Canadian Bookbinders & Book Artists Guild Newsletter, Vol. 13, No. 1/Spring 1995 (CBBAG, 35 McCaul St., Suite 221, Toronto, ONT M5T 1V7, Canada) includes an article on "The Making of the Nuremberg Chronicle and Its Restoration 500 Years Later" by Fr. Charles Brandt; E.H. Sniders report on the 1994 annual meeting of the Friends of Dard Hunter last October in Chillicothe, OH; report by Susan Corrigan on Pamela Spitzmuellers Long & Link Stitch Binding workshop for CBBAG, with lots of diagrams; Nicholas Fabian on "Digital Tools of Type Design", and Shelagh Smith asking "What Is an Artists Book - and What Isnt?"
CBBAG Newsletter, Vol. 13, No.2/Summer 1995 comes with their 1995 Book Arts Supplies & Suppliers List. The feature article, with text, photos and drawings by Michael Wilcox, is on "Merchant Navy Book of Remembrance: A Method for Binding Vellum Leaves". Michael Wilcox, faced with an interesting challenge has come up with an interesting solution.
Paper Conservation News, No. 72, December 1994 (Institute of Paper Conservation, Leigh Lodge, Leigh, Worcester WR6 5LB, England) includes an interview with Iwan Jones, Conservation Officer at the National Library of Wales; reports on "Preventive Conservation: Practice, Theory and Research" from the IIC Congress in Ottawa, September 1994; The DB Conference at Oxford; two articles on Insect Pest Control; a discussion by Richard Gartner of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on the Internet and its usefulness.
Paper Conservation News, No. 73, March 1995 contains and interview with Jonathan Ashley-Smith, Head of Conservation at the Victoria & Albert Museum; feature articles on "Working for the Calcutta Tercentenary Trust", by Christine Mackay and "Conservation Facilities in the City of Krakow", by Jonathan Rhys-Lewis. Other articles include "Academic Conservation Courses in German-Speaking Countries" by Pascale Regnault, "Conservation of Pith Paper" (rice paper, a misnomer), by Penny Jenkins. IPC will celebrate its 21st year with the 4th International Conference in London, April 6-9, 1997.
Abbey Newsletter, December 1994, V.18 #8 (Abbey Publications, 7105 Geneva Dr., Austin, TX 78723) reports on two deacidification processes evaluated by the Library of Congress, the BookKeeper and DEZ processes. The conclusions are encouraging, but more testing and work needs to be done.
Abbey Newsletter, April 1995, V. 19 #1 includes the Index for Volume 18, 1994 and an article by Lew Bellardo, of the National Archives, on "Low Energy, Low Technology, Low Toxicity Approaches to Preservation" which he presented at the ICA Preservation Committee Meeting in Oslo in May 1994. This issue includes an extensive Literature section.
Binders Guild Newsletter, Vol. XVIII, No.1, January 1995 (BGN, Jim Dorsey, Ed., 9229 Dukes Lake Rd., Zebulon, NC 27597, (919) 269-6381) reports on the GBW Standards Seminar in Dallas last October beginning with Tim Elys presentation, "Altered Materials and Bounded States" and Eleanore Ramseys presentation, "In Search of Elegance: Board Edges Redefined". These are always exhaustive reports, often expanded by Jim Dorseys and other members research or thoughts on the subject. All handouts at the presentations are always reproduced and diagrams included. This issue includes the Vol. XVII-1994 Index.
Binders Guild Newsletter, Vol. XVIII, No. 2, March 1995 is given over almost entirely to a long letter from Bob Lyons on his treatment of gold stamping - what Jim Dorsey entitles "Hot Stamping at Cool Temperatures", 21 pp. on all aspects of stamping and tooling.
Arts et Metiers du Livre, May-June 1994. In this issue, editor Pascal Fulacher announces that he is taking over as director of A & M du Livre, through his new publishing house Editions Filigranes.
It contains an article on hand papermaking by Claudie and Francis Huizinger. Their paper is made with plants found in the area of eastern France where they live. The Huizingers produce their own bindings or get together with binders who assemble their creations. Workshops available: contact C. & F. Huizinger, Bambois, 68650 Lapoutroie, France. tel: 16-89-47-52-53.
Philip Smith writes about his own views on bookbinding and the concept of beauty and decoration. He talks about the evolution of his approach to bookbinding, and how important it is to understand the structure of the book. He talks about various techniques he has developed. He carries on about various approaches, be it that of the book artist, the traditional design binder or the conservator.
This issue also contains an article about the work of contemporary binder Guillemette Goar. An exhibition of her work was held in 1994, in the museum of the old cloisters of Landevennec. Catalog available from Association Abati Landevennec, 29560 Landevennec, France.
Also in 1994, an exhibition of German renaissance bindings from former East German libraries, was held at the Wittockiana(Brussels), then in Leipzig and in Stuttgart. It showed both styles in vogue at the time, the German figurative style which was that of the Reformation, and the purely ornamental Italian and French Renaissance styles. Catalog (2 volumes, in French or in German) available from Edition Filigranes/A & M du Livre, 55 bis, rue de Lyon, 75012 Paris (400FF).
Arts & Metiers du Livre, July-August 1994. This issue contains articles on two contemporary binders: Alain Lobstein who has had his own shop since 1955, feels that binding should be at the service of the book it is meant to protect, not the other way around. Lobstein wants books to be read, seen, felt and handled. He uses a variety of covering materials, from very basic to very rare. His bindings remain elegant and subdued, but are balanced and harmonious. An exhibition was held in 1994 at the Librarie Blaizot in Paris.
The other featured binder is Annie Boige, who does both design binding and conservation work. She trained at lEcole Estienne and at the Vesinet with Sün Evrard.
Finally, an article in this issue comments on the fourth Forum International de la Reliure dArt, held at the Bibliothèque Nationale of Luxembourg in April 1994. The article mentions the publication of a beautiful catalog but does not mention where to purchase it.
Arts & Metiers du Livre, November-December, 1994. Most of this issue is dedicated to the publication of Arts & Métiers Graphiques between 1927 and 1939.
Of interest to GBW members is information concerning the first exhibition of the newly created association AIRneuf, previously written about in the September/October issue of A & M du L. For a more extensive report, see the April 1995 issue of the GBW Newsletter.
Arts & Metiers du Livre, January-February 1995. Contains an article with photos on binder Rose Adler (1890-1959).
This issue inaugurates a new section on bookbinding techniques. This one is dedicated to a long-stitch, crossed-structure binding technique devised by binder Carmencho Arregui. Diagrams and photographs accompany the article. The technique was also introduced at Oxfords "New Horizons in Bookbinding" meeting last fall. See The New Bookbinder, 1994 for the English version of this article.
An article reviews New Yorks Museum of Modern Arts exhibit of artists books. It is essentially a list of the artists and authors included in the show which closed n January. Catalog available from MOMA, New York.
GBW member Sün Evrard enthusiastically summarizes the "NewHorizons" conference held in Oxford last fall and talks about the sessions she attended, several of which were presented by GBW members (Don Etherington, Frank Mowery, Betsy Eldridge, Hedi Kyle, Sün Evrard herself).
Finally, a brief article introduces the work of the bookbinding and gold tooling winners of a very difficult competition held every four years by the French Ministry of Education.
Arts & Metiers du Livre, March-April 1995. This issue features GBW member Sün Evrard and the unusual path her bookbinding career has followed. Her travels, her contact with foreign binders and her perpetual interaction with other artists, plus her own independence and imagination have shaped her work into something quite different from the modern French fine binding standards. She has pursued her creative passion side by side with her teaching responsibilities at Les Ateliers dArts Appliqués du Vésinet, outside Paris. She devised the "simplified binding" structure to allow for better openability of the book as well as more versatility in the decoration of the boards. She also chooses and uses materials for their inherent beauty which she enhances by various techniques. An exhibition of her work was held at the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris (May 4-28), and is reviewed in this issue of the Newsletter.
Another current exhibition at the Biblioteca Wittockiana in Brussels (27 April - 17 June) is the occasion for an article featuring Belgian binder August Kulche and his father, August Wilhelm Kulche (1894-1988). August, now retired from teaching, has been experimenting with different decorating techniques, especially silkscreening and airbrushing (including liquid gold) which he finds less constraining than onlays and tooling. Catalog available from the Wittockiana, 21, rue du Bemel, B-1150 Brussels.
This issue contains several English summaries of the main articles.