders, conservators, teachers, and professional
and avocational students of the history of books and
printing. Others are primarily intended for archivists
and for research and rare book librarians and cura-
tors. (Rare Book School Website.)
The preceding examples of bookbinding training oppor-
tunities are only a selection of the many options available in
North America today, and do not represent the only possibili-
ties within the given categories. These examples illustrate
a complex variety of approaches and contentan array of
options that must appear as a maze to newcomers to the craft.
The information here and in the appendix only scratches the
surface of what could be collected and assembled for the use
of prospective students. All of the instructors interviewed for
this article were excited by the idea of sharing more infor-
mation about the content of their programs and generously
provided the curriculum and course syllabi found in the ap-
pendix at <http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/alte-
peterappendix.pdf>. Please note, course content may change
over time.
9
Websites Referenced
Ellenport, Sam. The Future of Hand Bookbinding. Har-
court Bindery. Boston. 1993. <http://www.philo-
biblon.com/FutureOfHandBookbinding.htm>
North Bennet Street School <http://www.nbss.org/
programs/bookBinding.asp>
Preservation / Conservation Studies at University of
Texas at Austin <http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/pro-
grams/pcs/>
American Academy of Bookbinding, Telluride, CO.
<http://www.ahhaa.org/AAB.html>
Garage Annex School for Book Arts, Easthampton, MA.
<http://www.garageannexschool.com/>
University of Alabama MFA in Book Arts <http://www.
bookarts.ua.edu/>
Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper
Arts <http://www.bookandpaper.org/>
University of Iowa Center for the Book <http://www.
uiowa.edu/~ctrbook/>
Rare Book School, Charlottesville, VA <http://rare-
bookschool.org>
Jeffrey Altepeter was born in Indiana where he grew
up apprenticing in his fathers picture framing shop. This
work instilled an appreciation for quality craftsmanship
and presentation, and hand skills that have carried over to
bookbinding. A graduate of the bookbinding program at
North Bennet Street School as well as the diploma pro-
gram at the American Academy of Bookbinding, Jeff also
gained experience on the job while working for Har-
court Bindery and Harvard University. He now operates
a private studio specializing in custom books, boxes, and
other presentation materials and continues to participate
in a variety of workshops. Jeff is currently president of
the New England Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers.
10
In the time I have known him, several ideas in the fields of
optics and electromagnetism have reared their heads cobra
fashion as an alert to look at the visual patterns these disci-
plines embrace. Since the bulk of my cartographic imaginals is
contained in the methods of abstracting these realities, it was
no stretch to bring to the commission the microscope and
the lodestone as the demarcation tools for the investigation of
dust. I was also trying to solve a construction problem in the
house and sought the solution in one of my grandfathers car-
pentry encyclopedias only to discover a section in one de-
voted to electromagnetism and annotated with his weird little
scribblings. (What was he building out there in the shop?!)
The doctor is old and as he has often said, You should
speak to me quickly as my time is short perfect motivation
for a drum leaf binding as they are swift to do within certain
parameters. This style of book is what I have always wanted to
build since the earliest ideas for visual books were occurring
to me. The book structure and systems involve no sewing, an
irony that doesnt escape me as I am involved in the launch of
high-end sewing frames into the world. The drum leaf is all
about adhesives and co-tangent layers. It might be the perfect
system for one who draws.
Less quick are the manuscript pages themselves because
the ways in which I work are slow to do. From experience, I
know that if I make up the subassemblies, the binding can be
fabricated in one working day. This does not take into account
time for finishing.
Like most inventions or developments, the drum leaf bind-
ing did not come born out of the world in a flash of white
light. Instead, a variety of processes, methods, and technolo-
gies were in place and simply ready for amalgamation, in-
spired by a couple of book experiences I had several years ago.
While at the University of Utah in 1997, I saw a book in
Special Collections that would offer up the pivot on which
this whole matrix would move. The book, by Andreas Cel-
larius and entitled Atlas Coelestis seu Harmonia Macrocos-
mica [circa 1600] is a most amazing atlas of the heavens. With
pre- and post-Copernican ideas, astrologies and markers,
it contains a richness not obtainable except by firsthand
experience. This book is a perfect reason why a manuscript
bookmaker needs to see original work. It was not, however,
the binding that would redirect my thinking, but the impact of
the engravings that that would add a new methodology to my
deranged imagination.
The images, of an astrological/astronomical subject, are
composed in the formalist manner of the time, engraved
directly into copper and I assume colored by hand. What was
astonishing to me was that, although I was familiar with the
The Transcendental DRUM LEAF
By Tim Ely
I want to discuss here a recent commission I received for a
manuscript book. I will describe the making of the physical
object as well as attempt to place it in a historical context or
at least an aesthetic syntax. As this book is in progress at the
time of this writing, I will show details of the drawings and
fabrication notes to illustrate its current progress. Sketchbook
51 (below)will serve as a model for this commission.
Unlike in the past, I now often fully model a major work
I am undertaking. For one thing, as creativity cannot be del-
egated, I work on my own without assistance. So often a piece
will spontaneously take on a new direction. This is of value
but can sometimes completely derail a book binding as it can
insert too much new information. If problems show up in the
process they can be resolved in a more conscientious manner
if encountered in a less valued mode such as the model. Often
these models are the same scale as the manuscript book.
The commission was given to me by a local physician, now
over 90 and in exceptionally good health. He has a head full of
ideas in constant collision and has marvelous stories and the
experience to back them up. It was an honor to accept this
deal.
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book from seeing it illustrated elsewhere, seeing the beast in
the flesh allowed me to see that the engravings are attached
to throw-out guards so that they open perfectly to the center
of the fold, meaning I could see into that no-mans-land of
the gutter and the expression that is carried fully across the
spread. The idea had occurred to me many times to begin the
images of my own work in the exact center of the galactic
folio but my conventional English-European hybrid binding
techniques render that idea rather impractical because of the
gutter. I then recalled seeing a book in Daniel Kelms lab that
involved single folios, one sided, and thought there might be
something in that recipe that could apply to what I was now
envisioning.
Long before the term drum leaf showed up and before
the current refinements, I utilized what I imagined Daniel
might do. As he is a fire personality, he has long favored the
dry mount press and hand-held tacking iron as his weapons
of choice. (I, being more aqueous in nature, favor wet, very
wet, adhesives.) So, my first books designed to open flat and
have imagery flowing uninterrupted over the center of the
spread had the covering materials, endpapers, and leaves of
the manuscript fully fused together using a dry mount press,
thus, technically not yet a drum leaf. In addition, I adapted
G. Frost, Esqs flat-backed, breakaway spine.
Amalgam
After making this first manuscript book, some properties of
this formal system became immediately apparent.
1. Brevity: Up to this time my books had an almost fevered
intensity not unlike flatulent theological commentary that
is, if an idea was good, the book could be extensive and
exhaustive, with sometimes over 40 imaged sides of ten folios
and taking sometimes two years to complete. Within the
drum leaf system, I work on only one side of the folio and in
practical terms this means less time at the drawing board and
almost no assiduous design problems as one would have with
a folio imaged on both sides. I have found certain ideas can
most elegantly be compressed.
2. Moisture: The use of minimal amounts of wet adhesive
eliminates many of the stumpers normally found in the pro-
cesses of bookbinding.
3. Design of the folios: Working on one side means that the
back of the folio is blank. It actually can be a carrier for covert
information only to be seen by a conservator somewhere
down the path and long after I have entered the Bardo region.
Drawing and design cannot be separated out or distilled
into categoric regions but rather the one is done simultane-
ously with the other. In the drum leaf method, the application
of various liquids for sizing, coloring, and stabilizing the paper
are as critical to the design as the more rigorous scratchings
that go onto the final surface. With this system I can size with
materials unconventional to the standard codex form gela-
tin and whiting, as an example, for a silverpoint drawing.
Folios or single leaves can be passed through an etching press
to receive a skin of ink or be easily worked using a stamp-
ing press for anodization. Flexibility is a means to liberation.
Printed folios are less likely to be lost to the proofing process
if only one side of the sheet is printed. There are antecedents
for these ideas in fixtures like the French fold.
By drumming I make reference to the conventional and
venerable vellum book fabrication method where the skin is
attached to the board along a leading edge rather than over an
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entire surface. Adhesives are kept to a minimum. By con-
trolling the areas of moisture one can dominate that pesky
quantity of expansion and contraction that causes so much
aggravation.
Overall, what the system provides is a means to express
a potent but abbreviated set of visual ideas in a streamlined
manner. It can be elegant and utilize all the attendant features
of any other high-end binding. It is all in the aesthetic and
technical approach and levels of refinement.
In the time since I made the first drum leaf binding there
have been many refinements and incremental developments.
Small things such as adhesive delivery methods and large ones
such as utilizing a common repair scheme so as to fabricate
folios from single leaves after imaging in a printing press
which, had they been printed as folios, would have exceed-
ed the capacity of my press. By simply dividing the paper to fit
the press, then bringing two parts together in the drum leaf
binding process, a whole new graphic capability is intro-
duced: new tensions are more expressively teased into unfold-
ing and untapped pattern formations are brought into play.
I begin the commissioned book by determining the dimen-
sional format of the leaf. I decide on the single leaf method
rather than the folio as I want a very graphic division between
the cribriform grid on the recto and the wave form on the
verso.
The format coordinates are eventually arrived at [See be-
low] a root three rectangle will nicely accommodate some 5 x
5 grids and be unstable enough to allow for some spontaneous
compositional flashes.
The paper choice is almost always the same for me my
industry standard Arches Cover white. It is astonishingly con-
sistent in its caliper at point-zero-one-eight (.018) inches and
that thickness, being rather close in thickness to a generalized
leather turn-in, makes it also a handy material for linings and
filler sheets. However, as it is primarily a printmakers sheet,
the sizing is a bit light for my requirements so I size the sheets
13
with gelatin, about .25 ounces to 500 ml of distilled water.
This is brushed on with marvelous hairy Japanese brushes
and allowed to sit before hanging on a line to dry. Afterwards,
they are pressed for a day.
During this drying time, other drawing materials are gath-
ered and the schematics for the book are diagrammed in my
sketchbook. Supplementary reading is either done or gathered
for easy access, pens are cleaned, and the environment made
ready.
To summarize: I have designed here a full leather, drum leaf
binding made up of eight sections in addition to the endpa-
pers. To do this, I have made up 16 single sheets measuring
out in a root three rectangle drafted out from my propor-
tional positioning template.
Early in the development of a book, as I am working up
the design and reading what reference material I have, I look
for the poetry that is interior to the science or philosophy of
the narrative that will drive the book. The title is there, I only
need find it. Once found, the title page is designed. I favor
a formal impact and seldom vary from it. The type is Gill
Sans and, depending on the color charge of the book, may be
foiled in gold, an anodized color, or black. The title page is a
simple device used to place a point of division between the
endpapers and the launch of the book. It is a place where the
signature can be seen and the date locates the book in time.
An occasional colophon page will locate the book in space and
describe some of the materials and processes used.
The gelatinized sheets have now dried and are gathered
with the title page on top and the leaves given a number so as
to mimic the notion of a signature in the old parlance. This is
simply a guide for me to get the drawings back into a particu-
lar order, especially if I take the sheets out of order to do any
eccentric surface methods as I work up the designs things
like passing the sheet through the etching press against a plate
to perhaps calendar it or take it to a new level of implicit
texture.
Designs begin with pencil and ink to make geometrical de-
terminant points on the paper plane specific locations in the
folio continuum. Color fields are delivered with pens, hairy
brushes (sheep, badger, mink, or wolf) or airbrushes. Dry pig-
ments are rubbed vigorously into the paper so as to avoid the
need for aerosol fixatives.
Endpapers are made up for the book the outer endpaper
is decorated usually using a paste medium, resin and pigment
mix, and simple demarcation tools so as to not overcrowd
the charm of that first entrance into the book there will be
sufficient visual pressure on the link between the exterior-
ized binding and its gloss and the manuscript anyway so I find
there is no need to push it. A second toned folio follows the
first, less vigorously decorated but sufficient to link it to the
next imaged leaf which is the title page. It pleases me to think
of the linear flow of the book as something musical or sonical-
ly poetic in the way that a theme may be stated at the outset
on the top board of the book and be then softened, restated
more dramatically, varied back into a different restatement,
and finally resolved in a wave crash of chaos and cacophony.
Once the imaging is complete, the individual leaves are
again checked for orientation and are hinged together using
a strong Japanese paper and paste. First the reverse side edge
is burnished to reduce the caliper by about .002 inches. The
hinging is simply done in the manner used to repair a dam-
aged section. I color the Japanese paper with dilute ink so
the paper picks up elements from the manuscript leaves.
The space between the leaves is subtle, but it still reads as an
otherness. When the hinge units are dry and the tailings cut
off top and bottom, short angled lines are drawn now, as glue
stops, if Im planning to endband the book. If glue from the
drumming process, coming up in a later step goes beyond
these pencil lines, I will be either forcing a needle through a
fused bond of adhesive or tying down through the active cen-
ter part of the folio. (See illustration page 11, right.)
With the interior voice of the book mostly complete, I
work up the subassembly parts. Given that the book is a full
leather drum leaf, some preliminary work comes next.
Boards are made using a stable mounting board. Two lay-
ers are drummed together at the four edges and trimmed to
the approximate size of the book, within .25 inches, to be
trimmed later. The board is further stabilized and made more
rigid by inserting small carbon rods into drilled holes, gluing
them in place and, with abrasives, reducing any extra length,
making their presence invisible. The rods keep the boards
from shearing, as all laminates have a tendency to move later-
14
ally. The rod placement pattern is usually a diamond with a
point in the center so five are used in all. This makes for a
very rigid board. [See above.]
A full leather binding is usually assumed to use one piece
of leather to cover the entire book. In this full leather drum
leaf, the book is fully covered in leather, but it starts as three
separate pieces. A strip of leather is prepared for the spine by
paring it thin and laminating it with adhesives to interleaving
paper. It is polished and given a mordant size for later tooling.
Leather for the boards is pared and paper-mounted for stabil-
ity. All leather is carefully pressed and allowed to settle.
All the endpapers and formed sections are gathered and
checked a final time and put between waste boards binders
board rough-cut to fit. The book spine is rubbed with a folder
to flatten each sections radius, creating a platform for the
adhesive film.
Under mild pressure the spinal column of the book is
glued using PVA. When dry, the precise board thickness, now
known and measurable, is transferred to lines parallel to the
spinal horizon and the book is backed to about 60 degrees
not a full 90 as is conventional. Usually, I would round and
back, but as most of my drum leaf bindings are thin, rounding
first would become a hump, so I simply back it into a curve.
This gives me the look of a rounded spine with shoulders that
are in proportion to the thickness of the book. (Later, the
back edge of the board where it meets the spine will also be
cut to 60 degrees and beveled gently to meet the shoulder
perfectly, while compensating for the covering leather.) The
shoulder must not project above the board nor can the board
be above the shoulder. I am after a good match. The angle of
the shoulder and this board edge bevel will be an inverted
equilateral triangle.
After removing the waste boards, the spine is lined with a
Japanese paper or a polyester web and PVA. The lining goes
out onto the first and last leaves a short distance, not exceed-
ing .25 inches.
The drumming sequence is critical. Now that the spine of
the book is relatively stable and glued, lined, and DRY, the
spine edge of the leaves is drummed with a line of PVA ap-
plied about .25 inches wide, not extending beyond the pencil
lines drawn in a previous step. The space left without PVA is
where the endband thread is to go.(See illustration page 11,
right.)
The drum leaf book is a full-adhesive, non-sewn binding.
The glued spine mimics the paperback book with all its self-
annihilation tendencies and the application of adhesive to the
section exteriors mimics the tipped-on endpaper also prone
to tear-off and disintegration. By next drumming the foredge,
the whole affair is stabilized at three points and lateral mobil-
ity is reduced to near zero, making for a very stable object
15
as stable as I imagine it can be, being made of paper and skin
unlike the paperback.
When the three points of the book the spine itself, the
spine edge and foredge of the leaves are fully adhered and
dry, the book and prepared boards are trimmed together on
three sides and the edges are decorated. As this is a very black
book, the edges are treated with graphite and charcoal in a
wax base and polished to a slate-like gloss. The boards are
marked up to retain their top, front, and back orientation,
then set aside.
Endbanding follows and is fairly conventional, using a single
color thread, one needle, and very small cores attached to the
book for stability. The thread end is glued on and allowed to
dry and the sewing commences from the center, moving to-
ward the left and when complete to that side, swings around
the back and completes itself by wrapping to the right. There
are many ways to do this and I employ it so as to have the
continuity of the board square around the spine of the book.
Nothing looks worse than the uneven drop from board to
spine where an endband has been omitted.
To prepare for the spine covering, the length of the spine
arc is measured. It is close to 20 millimeters so I divide that
number by 1.618 and to get 12.36 which I subtract from
20 and get 7.64 mm. This number is the golden cut of the
20 and provides the relative location of the line to which
the leather spine will be placed on the first leaf. From the
shoulder, I measure out to 7.64mm on the first leaf and make
a divider mark. A pencil line is drawn this distance from the
shoulder and parallel to it. This line is also measured and
drawn on the back of the book. Accuracy is paramount! (See
illustration on pages 16-17.)
In order to accurately cut the leather spine covering to final
size, I often make a paper template first by wrapping a strip
of paper over the spine, then marking it where the pencil
lines are, front and back. I also mark the length of the book
on it and add an appropriate length for turn-ins and head cap
formations on both ends about 3/8 inch. I use the dimen-
sions marked on this template to final cut my leather spine.
Any required paring on the paper-lined leather is done to
ensure a clean fit and, with a bit of paste, the head and tail
are accurately turned. Immediately, the leather is dry/wet
molded to fit the spine and the area over the spine and onto
the first leaf is worked so as to mark it for repositioning. The
leather piece is removed and adhesive is quickly applied to the
first leaf between the shoulder and the pencil line. The leather
is replaced into its position and worked with a bone folder
to adhere. A quick press with a clean, sharp press board will
set the adhesive. When the book can be safely handled, the
leather is shaped tightly to the spine and adhered to the last
leaf on the back in the same manner. There is no adhesive on
the spine. Press again to fully consolidate. After completing
the head caps, I let it dry completely.
The drummed cover boards were previously trimmed with
the book in order to achieve parallelograms exactly equal to
the text block. Now that the caps and endbands are in place,
the board squares are too short. They are amped up to size
using strips of hard- sized watercolor paper which calipers
to .018 with the width cut to the thickness of the boards. I
use at least three layers on the three edges and leave the spine
side free. This is done until the boards are just slightly over
the endband height so that the leather turn-ins will provide
the final layer and requisite dimension. When dry, carefully
sand to remove any high spots or burrs. The board corners are
reinforced with aliphatic resin glue and miter lines are drawn
on the four corners.
I want the boards to not only fit relative to the book but in
elevation as well, so I sight along the back side and imagine
what Ill see when thin, paper-bonded leather is wrapped
around it. What will the thickness be? I sometimes test this
with a similar piece so as to template out my thinking. I usu-
ally bevel the boards at the spine edge at an angle that echoes
the 60-degree bevel of the backed shoulder. All this is done to
prevent some of the lever action from prematurely activating
the machine.
The leather is drummed to the outer edges of the boards
with paths of adhesive about 15 mm wide. A hard roller
quickly sets the adhesive and the board is turned over and
the four corners are mitered as accurately as I can and glued
down. As the leather was pared to around .018, an infill of
paper of the same thickness is drummed into place on the
insides of the boards to level them up. Because the boards
are off the book, I can tool, drill, press or affect the boards
without any danger to the book itself. When some or all of
the exterior treatment is complete, it is a simple matter to
apply an adhesive to the first leaf where the board is going
to rest. I use a 3/8-inch-wide metal straight edge lined up
with the edge of the text block and draw a pencil line on all 4
sides, 3/8-inch in from the edges, to guide the application of
the adhesive. The adhesive is applied up to the pencil line and
the cover board is carefully and accurately set in place. A short
time in the press against clean boards and soft clean paper will
set the board. This step is repeated for the other side and the
book will be essentially complete.
Once the book is finished, a box appropriate for the book
will be constructed, full documentation written and, when
any other errant conditions are noted and fully satisfied, the
book will be delivered.
16
17
18
As with all systems and structures, change is the only con-
stant. Since my adoption of it as a major mode of expressive
bookmaking, the drum leaf binding has undergone at least five
departures from the original outline and contains an uncount-
able number (which only means I didnt count em!) of minor
developments. As I complete this writing and look toward the
completion of this commission, I dont expect all parts of the
fabrication process to be relevant a year from now. And so it
goes around.
Timothy Ely began making books as early as 1957 (he
started young). An interest in art, UFO images, alchemy,
science, comic books and odd religious arcana led him
from painting and design into bookbinding. He holds a
BFA in drawing and printmaking from Western Wash-
ington University and an MFA from the University of
Washington. An NEA grant in 1981 took him to Japan
and Europe for training in the traditional methods of
book fabrication. He has collaborated with ethno-bota-
nist Terence McKenna on Synesthesia, a limited edition
book published in 1992 by Granary Books. In 1994, he
was awarded an NEA Western States Arts Federation
Grant. His first trade book, The Flight into Egypt, was
published in 1995 by Chronicle Books. His one-of-a-kind
books are in public and private collections worldwide.

Editing and advice: Ann Marra & Randy Hankins [many
thanks]. All errors otherwise not caught are mine.
19
Conservation and Tools: An Inquiry into
Nature and Meaning
Jeffrey S. Peachey
Most commonly, all interactions between an
object conserved and a conservator are mediated
through the use of a tool. This article examines the
nature and meaning of interacting with a tool, and
its tripartite effects on conservator, tool and object
being conserved. Because using a tool often results
in its being embodied with us, it is usually not
consciously noticed. Some general societal attitudes
toward working with ones hands may also con-
tain some clues why the use of tools receives scant
critical attention. The ontological status of tools, as
distinct from art or other objects will also be briefly
examined. By paying attention to the types of rela-
tions that develop when using a tool, perhaps we can
improve the skill level of the treatments performed.
In conservation literature, there are many articles dealing
with specific treatments to artifacts or with the ethics and
philosophy of a conservators values and how they affect an
artifact. There are none, however, that examine the meaning
and function of the tools that conservators use and how they
influence both the conservator and the object being treat-
ed.[1] This is an unfortunate oversight since most interactions
between conservator and object are mediated through the use
of a tool. For example, in book conservation, which is still
closely linked to the historical craft of bookbinding, tradi-
tional tools are constantly used in bench work.
For the purposes of this essay, a hand tool is defined as a
tool where the user provides both the source of power and
the manipulation to act on an object.[2]
Working with a tool is a continual interrelationship be-
tween conservator, object and tool; it is a complex, uncon-
scious relationship of hand skills, intention, the limits of what
the tool can accomplish, monetary, material and other limita-
tions. Most commonly, the whole process is simply referred
to as getting a feel for it. It is largely unconscious and rarely
noticed unless something goes wrongthe tool breaks, needs
sharpening, etc.
Consider the following example of a canoe paddle The
handle at the end of the shaft is shaped to fit the hand through
a variety of positions and also serves to twist the paddle for
certain strokes. The shaft becomes the point for the applica-
tion of power, its length determined by the height of the user,
the height of the seat, the type of canoeing and the style of
paddling. The blade propels the water. The smaller area near
the top of the shaft enables the user to keep the paddle closer
to the canoe, making paddling less exhausting, and allows for
easier manipulation under the water for certain strokes. The
face of the blade is not flat, but slightly tapered from a cen-
terline this and the laminations of poplar and quarter sawn
white oak give it appropriate weight, flexibility, strength and
responsiveness.
We do not notice all these aspects of a paddle in use be-
cause because they have become embodied.[4] In this case,
embodiment refers to a tool we are so unconsciously aware
of that we do not have to pay any attention to use it. Using a
wood plane, whittling a stick or using a pen to write, the tool
becomes an extension of ourselves, and we think no more
about it than we do about how to walk. The number of tools
we encounter each day is astounding, and, most of the time,
we embody them and barely realize they are there.
Embodiment depends on unconscious feedback through all
the senses. One can tell if a scissors is cutting well just by the
sound, for example. These subtle forms of feedback become
apparent by their absence in virtual reality. In the Hong Kong
Space Museum, I operated a virtual reality glider through the
Grand Canyon. Although I was lying on my stomach, control-
ling the pitch and side movement in a glider-like contraption,
there was only visual feedback through a computer monitor.
I had a difficult time controlling it.[5] I later realized this was
because all the senses are necessary to maintain an embodi-
ment relation.
The embodiment experience is more easily entered into,
and more powerful, if the user applies physical power to the
tool. It leads to a rhythmic, trance-like state, unifying the
mind and body of the user with the tool and with the thing.
The synchronization of breath, pumping blood and exertion
of muscles synthesize together with the tool and object into
a larger organic whole. This relation is not noticed when it
is happening because consciousness would break the rela-
tionship. It is a feeling of being in the moment for lack of
a better term. Much of the satisfaction that is derived from
working with hand tools is the result of this embodiment.[6]
Embodiment is a pleasurable experience and tool users try
to maintain, encourage and recall this relationship outside the
use of the tool. Much like a cuddling a child, fingering rosary
beads or spinning a Tibetan prayer wheel, the rubbing, polish-
ing, cleaning, sharpening and organization of toolsoften to
an obsessive degreespeak to maintaining a physical bond
with the tool. It could be viewed as a kind of foreplay to the
act of using the tool.
20
Extending the sexual metaphor further, tools possess what
I call a progenitive naturethey physically enable the user to
shape things into objects and are unique in this respect. Only
a tool, through union with a user, can give birth to an object,
hence, the commonly heard statement of makers referring to
objects they have made as their children.
Another reference to embodiment is the common practice
of ownership marks. This is not simply to deter theft; it is to
claim identity with the tool.[7] This tool and its power are a
part of me, literally. Sometimes a date of acquisition, which
may be regarded as the tools birthday, is also marked.
In addition to naming, the wearing of tools also serves as
an intimate, symbolic display of the power a tool confers on
its owner. These tools are a part of my body and they literally
are embodied. Many trades have specialized aprons or belts
that not only keep frequently used tools handy, but display this
power to the world. Perhaps the most extreme example is
the series of engravings by Martin Engelbrecht that depict a
variety of trades wearing clothes made out of their tools.
Many of my ideas are inspired by reading Heidegger[8],
especially The Question Concerning Technology, and The
Origin of the Artwork. However, he had a limited and
romantic view of the craftsmans working process. Rather,
I consider a useful way to think about our relationship with
tools as follows in the diagram below.
The triad of tool, conservator and object forms a very
stable relationship when in use, each affects the other, when
at rest, nothing changes except for any chemical or physical
deterioration over time. This stasis is one of the main reasons
it is difficult to derive meaning from a tool when it is at rest
nothing is going on. The user acts on the tool, which in
turn acts on the object, which acts on the user, and so on. The
tool plays as important a role in determining the symbolic and
material quality in shaping the object as the maker does.
One factor that is often not noticed is the influence of the
user on the tool. Consider the next example.
Originally the cutting edge of this cobblers knife, facing
downward, was a straight line. It has been sharpened so many
times that the blade is almost worn into two pieces. Perhaps
the user, over many years, adjusted the shape of the blade
for a special purpose, maybe it was careless sharpening, or
perhaps a distorted sharpening stone. Whatever the reason, I
find examples like this extremely beautiful they speak to an
enduring relationship between user, tool and thing that takes
place over many, many years.
Perhaps because of this beauty, tools, generally very early
tools, are sometimes displayed as art or artifacts.[9] Of-
ten, these tools fail to garner interest because the viewer
is expecting an art or artifact experience and they are not
prepared or knowledgeable enough to appreciate them for the
tools they are and relationship they had with their previous
wielders. Since viewing a tool is antithetical to interpreting
most of its meaning, viewers often concentrate on decorated
tools. By concentrating on these external attributes, the
viewer is drawn further away from the true meaning of the
tool itself. Some contemporary artists are using references
to tools, often making a comment on functionality by making
non-functional tools.[10] Again, this seems to lead viewers
away from the meanings of the tools. Because tools self-ref-
erentiality develops in use, they reveal little of their meaning
when looked at. In many ways, a tool displayed is a shadow of
a tool; the physical remains of its use event.
Tools transmit a physical action when they are in use.
Although they are often designed to perform one single task,
they expand the physical range of the user, and this action is
not mediated through symbolism. It is immediate and physi-
cal. The meaning of a tool is self-referential because it only
occurs in use. A tool, unlike art, contains its potentialities of
meaning from the moment it is first used, while art acquires
it as it ages. This self-referentiality also insures, to a large
degree, that tools transcend time and cultural differences.
This is an important difference between art and tools: be-
cause of a tools self-referentiality, they tend to be more uni-
versal than art. A Stone Age hammer or an Egyptian bow drill
is still recognizable as such. Art, however often shifts radically
in meaning over time and requires a specialized knowledge to
interpret its symbolism. For anyone unfamiliar with Bud-
dhism, the various hand positions of the Buddha in statues has
virtually no symbolic meaning. Across cultures, however, it is
easy to identify and use tools, both historical and contempo-
rary, because the basic nature of their physical actions has not
radically changed.
Using a tool requires hand skills or physical knowledge,
which is usually thought of as easier to acquire than intellec-
tual knowledge because it is functional.[11] Perhaps func-
21
tionality is thought of as mere problem solving, something
simple.[12] Physical knowledge, sometimes referred to as
muscle memory, is difficult to discuss, largely unconscious,
and mainly taught by demonstration, imitation and experien-
tial learning. It is also difficult to teach. I have, on occasion,
heard myself exasperatedly exclaim while teaching, You
just do it like this, foolishly expecting the student to visu-
ally grasp the entire range of subtle hand manipulations I am
experiencing. The student remains as befuddled as ever.
Perhaps it is the unconscious nature of this knowledge that
causes it to be overlooked the fact that a tool is embodied
in use. The use of tools is a tactile, personal and individual
experience. They are functional. Of all objects, tools come
the closest to pure functionality. Perhaps as more and more of
our reality is mediated through digital and virtual culture, we
will feel more of a need to engage with, and pay attention to,
the tools we use. Only by paying strict critical attention to a
tools interaction with us and the artifact we are treating can
we attain a higher level of skills during treatments.
Endnotes
1. Although many conservators, myself included, are so-
called tool junkies.
2. David Pye, in his excellent book, The Nature and Art of
Workmanship, feels the source of power is irrelevant. I will
show later that it is an important aspect of the embodiment
relationship.
3. Some may question weather a paddle is a tool, but it
interacts with a user and thing (water) and causes changes in
the thing. The duration of change is inconsequential.
4. I am borrowing this term from Don Idhe.
5. And ended up virtually killing myself a couple of times.
6. I would also speculate that traces of the embodiment re-
lation remain in the object being made. Perhaps it is the gen-
eral impression of something that we consider well made.
7. Medieval books and Greek cups are sometimes marked
I belong to ______.
8. Especially the concept of a tool in use.
9. This distinction seems particularly prey to various trends
in museological circles lately I find more tools displayed as
art, rather than artifacts, although the boundary is very fluid.
10. The National Building Museum in Washington D.C.
probably has the largest collection of so called tool art.
11. Although most contemporary educational theories
stress a non-hierarchical model of multiple intelligences, this
view has yet to filter into the general culture
12. Despite there being no commonly accepted definition
of art, I would suggest that functionality is perhaps the crucial
factor if it is functional, its not art.
References
Heidegger, Martin. 1977. The Question Concerning Tech-
nology. New York: Harper and Row.
Ihde, Don. 1990. Technology and the Lifeworld: from
Garden to Earth
Jeffrey S. Peachey began bookbinding at The Gotham
Book Mart, and entered the field of conservation in
1989. He spent six years conserving books, works of art
on paper and archives at Columbia Universitys Con-
servation Lab. In 1996 he established a private practice
conservation studio in New York City, serving institu-
tions, private collectors and individuals. Awards include
a Scholarship for the Guild of Bookworkers Standards of
Excellence Conference, The Mellon Foundation and The
Empire State Craft Alliance, for work on a bibliography
of book structure. He is a Professional Associate of the
American Institute for Conservation of Historic and
Artistic Works. He has taught bookbinding workshops
at Pratt Institute, The School of Visual Arts, Long Island
University, Parsons, The New School and The Center for
Book Arts. His Artist Books are included in the Marvin
Sackner Collection of Concrete and Visual Poetry and
the collection of Gerard Charrier. Grant projects have
included working for the American Museum of Natural
History, Union Theological Seminary, The Center for
Jewish History and The New York Academy of Medicine.
Since 1997 he has been inventing and producing various
specialized tools for bookbinders and conservators.
22
A Traveling Punching Jig
By Donia Conn
This is a nifty little thing to take with you to workshops,
conferences or on vacation! I saw it somewhere once and for
the life of me I cannot remember where. I apologize for not
crediting the person who gave the idea to me. If you let me
know, I will put the credit in the next issue.
Materials needed:
Scraps of binders board and 2 strips of buckram.
Technique:
Cut three strips of binders board and two strips of buck-
ram at least 2.5 wide and 11 long (the size can be whatever
you want depending on the size of books you are intending to
be working with).
Cut one of the strips of binders board in half along the
short axis.
Glue up a strip of buckram (or use doublestick tape) and
adhere the two long strips of binders board leaving three
board thicknesses between the boards. Adhere the second
strip of buckram on the opposite side, boning down into the
groove.
Approximately in from either end of the joined boards,
cut a slot that extends across the two boards and ends ap-
proximately from the edges. The slot should be the same
size as the thickness of the boards.
Take one of the halfsized pieces of binders board and lay
your joined piece open on top at the angle you want to punch
at. Mark for two notches at that angle and approximately
deep. Cut out notches. Lay trimmed piece on top of second
half piece, mark and measure.
Optional: cut corresponding angle out of bottom for pleas-
ing look for the feet.
Assemble and punch away to your hearts content! Replace
buckram when needed.
23
To travel, remove feet, place in the fold and tie closed.
Donia Conn was introduced to bookbinding through
a required art class at St. Olaf College in Minnesota.
While a Ph.D. student in Mathematics at the University
of Wisconsin -Madison, she started working with Jim
Dast in the librarys book repair department. After taking
bookbinding classes at the Minnesota Center for Book
Arts, she entered the Conservation Studies program at
the University of Texas at Austin. Donia has interned with
Tony Cains at Trinity College, Dublin, and J. Frank Mow-
ery at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC,
and has worked as a book and paper conservator for vari-
ous institutions across the US. Currently, she is the Rare
Book Conservator at Syracuse (NY) University Library
and Binder-in-Residence at Wells College.
24
Spring[binding] Hath Sprung
A Bind-O-Rama celebrating a distinctive tech-
nique
With this exhibition, the organizers of Spring[binding] Hath
Sprung, an informal Bind-O-Rama, hope to help revive the
springback style and promote its use as a canvas for creative
binding. While the title, timing, and play on words may not
seem serious, rest assured, we are serious about promoting
this style of binding.
As a style, the springback is firmly rooted in the trade
binding tradition. The springbacks robustness, and ability
to lie flat and open for extended periods of time without
stressing the spine unduly, make the structure ideal for use
as account and record books. These same qualities make it
suitable for guestbooks, lectern Bibles, and similarly used
books. Regrettably the structure has not seen much use on
fine bindings or in contemporary book art, especially as the
structure would be a suitable platform for many elements of
design bindings. For instance, the thick boards would provide
a canvas for more sculptural or inset designs. With some mi-
nor modification it could also serve as a means of presenting
pop-up constructions.
Recently, workshops and presentations have been given
on the springback in the United States for the Austin Book
Workers, at Minnesota Center for Book Arts, for the New
England and Mid-west Chapters of the Guild of Book Workers
and at the Guilds Standards of Excellence seminar, and most
recently in Los Angles. The style is also still required learn-
ing for apprentices in Germany. Articles on the style have
appeared in the New Bookbinder and will soon appear in the
Guild of Book Workers Journal. A bibliography of tutorials
was included on the exhibition announcement page.
Participants in the Bind-O-Rama were challenged to pro-
duce in either the English or German style a creative spring-
back binding. The book could be bound in any workable mate-
rial (cloth, leather, paper, ...) and incorporate any number
of decorative techniques, including edge treatments, visible
structure and cut-outs, inlays and onlays... The main intent of
this exhibition was to have fun reviving the technique. While
we had hoped for a greater response, we hope that binders
will continue to rediscover this technique and experiment
with it. Many thanks to all those who participated.
A show and tell of some of these works will occur at that
the Guild of Book Workers Seminar on Standards of Excel-
lence in Providence, RI, USA, in mid-November.
Peter Verheyen & Donia Conn
This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of
Peter S. Graham, University Librarian at Syracuse
University, who unwittingly gave this exhibition its
name and took great delight in all the book arts.
The Binders:
Eric Alstrom, Okemos, Michigan, USA
Springtime in England, or Maps of England: Illuminated,
Enhanced and Generally Made More Useful... for the Pur-
pose of Finding Ones Way about the English Countryside...
during the Most Glorious of Seasons. German-style spring-
back with pages of Mohawk Superfine painted with acrylics
and photocopied with reproduction maps of England (found
online at <http://www.old-maps.co.uk>), then illuminated
with Pilot metallic markers. Hahnemlle, Ingres, and Moriki
endpapers. Headcaps of maroon denim around braided core.
Sewn on three linen tapes. Acrylic-dyed canvas spine with
Claire Maziarczyk paste paper panels and a laser-printed
acrylic-dyed paper label. 16.5 x 14.5 x 4 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned from Peter Verheyens and Donia Conns
online instructions originally published in The New Book-
binder, 2003.
25
Alice Austin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
English-style springback covered in green leather with
pastepaper sides. 50 x 29 x 4 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned from Richard Baker at the Guild of Book
Workers Seminar on Standards of Excellence, 2003.
Pamela Barrios, Orem, Utah, USA
The mechanics of this springback reflect Richard
Bakers demonstration at the Guild of Book Workers Seminar
on Standards of Excellence in Hand Bookbinding in Denver
CO, with a few references to Vaughans 1929 classic, Modern
Bookbinding. The new purpose of this springback is to pop up
the pop-up. 14 x 16.5 x 4 cm. Bound 2004.
Jana Brubaker, Pendleton, Oregon, USA
The English-style springback was the perfect binding for
my next bookwork, which examines our valuing of little
girls, both in our society overall and, more closely, within
our families. Working title: Isnt She Precious. The text-
block interweaves Hahnemhle Bugra with cheap, recycled
ledger paper. The text will intersperse photocopied prose
with letterpress-printed grocery lists of words related to
the de/valuing of little girls. Imagery will combine/layer
cyanotype printing with halftones. Covered in a Lycra/cotton
fabric of the sort typically associated with bathing suit bot-
toms forever in need of tugging down, the horizontal stripe
in the fabric harks back to the horizontal banding frequently
used in the spring-backs original purpose as a ledger binding.
Robust boards house a dandelion (yellow in the front cover; at
its wish stage in back) pressed between layers of Plexi: Is she a
weed, or a flower? 21.5 x 20 x 6 cm. Bound 2004.
Description of binding on following page.
26
The springback, with its ability to lay flat when open and
allowing writing access into a narrow spine margin, makes
an ideal choice for a guestbook, particularly for a Victorian-
themed wedding. Ive accented with hand-sewn headbands
and an inset in the front cover revealing the wedding tissue.
An extravagantly oversized grosgrain ribbon bookmark leads
guests to the next blank page. Covered in Saikou Echizen
washi on its reverse side, the plain brown wrapper feel of
this book opens to fiery orange fibers: endsheets of the right
side of the same paper. The happy couple poses in Victorian
period costume on a second set of endsheets in Magnani Pes-
cia. 15.5 x 15 x 4 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned from Richard Baker at the Guild of Book
Workers Seminar on Standards of Excellence, 2003.
Donia Conn, Skaneateles, New York, USA
German-style springback Mini. Leather with leather and
alum-tawed on-lays. 6.5 x 4.8 x 1.7 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned from Peter Verheyen.
Willi Egger, Sambeek, The Netherlands
German-style springback. I got a pile of old original prints
for a register used for the registration of persons from the
teacher with whom I bound my springback. From these
sheets the underlaying book was made. The design is kept
very simple: half-leather binding with leather covered edges,
natural-bookbinders cloth. The binding is built following the
German-style springback. The spine carries a built-in label-
field, where a black-goat-skiver label is placed. The front of
the book is decorated with simple gold-tooling. 36.5 x 24.0 x
3.6 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned in the P. van Daalen, Handbookbindery
Bronsgeest, Leidschendam, The Netherlands in 2002.
Karen Hanmer, Glenview, Illinois, USA
English-style, text block documents Keith Smiths 200
Books; covered in tan goatskin with paper sides in material
documenting 15 Italian pastries. 25 x 18 x 4 cm. Bound 2004.
Description of binding on following page.
27
English-style, blank book, spine covered in salmon col-
ored goatskin with embossed paper sides. 20 x 17 x 2.5 cm.
Bound 2004.
English-style, dos--dos; spines covered in red leather
with paper sides depicting photos of dancing couples courtesy
of the Library of Congress. 24.5 x 19 x 7.5 cm. Bound 2004.
Learned basic structure from Richard Baker at the Guild
of Book Workers Midwest Annual Meeting workshop in St.
Louis, 2002
Robert Hanmer, Glenview, Illinois, USA
English-style, text block from laboratory notebook; covered
in dark green goatskin with raised bands on spine and
marbled paper. 24.5 x 19.5 x 2.25 cm. Bound 2004.
English-style, text block from inexpensive Chinese ruled
notebook; covered in green goatskin with printed paper
sides. 17.5 x 13 x 1.5 cm. Bound 2004.
Instruction from Richard Baker at the Guild of Book Work-
ers Midwest Annual Meeting workshop in St. Louis, 2002
Roberta Lavadour, Pendleton, Oregon, USA
A Counting English-style springback, leather cover with
double straight bands laced with deer vellum. 600 pages of
9 lb. Canary paper with painted edges. Inscription notes the
multiplier for each of the 300 page spreads needed to equal
the number of dead and wounded American soldiers and Iraqi
civilians since March 2003. 7.5 x 7 x 2.5 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned from Alex J. Vaughans Modern Book-
binding and Peter Verheyens on-line draft of The Springback
in the English Tradition.
28
Linda Newbown, Canberra, Australia
Keeping Account of a Purple-dyed Life. German-style
springback account book. Cover papers, text papers and
thread hand-dyed purple. Purple bookcloth spine, corners
and headbands. Designed to be a journal for a vegetarian ec-
centric, so no animal products were used. 18 x 14 x 3.5 cm.
Bound 2004.
Technique learned from Sally Rose
Gregory Santos, New York, New York, USA
German-style account binding covered in pastepaper by
Donia Conn and Strathmore paper with handmade paper
endsheets. 7 x 8.5 x 2.5 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned from Peter Verheyen and Donia Conn at
the Garage Annex School for Book Arts.
Cara Schlesinger, Faenwyl Bindery, Brooklyn,
NY and Youngsville, NY, USA
SpringBark, a 366-page year-round gardeners journal,
incorporates natural material found in the woods around
our house in the Catskills. Black cherry bark from a fallen
branch covers the spine, its curve perfectly suited that of the
springbacks deep rounding. The cherry bark is sewn to Davie
board covered with hand-peeled, cured white birch bark, with
headcaps formed of a layer of birch covering the spring itself.
Because of the split-board construction, the birch covering
the boards was first turned in at the spine edge so the covered
boards could be sewn to the cherry, then the stiff card was in-
serted in the split boards and the bark turned in on the other
three edges. The endsheets and flyleaves are made of white
birch bark laminated first on paper covered with gold leaf,
and then on the 1-ply Bristol used for the text block.
SpringBark is a prototype extrapolated from the English
style, as described in Peter Verheyen. I have also read as many
other descriptions of the style as I can. I have no formal
training, though I have learned much at the Center for Book
Arts in New York City, particularly from Barbara Mauriello,
Carolyn Chadwick, and Emily Martin.
29
Laura J. Thomson, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
English-style springback covered in deep purple Nigerian
goatskin and Japanese handprinted Chiyogami papers. Blind
tooled with three raised bands. Text of Rives light weight
white paper. 24.4 x 17.4 x 3.8 cm.
Technique learned from Bernard Houlton, Central Metro-
politan College of TAFE, Perth, Western Australia.
Peter Verheyen, Syracuse, New York, USA
LInfinito, exhibition catalog to the Mostre Internatio-
nale Di Rilegatura DArte held in Italy, 1999. German-style;
sewn on three tapes with endsheets of Roma paper; graphite
top edge; red leather wrapped endband; covered with two
veined calf vellum panels at top and bottom with center panel
painted with textured acrylic; spine and sewing exposed in
center panel and painted with textured acrylics; title stamped
in gold. 28 x 25.5 x 6.5 cm. Bound 2004.
Technique learned during apprenticeship at the Buchbind-
erei Klein, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Selected Bibliography:
Description of the style:
Etherington, Don and Matt Roberts (1982). Bookbinding
and the Conservation of Books: A dictionary of descriptive
terminology. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
Middleton, Bernard C. (1996). A History of English Craft
Bookbinding, New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press.
English style:
Government Printing Office (1962). Theory and Practice
of Bookbinding, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office..
Hasluck, Paul N. (1912). Bookbinding, Philadelphia: David
McKay.
Mason, John. (1933). Bookbinding and Ruling, London:
Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. This is volume 5 of The Art and
Practice of Printing: A work in six volumes, William Atkins,
Editor.
Pleger, John. (1924). Bookbinding, Chicago: Inland Print-
ing Company.
Vaughan, Alex J. (1996). Modern Bookbinding, London:
Robert Hale.
Verheyen, Peter D. (2004). The Springback in the English
Tradition. <http://www.philobiblon.com/
springback-eng/>
Whetton, Harry (1946). Practical Printing and Binding: A
complete guide to the latest developments in all branches of
the printers craft, London: Odhams Press Limited.
German style:
Henningsen, Thorwald (1969). Handbuch fr den Buch-
binder, St. Gallen: Rudolf Hostettler.
Kersten, Paul (1921). L. Brades Illustriertes Buchbinder-
buch: Ein Lehr- und Handbuch der gesamten Buchbinderei
und aller in dieses Fach eingeschlagenden Techniken, Halle:
Verlag von Wilhelm Knapp.
Lers, Heinrich (1943). Das Fachwissen des Buchbinders,
Stuttgart: Max Hettler Verlag.
Moessner, Gustav (1969). Die Tglichen
Buchbinderarbeiten, Stuttgart: Max Hettler Verlag.
30
Verheyen, Peter D., and Donia Conn. The Springback:
Account Book Binding. London: Designer Bookbinders, The
New Bookbinder, Vol 23, 2003. Online at: <http://www.
philobiblon.com/springback>.
Wiese, Fritz (1983). Der Bucheinband: Eine Arbeitskunde
mit Werkszeichnungen, Hannover: Schlterische
Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei.
Wolpler, Florian. Der Sprungrcken. Online tutorial, in
German. <http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/buchbinden/
FTD-sprungruecken.pdf>.
Zahn, Gerhard (1990). Grundwissen fr Buchbinder: Schw-
erpunkt Einzelfertigung, Itzehoe: Verlag Beruf + Schule..
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Full information on the Bonefolder can be found at

A Springback Bind-O-Rama celebrating
a distinctive technique.
On the cover: Pamela Barrios pop-up
and Karen Hanmers dos--dos
springbacks
Appendix to Bookbinding
Education in North America by
Jeffrey Altepeter
Volume1, Number 1, Fall 2004
2
Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2004 Appendix to Bookbinding Education in North America
The Book Arts Web / Philobiblon.com 2004
This document contains the syllabi of many of
the programs described in Jeffrey Altepeters ar-
ticle, Bookbinding Education in North America,
and published in the Bonefolder, Vol 1, Number
1, Fall 2004.
They are being published here with permission
and have only been minimally re-formatted.
The article can be found in its entirety at
<http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/
BonefolderVol1No1.pdf>
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Editorial Board:
Publisher & Editor-in-chief:
Peter D. Verheyen: Bookbinder & Conservator /Special
Collections Preservation & Digital Access Librarian, Syracuse
University Library, Syracuse, NY.
Editors / Reviewers:
Pamela Barrios: Conservator, Brigham Young University,
Oren, UT.
Donia Conn: Rare Book Conservator, Syracuse University
Library, Syracuse, NY.
Don Rash: Fine and edition binder, Plains, PA.
3
Appendix
The following is adapted from a variety of course syllabi, curriculum and other program information and serves as an example
of the type of information that could be collected and included in a thorough guide to study opportunities. All curricula subject to
change and may not be current at time of this publication. Please note in particular that no new students are being accepted at the
Silver Maple Bindery.
Basic Bookbinding at the Silver Maple Bindery, Northampton, MA
Instructor: W.W. Streeter (now retired from teaching)
The following syllabus emphasizes basic bookbinding techniques. Although design is not the focus, there is opportunity in the syl-
labus for you, as student, to incorporate design. After three months, depending on you ability, you will be proficient enough to take
more advanced bookbinding workshops or work at the apprentice level at a bindery.
You will work on two books of your own in each part of the syllabus. As so much labor goes into each project, select books that
are challenging. You should not bring books so valuable that nay mistakes would be tragic. These books are intended to be kept by
you as portfolio pieces. You should also come with several books to choose form for each part of the syllabus. Consider doing one
Bible (a book many people commonly want repaired).
At the end of each technique, as well as completion of each part of the syllabus, Bill will critique your work. The key to refining
your work is repetition. However, the course moves quickly and there isnt time for large amounts of repetition. Any independent
work you do will help you further practice various techniques. Therefore, working on you own on evenings or weekends is encour-
aged.
Expect to be at the bindery for 40 hours per week. Mon.- Fri., 8-5. The course is only available to one full-time student. The
price of the course is $1000 per month with a duration of three months. Materials cost approximately $200- $300. You are also
encouraged, under Bills supervision, to collect basic tools.
Basic Bookbinding Syllabus
Part I
Single-Sheet Sewing
A. Take two perfectly bound books (non-sewn, glued spinebasic cheap paperback) and pull, clean,
repair if necessary. Create endpapers, overcast sew, round and back spine, create and title case.
B. Dissertation. Bound under University of Mass. Specications in black waterproof buckram. Flat
back, blanket sewn, create and title case.
Part II
Cloth Re-Back
Restoration/conservation of two cloth bound books. Pull, clean, repair, sew through the center (section
sew). Student will restore all of the old book, using old cover, spine, etc.
Part III
Leather Re-Back
4
Restoration/conservation of two leather bound books. Pull, clean and repair. Begin to learn paring
leather for repair of old spine. Onlay old spine on top of new leather and repair leather corners. Re-
back the book, dye leather, and oil book. Student will learn the appropriate use of tube for the spine.
Title new label/spine if necessary. Student will save as much of spine, endpapers, etc. as possible.
Part IV
and Bound Books
Student will use the techniques learned in the cloth and leather re-backs. The student will make a and
a bound leather. The leather is to be a case binding, sewn on tapes, hollow back with French joints,
cloth or paper covers and hand-sewn endbands. The leather is to be sewn on raised cords, English
joints, tight back, laced in boards and hand-sewn endbands. Student will start to learn some blind
tooling.
The books used can be private press or collectable, preferably without historically important boards or
totally without boards, because student will be designing and making a totally new cover.
Part V
Photo Album
Album will be made from scratch. Learn album hinging techniques, and the building up of the spine
with guards to accommodate the photos. , or fully bound in cloth or leather. The album gives the
student an opportunity to be more creative with material choices and design.
Part VI
Drop Back or Clam Shell Box
Boxes are designed to accommodate the photo album and on other book the student has completed. A
second box is done immediately to reinforce box making technique.
5
Part VII
Screw Post Album
This is a less expensive (to produce and purchase) alternative to the photo album. This format is
often used for scrapbooks, guest books, baby and wedding albums. It has great versatility as one can
rearrange the pages. Will learn special hinging. If there is time, student has the option of making a drop
back box for this album.
Part VIII
Full Leather Bindings
Student will design style of binding, tooling, titling, etc. and has choice of laced-in boards or case
binding, leather onlay, hand-sewn endbands. Students will order calf or goat skins.
_______________________________________________________
Priscilla Spitler
Hands On Bookbinding
Smithville, Texas
Outline for Teaching Hand Bookbinding
Hands On Bookbinding specializes in small edition binding, box making, and takes commissions for ne
or design binding. Due to production demands, most of the classes offered at the studio are short run
series or workshops.
I. Beginning classes, via workshops:
Projects pre cut, to provide more hands on experience in a limited time
Basic projects:
An accordion binding with cloth cover (learning to work with cloth & cutting corners; about
grain & working with adhesives); A Pamphlet with a simple paper case binding; nally, a
four section, at back, cloth Case Binding (sewn using unsupported link stitch).
The rst two structures prepare the student for their rst case binding.
II. If a Student wishes to continue, the next class concentrates on the at back Case Binding, but
requires that they learn and do all cutting for their book.
III. From here the student may choose to continue on a more traditional binding course of study,
or go on to more simple, alternative structures (artist books).
IV. The student pursuing more traditional study will continue with more in depth study of case
binding, beginning with rounding and backing
6
V. Next, this student may begin learning some simple leather techniques and paring by making a
leather, rounded case binding.
VI. More rened details for use on the case binding is further studied. The joints are narrowed
for the creation of a tight joint, quarter and eventually full leather case binding. By now the
student has condence in their casing-in methods.
VII. From here, the student has the basics to continue on with more advanced, ne binding; or,
the case binding techniques may assist them in their pursuit of the repair or rebinding of old
books.
VIII. A Millimeter style binding is the next structure in my studio for the ne binding student,
introducing them to an in-boards binding, since the boards are attached to the text block
before covering with small amounts of leather. Students learn to set caps, and gain more
experience working with leather.
IX. Sewing on a frame with supports. The student begins to make their rst proper bound book,
with laced on boards. Sewn headbands, sewn endpapers with leather joints. First a half
leather binding; followed by a full leather.
X. Box making may be introduced early on, after the at back case binding is done, and students
are comfortable with measuring and cutting.
XI. Stamping titles may be taught as a separate class, but for the serious student, after several
case bindings have been completed. First as labels on paper and leather; then, with set ups,
directly on to the case of a leather case binding. Advanced gold tooling would be taught to
students achieving the ne binding level on proper bound books.
7
NORTH BENNET STREET SCHOOL
Bookbinding Curriculum

Course Objective - Twenty Months

After graduation the student will work in an institutional or hand bindery, binding new leather and cloth books, repairing
damaged cloth and leather bindings, constructing protective enclosures, or performing complex conservation procedures
under the direction of a supervisor. The graduate will also perform simple nishing operations including blind and gold
tooling, onlays and inlays and edge decoration.

The graduate is qualied to seek employment in a wide range of settings where the work experience will include
opportunities to gain and perfect the advanced skills that were presented in the course: including university, college and other
academic libraries, public as well as private libraries and custom and library binderies.

Year One

I. Survey of Non-Adhesive Bindings - two weeks

As an introduction to the use of tools and materials, the student will make several non-adhesive bindings of blank books.

Topics:

a) Coptic c) Modern longstitch with wrapper
b) Historic longstitch

II. Cloth Bindings - fourteen weeks

Constructing blank books, or working on previously bound books, the student will make cloth bindings of various styles.
These bindings will be sewn several ways: on tapes and frayed cords, linkstitch, and on sawn-in cords. The student will
work on several books simultaneously, creating bindings that are appropriate for the individual books.

Topics:
a) Full cloth e) English Library Style - split board
b) Half cloth f) Onset boards
c) Rounded back case g) Endpaper structures - single and
d) Flatback case double folio, hooked endsheets, made yleaf

III. Limited Edition Binding - two weeks

Applying case binding techniques learned in the previous sections, the student will perform identical bindings on a
production or limited edition basis.

Topics:
a) use of sewing frame
b) jigs
c) working in teams

IV. Bindings for text block of single sheets - two weeks

On text blocks of single sheets the student will use appropriate binding techniques to make a durable binding.

8
Topics:
a) double fan adhesive binding
b) rounding of adhesive binding: rounding in tube, gluing up at and rounding and backing
c) guarding single sheets into sections
d) oversewing

V. Paper Bindings - two weeks

The student will make two bindings using paper as the cover material.

a) conservation paper case
b) 17th century model, paper over boards, sawn-in cords, hooked endsheets

VI. Stamping

Using a Kwikprint stamping machine the student will title bindings either directly on a case or on labels using colored foils
and inks.

Topics:
a) stamping on labels of paper, cloth or leather
b) stamping directly onto cases: down the spine, across the spine and on covers
c) backing and xing labels

VII. Preservation Enclosures - three weeks

The student will make enclosures appropriate to the item needing to be housed.

Topics:
a) four ap with and without case
b) drop spine box
c) book shoe
d) slip case

VIII. Rebacking Cloth Bindings - six weeks

On damaged books the student will reback cloth bindings.

Topics:
a) restoration and conservation concepts and ethics
b) case attachment structures
c) corner repair
d) documentation and photographic records
e) pricing and estimating

IX. Paper Repair - four weeks

While working on cloth or leather bindings, the student will use appropriate repair techniques to make repairs to the text
block and binding as needed.

Topics:
9
a) repair papers and adhesives e) hinging plates
b) repairing tares f) guarding together single sheets
and lling in losses g) inserts
c) backing with Japanese paper h) tape removal
d) guarding folds I) washing and deacidifying

X. Leather bindings - three weeks

The rst year student will begin working with leather on two simple leather bindings: a limp leather, and a half leather case.

Topics:
a) leather paring with spoke shave and French knife
b) headcaps
c) sewn silk end bands

XI. Tool Preparation - two weeks

Student will shape and sharpen tools.

Topics:
a) bone folder
b) French knife
c) lifting knives
d) spoke shave and blade

XI. Field Trips

Over the course of the year the student will make approximately eight visits to binderies and conservation labs on the East
Coast. The class alternates trips to labs and binderies in New York and Washington, D.C. each year.
Year Two

I. Millimeter Bindings - four weeks

The student will make four variations of Millimeter style bindings.

Topics:
a) True millimeter
b) Head and tail
c) Extended head and tail
d) Rubow

II. Laced Board Tight Joint Structures - twelve weeks

The student will bind models in historical and modern structures in full and half leather. The student will then bind
textblocks in appropriate bindings.

Topics:
a) single and double exible full calf bindings
b) full leather ne binding
c) sprinkled single exible half calf with hooked endsheets
10
d) leather hinge
e) historical and multiple core endbands
f) reinforced kettle stitch

III. Finishing - four weeks

Using hand tools the student will practice lettering and decorative tooling in blind, carbon, and gold on plaquettes and
bindings.

Topics:
a) Lettering in gold with handle letters and letter pallet
b) Blind tooling
c) Gold tooling
d) Onlays and inlays with gold, graphite and blind outlines

IV. Rebacking Leather Bindings - eight weeks

The student will repair at least three leather bindings that need structural repair.

Topics:
a) Board attachment - laced in, laced over, slit boards
b) Selection of leather
c) Leather dyeing
d) Rebacking leather bindings with dyed Japanese paper

V. Limp Vellum Binding - one week

The student will execute a limp vellum binding.

VI. Enclosures - one week

The student will make a half leather, rounded spine clamshell box.

VI. Miscellaneous - ten weeks

Topics:
a) projects of the students choosing
b) more advanced ne binding techniques
c) photo albums
d) edge treatments
e) alternate endpaper structures
11
Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild
Home Study Programme
The programme, which incorporates the CBBAG basic curriculum, consists of the following
components: Bookbinding I, Bookbinding II, Bookbinding III, Finishing, Repair and Restoration,
Endpapers, and General Information on Leather. Further segments are being planned. While the videos
for Paper Treatments for Binders have been shot, it is being considered whether it will be offered in
Home Study. This course is available In-Studio. CBBAG does not teach paper conservation.
The Bookbinding I, Bookbinding II, and Endpapers segments are now available for purchase;
Bookbinding III, General Information on Leather will follow in 2003 and Finishing, and Restoration
and Repair in 2004. All are composed of multiple videos of approximately two hours duration each and
a manual. A Lexicon accompanies Bookbinding I.
Bookbinding I is considered the fundamental course, teaching terminology, materials, tools, techniques,
and basic concepts. The projects are very simple and introduce the use of the basic techniques.
Bookbinding I includes six videos which are entitled Setting Up the Shop and Tools; Materials
and Techniques, Making a Picture Frame; Textblock Styles, Pamphlet Sewing, Sewing Variations,
Endpapers; Bookcloth and Board; Making the Case; Hanging-In the Textblock, Adhesion, Expansion
and Contraction.
General Outline of Course Content for Bookbinding I
Basic Terminology
Materials, Tools and Basic Bench Technique
Single Section Pamphlet
Two Section Pamphlet
Picture Frame
Four Needle Two Thread Sewn, Soft Paper Cover
Four Needle Two Thread Sewn, with Full Cloth Covered German Case
All-along Sewn, Quarter Cloth and Paper Covered German Case
Tape Sewn, Half Cloth and Paper Covered German Case
Lining and Filling of Boards, Making Bookcloth
Concepts of Warp and Pull
Concept of Grain
Concept of Swell
Concept of the Joint
Concept of Adhesion, Expansion and Contraction
12
General Outline of Course Content for Bookbinding II
Recessed Cord Lap Stitch Sewing, Review of Tape Lap Stitch Sewing
Invisible Hinge and Visible Hinge Hooked Endpaper
Simple Edge Treatments
Traditional Two-Stripe Endband
Rounding and Backing to a 45 . Shoulder
Hollow Tube
Bradel Attachment of Boards to Textblock
Covering-in On the Book
Concept of the Natural Shoulder
Concept of expansion and Contraction
There are two streams available: the Resource and Reference Stream (RRS) which constitutes outright
purchase with no further CBBAG input, and the Monitoring Stream (MS) in which the student receives
comment and critique of specied projects and models. Students intending to proceed to In-studio
courses MUST enrol in the Monitoring Stream.
______________________
The following is an example of one of three conservation treatment labs
P R E S E R V A T I O N A N D C O N S E R V A T I O N S T U D I E S
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
________________________________________________________________________
BOOK CONSERVATION TREATMENTS LAB 1 (Unique # 45985)
Lecturer : Consuela (Chela) Metzger
Ofce Hours : Wednesday 1:00-3:00 or by appointment
Instructors phone: ofce DELETED, or home DELETED
E-mail DELETED
I do not check e-mail after regular work hours, and please leave messages at my home phone.
TA: Deleted
Course requirements: Admission to the Preservation/Conservation Studies Program
Course Description:
Th
with a denite emphasis on books. Through making models and completing basic repairs the student should become
increasingly familiar with the physical skills and thought processes involved in conservation treatments. Through class
d
bookbinding, and the background needed to administer a conservation lab.
13
Objectives
Work-place safety: A comfort-level working safely with the tools, machines and supplies found in a typical library/archives
conservation lab
Logic of measurement, and construction of simple housings for at and bound documents
Understanding various simple basic book structures
Non-damaging exhibit installation techniques
Special concerns for supervising and training technical staff
Treatment skills for basic page mending, and repair of case binding
Familiarity with library/archive conservation treatment technique literature
Developing professional conduct
Format
The class will be focused on hands-on assignments, with additional lectures, demonstrations, readings and discussions. The
class will meet for 6 hours each week, and students will be expected to use an amount of time about equal to in-class time
each week to complete assigned projects and readings. Additional readings will be assigned periodically. Readings are
assigned primarily for background information, but will occasionally be discussed in class, and a few are required to pass the
take home test. All techniques will be demonstrated in class, but students are expected to take careful notes and use those
notes to complete the technique independently. Many of these technical hand-skills can only be acquired through patience
and practice. A resource shelf will be available at all times the lab is open, to supplement lab work.
Lab Meetings:
Classes will meet in the book lab, in the rst basement of the CDL building, unless otherwise noted. Classes meet from 9-4
each Thursday.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
a C will be notied mid-semester. Attendance to all class sessions is mandatory. The instructor must approve unavoidable
absences. Projects must be turned in on time. Participation is required in all class activities. Positive and consistently
professional behavior toward all in the classroom is essential, and will be part of your class participation grade. Classes meet
in the Book Conservation Laboratory unless noted otherwise on the syllabus or announced in class.
CRITERIA FOR STUDENT EVALUATION
Grading
Models / Boxes / Repairs 45%
Final Bookmark projects 10%
Take home test 10%
Written Assignments #1 - #3 15%
Class Participation 20%
Take Home Test: to be handed out November 8th, Due November 15
th
.
One short take home test will be given on the basics of conservation ethics, book anatomy, and collection care concerns.
Study questions will be given one week before the test.
Graded written assignments:
Written Assignment #1) Due September 20
th
: A comparison of two different four-ap housings, in terms of speed of
construction, price of materials, ability to withstand physical abuse and ease of use. 2 pages minimum.
14
Written Assignment #2) Draft due at various times through-out the semester as noted.
Final Revised Instructions due December 10
th

Typed notes(with illustrations as needed)for:
MENDING TEARS WITH WHEAT-STARCH PASTE
MENDING TEARS WITH HEAT-SET TISSUE
BUILT-IN GROOVE CASE CONSTRUCTION
NORMAL CASE CONSTRUCTION
SEWING 2-HOLE LINKSTITCH
PAMPHLET SEWING
CONSOLIDATING AND SHAPING THE ROUNDED AND BACKED SEWN TEXTBLOCK
CLOTH REBACK WITH THE BOARDS OFF
Written assignment #3 Due December 10
th
:
2 page (max) formal memo written by each student to the library administration to argue for the time and material required
to develop the bookmarks, December 10
th
.
Book mark Project:
The class will divide into 2 groups, and each group will design 23book-marks. The themes will be:
1. Care of personal books and papers at home.
2. Problems of book use/abuse in research collections and public libraries.
The Bookmark project has 2 parts:
1. Bookmark models to be shared last class day December 6
th
2. This is written assignment #3: 2 page (max) formal memo written by each student, addressed to the library
administration to argue for the time and material required to develop the bookmarks, due December 10
th
.
MODELS / BOXES/REPAIRS DUE DECEMBER 6TH (extra credit possible with additional treatment s or structural
models)
Blank book models:
1 Pamphlet
1 Built-in-Groove case binding, full cloth
1 Built in Groove case binding 1/4
th
cloth done as a cut away
1 normal case binding
Enclosures
2 4 ap wrapper styles
1 Drop-spine box
1 Treatment on your own printed text block
Cloth Case reback, re-using original boards.
1 exhibition structure
Cradle
2 repaired at paper documents,
One encapsulated with wheat-starch mends, one coated-paper with heat set mends in a Mylar L sleeve
Policy on Scholastic Dishonesty
The University of Texas at Austin denes academic dishonesty as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration,
falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process. Scholastic
dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or an
extension on a test, quiz or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment for two courses
without the prior permission of faculty members. By accepting this syllabus and participating in the course, you have
agreed to these guidelines and must adhere to them. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are
subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. For
more information on scholastic dishonesty, please visit the Student Judicial Services web site at: http://www.utexas.edu/
15
depts/dos/sjs/
Policy on Students with Disabilities
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate
accommodation for qualied students with disabilities. For more information
contact the Ofce of the Dean of Students at 471-6529.
Syllabus subject to change
Assignments subject to change
Readings may be added through-out the semester
16
COURSE OVERVIEW AND READINGS
Week 1 Friday, August 30th
INTRODUCTION: Orientation, Safety, Use of equipment, Shop protocols, and intro to syllabus
Context for library/Archives conservation treatment
History
Trends
Basic Protection / Basic Sewing
Useful Mylar: Sleeves and folders
Pamphlet Sewing
How to fold sections/Endpapers
Demo: marking and punching or cutting sewing holes
Multiple section sewing-Ethiopian sewing and board attachment
Assignment for week 2:
--Fold and press enough sections and double folio endpapers for 3 books, each 12 sections of 4 folios each
--Complete instructions for pamphlet sewing
Readings for week 2:
--http://aic.stanford.edu/pubs/ethics.html AIC code of Ethics and Commentary
-- Reigl, Alois, The Modern Cult of Monuments: Its Essence and its Development, in Historical and Philosophical Issues in
the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, ed. Nicholas Stanley Price, M. Kirby Talley, Jr., Alessandra Melucco Vaccaro. Getty
Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 1996, pp. 69-83. In packet pages 19-33
--Cloonan, Michele,Bookbinding, Aesthetics, and Conservation, Libraries & Culture, Vol. 30, No. 2, Spring 1995, pp. 137-
152. In Packet pages 9-18
--NEDCC Manual: enclosures for small light items:http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf46.htm
-- Clarkson, Chris http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf47.htm Book Shoe Construction
-- Morrow, Carolyn. Conservation Treatment Procedures. Littleton, Col: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 2nd ed. 1986, pp. 11-18.
In Packet pages1-7.
--Waters, Peter Phased Conservation The Book and Paper Group Annual Vol. 17 1998 pp. 113-122
Week 2 Friday , September 6th
ETHIOPIAN SEWING CONTINUED
HOUSINGS/ MEASURING
Demo: importance of measuring/different types
Demo: one style 4 -ap enclosure
Coffee break: Visits from Jenifer Lee and Victoria Naipavel Heiduchke, Preservation Administrator and Conservation
Supervisor at for the UT General Libraries
Demo: different 4-ap wrapper style
Demo: phase box
Assignments for week 3:
--Complete 4 4 ap wrappers for small personal books, 2 of each style
--Trim all sections for models, keep under weight.
--Complete Instructions for 4 ap wrapper
17
--Cockerell, Douglas. Bookbinding and the Care of Books. NY: D. Appleton & Co., 1901;
NY: Lyons & Burford, 1991, rpt, pp.117-24,
--Frost, Gary, Mobility and Function in the Codex Bookbinding in Roger Powell the
Compleat Binder Bibliologia Vol. 14, Brepolis, Tourhout, 1996, pp. 92-100.
--Diehl, Edith, Bookbinding, its Background and Technique Vol. Two, Dover, 1980, pp 1-23(originally printed 1946)
Week 3 Friday, September 13
th

TEXTBLOCK CONSOLIDATION -- SEWING/ SPINE SHAPING
Demo: sewing a two-hole link stitch, with or without tapes
Assignment: for week 4
--Compete sewings, one with and one without tapes
-Complete Written Assignment #1
Readings for Week 4:
Review Waters. Reigl, Cloonan, Morrow from week 2
h
Written Assignment # 1 Due
PHILOSOPHY/HISTORY CHAT 1 HOUR IN THE AM.
Waters , Riegl, Cloonan, Morrow
Demo: adhesive spine consolidation and shaping -- rounding and backing, lining decisions(making paste)
Assignment: for week 5:
--Finish rounding, backing and lining 2 text blocks
--Complete instructions for 2-hole link stitch sewing
Reading for week 5:
Browse through the resource shelf collection of bookbinding manuals and read the descriptions of types of sewing, adhesive
consolidation, lining, at-backs, and rounding and backing. Read the descriptions in at least three different bookbinding
manuals and be prepared to answer questions about the benets of different types of sewing and different spine shapes.
Places to start in your packet:
--Johnson, Arthur C. Library Style Binding in Bookbinding, Thames and Hudson, London, 1978. p. 103-118
--Young, Laura. Bradel Binding in Bookbinding and Conservation by Hand. Bower, NY. 1981. pp. 134-140.
--Baird, Brian. Case Binding With Flexible Bonnet: A Specication for General Library Collections, The New Library
Scene, October 1994, pp. 8-10.
th

CASE-MAKING: FLAT BACK AND ROUNDED AND BACKED
Demo of constructing a rounded spine case for traditional case, logic of case ush bottom, board placement and casing in.
--Bring in newspaper clipping of photo to encapsulate
18
--nish case binding started in class
--Complete instructions for consolidating, rounding and backing the spine of a case binding
Reading for Week 6:
--NEDCC: http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf67.htm Conservation of unbound documents
--Greeneld, Jane. Mending tears The Care Of Fine Books. Nick Lyons Books, New York, 1988, pp.
87-91 (read for illustrations only)
--Paper Conservation Catalog Section 25 and 26. On resource shelf.
--NEDCC Manual : Encapsulation
http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf65.htm
Week 6 Friday, October 4
th
Instructor gone, TA Frank will conduct the class
BASIC PAPER MENDING WITH STARCH PASTE AND HEAT-SET TISSUE
ENCAPSULATION
--Complete instructions for basic mending with heat-set tissue and Japanese paper/ wheat-starch paste.
--Complete instructions for normal case
Reading for week 7:
--Cockerell, Douglas, Bookbinding , and the Care of Books, Lyons & Burford, 1991, pp. 116-125. (Originally printed 1901)
--Review readings from week 5 on case and bradel bindings
Week 7 Friday, October 11
th
CASE MAKING CONTINUED
Demo: Built-in Groove case construction techniques
Demo: Introduction to adhesive textblock consolidation
--Complete built-in groove case and adhesive binding
--Complete instructions for built-in-groove case
Reading for week 8:
--http://aic.stanford.edu/pubs/ethics.html AIC code of Ethics and Commentary
--Pickwoad, Nicholas, Distinguishing Between The Good and bad Repair of Books, in Conservation and Preservation in
Small Libraries, Parker Library Publications, Cambridge, 1994, pp. 141-149. Packet pp. 150-158.
--Banks, Paul. Some Notes Toward a Typology of Artifact Value for Books and Manuscripts,
in : Roger Powell the Compleat Binder , Bibliologia Vol. 14, Brepolis, Tourhout, 1996, pp. 101-106.
Packet pp. 184-189.
Week 8 Friday, October 18th
PHILOSOPHY / HISTORY CHAT 1 HOUR IN THE MORNING

CONSERVATION TREATMENT DOCUMENTATION
Demo: book dissection
19
Demo: using photography
Assignment for week 9: describe a assigned book, document and dissect.
--Brown, Margaret, et al. Boxes for the protection of.... Washington D.C.: Library of Congress, 1982. In the Resource
Center at CDL, resource shelf for Lab 1. Read through intro and types of enclosures.
--Double tray Box Design in Brown, Margaret, et al. Boxes for the protection of.... Washington D.C.: Library of
Congress, 1982. Photocopy in packet.
-- http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf45.htm custom tted boxes
-- Morrow, Himge Tightening
-- Morrow, Carolyn. Hinge Tightening in Conservation Treatment Procedures. Littleton, Col: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.,
2nd ed. 1986, pp. 21-24. Packet pp. 170-171.
Week 9 Friday, October 25th
MINOR CASE TO TEXT REPAIRS
DROP-SPINE BOXES
Demo: construction and covering of trays for drop-spine box for small book chosen from discards, or personal book
Demo: tightening hinges, tipping in pages, and sections, endsheet repalcement
Complete trays for a drop-spine box for one of your books in a wrapper
Tip-in a page, tighten a hinge and replace an endsheet
--Fredricks, Maria, Recent Trends in Book Conservation and Library Collection Care, JAIC 31, 1994, pp. 95-101. Packet
pp-159-165.
--Northeastern University Conservation Lab Manual, Spine repair, pp. 1-3. Packet pp. 173-175.
Week 10 Friday, November 1st
COMPLEX-CLOTH CASE REPAIR / TEXTBLOCK CONSOLIDATION
Demo: Reback with the boards attached
Demo: Reback with boards off
--complete re-back with boards on (spine repair pp. 173-175 in packet
--Clarkson, Chris, Safe Display of Medieval Manuscripts and early Printed Books, The New
Bookbinder, Vol. 19, 1999, pp. 12-38.
--NEDCC How to do your own matting and hinging
--NEDCC Protecting paper and book collections during exhibition
--Martin, Susan, Polyester Film Book Supports, Abbey News, Vol. 14, #3 June 1990 p. 55.Packet page 219.
20
Week 11 Friday, November 8th
EXHIBITION: AN INTRODUCTION TO PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Possible visiting lecture on framing issues
Demo: Building cradles, text block supports, Mylar straps
Assignment: for week 14 :
--Complete one cradle for a tightly bound book from the lab discards collection, with text block supports. Book will be
chosen by the instructor.
--Complete 2 rebacks with the boards off, choose best to turn in.
TAKE HOME QUIZ, HANDED OUT--DUE November 15
th
.
Week 12 Friday, November 15the
Work Day
--Morrow, Carolyn Clark, Conservation Treatment Procedures, Libraries Unlimited, Littleton, CO, 1982, pp. 169-178.
--Clarkson, Chris, The Conservation of Early Books in Codex Form: A Personal Approach, The Paper Conservator, Vol. 3
1978, pp. 33-50.
Week 13 Friday, November 29
th

PHILOSOPHY /HISTORY CHAT I HOUR
Work Day
Week 14 Friday, December 6
th
LAST CLASS
Presentations of each group BOOK MARK PROJECT
Share work!
TURN IN ALL MODELS/BOXES/TREATMENTS
MONDAY DECEMBER 9
TH
Due Date for:
21
Written assignment #3 : Formal Memo: 2 pages maximum
Written assignment #2 Typed notes with illustrations as needed
MENDING TEARS WITH WHEAT-STARCH PASTE
MENDING TEARS WITH HEAT-SET TISSUE
BUILT-IN GROOVE CASE CONSTRUCTION
NORMAL CASE CONSTRUCTION
SEWING 2-HOLE LINKSTITCH
PAMPHLET SEWING
CONSOLIDATING AND SHAPING THE ROUNDED AND BACKED SEWN TEXTBLOCK
CLOTH REBACK WITH THE BOARDS OFF
22
American Academy of Bookbinding
Telluride, CO
Tini Miura, Executive Director & Lead Instructor
The American Academy has designed a diploma program for professional students. Diplomas will be
awarded to students who have completed a combination of in-class and independent study and practical
work at the Academy and at home. Since each student will enter the program at a different level, each
will have different diploma requirements based on their personal skills and speed of learning. To
determine diploma requirements for students, the following guidelines will be considered:
At the end of the students rst course at the Academy, Tini Miura will meet individually to
discuss the students level and the necessary requirements for a diploma.
A variety of courses must be successfully completed by diploma students including: French
Style Leather Binding, Chemise and Slipcase, Gilding and Onlay, and Titling among others.
It is suggested that diploma students complete ve years of French Style Leather Binding
and complete two bindings during each course. In addition to these ten bindings, another
ten bindings need to be completed independently. Bindings completed in Frank Mowerys
The Logic of German Fine Binding will also be accepted. The diploma student needs to be
procient in the execution of design and the making of chemise and slipcases.
Independent projects completed at home are required during the diploma year, and will be
outlined in a diploma contract. Projects that need to be completed include:
A millimeter binding, half leather binding
One full leather binding, complete with design, chemise and slipcase
A nal written paper will also be required of the diploma student, to be completed the last year of
study.
Upon completion of all projects, a panel of jurors will critique and judge the students work.

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A Springback Bind-O-Rama celebrating

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