I am always on the lookout for helpful resources for our members and I have come across an organization that seems worth mentioning here. NASE, the National Association for the Self-Employed, costs $72 per year and provides a number of benefits and services, plus a bi-monthly newsletter. In addition to its full-time advocacy staff in Washington DC, which actively speaks out for NASE members on a variety of issues important to small business (such as home office deductions, health care reform, etc.), NASE also offers a variety of business related perks: discounts on vehicle rentals, a travel service, reduced Airborne Express rates, office supply and software discounts and other business services of use to the self-employed. My favorite benefit: an "800" call-in service, called ShopTalk 800, which allows members to get free phone access to small-business consultants who can answer questions on a call-back basis about everything from buying computers to start-up advice, financial assistance, marketing ideas, etc. I tested the service, called in a specific question, and the next day their councilor really did phone back with the required information. NASE also offers special life, health, eyecare and prescription benefit plans, and I am researching this, as well. For a comprehensive benefit guide and application to NASE, contact Ray Starego, NASE, at (800)407-2324, or NASE headquarters at (800)232-NASE. (N.B. Neither GBW nor I endorse any organization; this information is provided for your information only.)
The Guild exhibition of bindings of Peter and Donna Thomas' book PAPER will open at Scripps College, Claremont, Calif. It will be on view during the GBW Standards Seminar in Pasadena the weekend of October 18 - 19, 1996. It will then travel to The University of Rochester (NY), Columbia College in Chicago, and will close after being shown at Ohio University during the summer of 1997.
Monique Lallier has confirmed two presentations for the upcoming Seminar in Pasadena: Louise Genest on "Different Techniques on Miniatures" and Jan Sobota on "Cuir-Ciselé."
According to Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books by Roberts and Etherington:
"Cuir-ciselé is a method of decorating bookbinding in which the design is cut into dampened leather in-stead of being tooled or blocked. The design is first outlined with a pointed tool and then dampened. It is then brought into relief by depressing the background, usually by stamping a succession of dots into the leather very close together by means of a pointed tool. Certain parts of the design are sometimes embossed from the flesh side of the leather, and in such cases the decorating must be done before covering.
"This technique of embellishment, which may well have been the highest manifestation of the medieval bookbinder's art, was widely practiced during the 15th century and only in certain areas, principally southeastern Germany and in Spain. No English and Flemish and practically no Italian examples are known."
As of March 1, 1996, the official telephone number for the Guild will change from 212-757-6454 to the new number 212-292-4444. The official address for the Guild of Book Workers is a mail service in New York City, at 521 Fifth Avenue. That address will not change. Mail received at the above address is picked up and redistributed by the Secretary and phone calls are rerouted by the answering service.
Pamela Spitzmueller, Guild Librarian, reports the purchase of the following books, using funds donated to the Guild of Book Workers by the New York Community Trust, James Talcott Fund. They have been added to the Guild Library and are available for borrowing by members.
To borrow books from the Guild Library, contact Pamela Spitzmueller, Conservation, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City IA 52242.
New Study Opportunity Lists have been mailed out to all members. If you have not received a copy, please contact Karen Crisalli and another copy will be sent. The Study Opportunities Guide contains listings of institutions, schools and private individuals who teach bookbinding, papermaking, marbling, calligraphy and other book arts, and is broken down, not only by state, but international study sites as well. Each includes a brief description of the courses of study offered and the contact information. Our gratitude goes to Howard Stein, who has maintained and updated these records for GBW for several years.