Exhibitions
Exhibition Report - Abecedarium Exhibition & Catalogue -
Call for Donations
Our first donation to the catalogue was received last week. Thank you. We hope that opens the flood gates. All the work is now selected and received. The photographer is scheduled and the catalogue is well underway. It will be a very unique and exciting piece, in keeping with the show’s theme to accompany this wonderful exhibition.
I want to make this another call for donations, reminding you that time is fleeting and October will be here before we know it. If you are planning to make a donation, don’t put this newsletter away until you’ve addressed the envelope and enclosed the check. It is so easy to want to do it, and then forget when all of life intrudes. If you want to be listed in the catalogue (and we want to put your name in to show our appreciation), we need to hear from you by August 20.
Here are the venues for the exhibition. We hope you will be able to see it at one of these sites. The show opens at the Standards Seminar on October 22, 1998 at the Greensboro Hilton Hotel, then moves to the Greensboro Public Library until the end of 1998.
In January and February, you can see it at the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts at Broward County Library in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. It then moves to The Newberry Library in Chicago for March into May, and then to Ohio University Library, Athens, Ohio for June, July and August. In September and October it will be at the Denver Public Library, and it will end 1999 at the Denison Library of Scripps College in Claremont, California.
A wonderful catalogue is in the works. As we have done in the past, we are asking our members and suppliers to donate funds to help underwrite the cost of producing this catalogue. While the design time and some materials are donated, it is a huge expense to print it. Your help will be gratefully received and recognized. Thanks in advance for your support for this important publication.
Please send your
donation to:
Barbara Lazarus Metz, Exhibition Chair
1420 West Irving Park
Chicago, IL 60613.
Standards
Auction
A Message from Our President
In conjunction with the 18th Annual Guild of Book Workers Standards of Excellence Seminar October 22 -25 in Greensboro, North Carolina, we will be having our Third Annual Fund Raising Auction. I would like to encourage members to consider contributing something towards this worthwhile event, whether attending the Seminar or not.
The two previous auctions generated a wonderful collection of book and non-book items, all of which were greedily snapped up in the silent or the live auction portions of the evening’s events. Past donations have included a host of book-arts related books (instruction manuals, exhibition catalogs, etc.), limited edition books, artists books, binding tools, equipment and supplies of all sorts; a telescope; matted prints and posters, handmade stationery/cards /notes, handmade paper items, oriental scrolls, decorative wooden boxes, paper cuttings, jewelry, scarves, marbled vignettes, ties and much , much more. Anything and everything is welcome.!
Your donation need not be book related, although of course many items are; the important thing is to dig through your closet, garage, attic or junk room and find some interesting goodies to send our way. A portion of the proceeds of each auction go toward ‘scholarship’ awards for the next year’s conference (this year we are sending three people to the meeting with free hotel and a waiver of registration fees, in part funded by last year’s auction receipts).
If you have anything you would like to donate, please contact me personally, either by mail, phone, fax or e-mail (all addresses are on the Executive Committee List in this issue, except e-mail: KarenC5071@AOL.com). I will then give you details about when and where to send your contribution. And, yes, the Guild is a not-for-profit organization and therefore donations may be tax deductible to the extent of the law.
Thanks for your
consideration,
Karen L. Crisalli,
President, Guild of Book Workers
Elections
Ballots for the 1998-1999 Guild elections will be mailed out in late summer. Election results will be announced at the time of the Annual General Meeting in October at the 18th Standards of Excellence in Hand Bookbinding Seminar being held in Greensboro, N.C. October 23 - 25.
Candidates for the Office of President and Committee Chairs to be elected this year are as follows:
President: Karen
L. Crisalli
Exhibition: Barbara Lazarus Metz
Standards: Monique Lallier
Newsletter: Margaret H. Johnson
Publicity & Promotion: Peter D. Verheyen
Library: Anna Embree
If you wish to nominate a candidate for any position, please send to the Secretary, or to the Nominating Committee, Karen Crisalli and Gabrielle Fox-Butler, before August 30th, the name of your choice, accompanied by:
Library
Guild Librarian Pamela Spitzmueller will be leaving the University of Iowa in August to take up her new position as James W. Needham Chief Conservator for Special Collections in the Harvard University and Harvard College Libraries.
Anna Embree, Book Apprentice in the Conservation Department of the University of Iowa Libraries, has agreed to take over the duties of Guild Librarian. Anna’s name will appear on the ballot to be sent out as stated above. The Guild Library will remain for the foreseeable future at the University of Iowa. Requests for library loans should be made to The Guild of Book Workers Library, Attn.: Anna Embree, Conservation Dept., University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, IA 52242. The phone number remains the same: (319)335-5908; fax: (319)335-5900.
The Library catalogue is now on the Internet at: www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll (Ed. note: our June issue listed it as "spec/cool". Either way you may find a difficulty if you are as computer naive as I am. When I had difficulty accessing the catalogue, it was suggested that I try adding: <NARRFIN.htm> . I haven’t tried it yet. ) [Web Ed. Note: The catalog is also accessible from the GBW Home Page under "Library."
Membership
Membership renewal forms have been sent out. Please return forms with dues as soon as possible if you want to be certain to be listed in the Membership Directory. Deadline for names appearing in the Directory is September 1, 1998.
Membership Chairman Bernadette Callery reports that membership this year, at our peak time just before renewals for the coming year are due, stands at 937.
Journal
Volume XXXIV, Nos. 1 and 2a & 2b have been mailed out to members. Number 1 contains selected presentations from the GBW 15th Standards Seminar in Tuscaloosa, AL, 1995. Number 2a is a reprint of Mindell Dubansky’s article from the Gazette of the Grolier Club on "A Selection of Bookbindings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art". Number 2b is the catalogue of the Potomac Chapter’s exhibition "Interpreting da Vinci", Autumn 1997.
The Editor wishes to thank Mark Pollei, Chief Conservator of the Harold B. Lee Library of the University of Utah, for being Guest Editor of the June issue of this publication. Mark gathered for us those excellent articles in Tips & Techniques. We would like to diversify our material and would be happy to have other members coming in as Guest Editors. If you have a special interest that you would like to have emphasized in an issue of the Newsletter, let me know and we’ll work out a plan.
Due to the amount of material that had to be included in the June issue -; all that eagerly awaited Standards Seminar information and forms -; and computer crashes, press of business, and other factors, we were late with the June issue. Our apologies to all those who phoned frantically thinking they had been missed. We put in a lot of work on getting the forms smoothed out so we can do them faster next year. If we don’t have to invent the wheel every year, we’ll save a lot of time.
The Delaware Valley Chapter has been saved by Denise Carbone from being disbanded. Denise has agreed to serve as President of the chapter, taking over from outgoing President Claire Owen, who has served for the past five years. Claire was unable to find anyone willing to replace her until Denise stepped forward. Without members being willing to give up personal time to volunteer their services, no organization such as the Guild of Book Workers can exist. Thank you, Denise!
The Potomac Chapter held elections in May. New officers announced by outgoing President Erin Loftus are: President: Nancy Lev-Alexander; Program Chair: Mary Parke-Johnson; Treasurer: Atalanta Grant-Suttie; Secretary: John Bertonaschi.
The Rocky Mountain Chapter has re-elected Pam Barrios and Laura Wait as co-chairs for another two years. The joint exhibition of work of the Colorado Calligraphers Guild and the Rocky Mountain Chapter, "Pens and Needles", was on view at the Denver Public Library through June. Priscilla Spitler traveled from Texas to give a 2-day workshop on Millimeter Binding in Denver in May. The chapter’s newsletter Book Arts Roundup for June 1998 contains a number of interesting reviews of workshops and lectures held in the area during the spring. Taylor Crosby reviews Priscilla Spitler’s workshop; Jane Dalrymple-Hollo reviews Carol Whitehouses’s slide lecture on her 1995/96 fellowship at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, describing parchment repair and wooden board rebinding of a 12th c. crusade account from the library; Judith Jarrow reports on a marbling workshop give by Galen Berry in Salt Lake City; and Bob Maxwell, Special Collections Cataloger at Brigham Young University, reports on the talk given to Utah Librarians by Paul Needham, Schiede Librarian at Princeton, on "Why Preserve Old Bindings?". Dominic Riley will give two workshops in September on Clamshell Box with a Leather Spine, one in Salt Lake City, the other in Denver.
The Lone Star Chapter will hold its Annual Meeting for the whole chapter -; Northeast and Southern Regions -; on Saturday, August 8 in the former printing shop of Tom Taylor in Austin, Texas. Chapter President Randolph Bertin will demonstrate Monotype keyboarding and type casting, polymer plate marking, and show the printing process of some of the John Muir text. The chapter’s 1999 exhibition will be bindings of "Heaven on Earth" Forays into the Wilderness Recorded by John Muir, which will be printed by the chapter and contain wood-engraved illustrations by Charles Jones. The Annual Meeting will coincide with the Austin Book Workers’ annual Book Arts Fair on August 9.
The Northern Region of the Lone Star Chapter will begin its bi-monthly meetings again in September. Meeting are held the 2nd Sunday of alternate months.
The Southeast Chapter’s Acting Chairman , in the absence of Paula Gourley, who is in Europe at this time, will be Sharon Long, bookbinder, decorative papermaker, printer, calligrapher, etc. in Tuscaloosa. Sounds like she has all the bases covered.
As mentioned in the Guild News section, Pamela Spitzmueller will be leaving her post as Conservator of the University of Iowa Libraries in August. She will take the position of James W. Needham Chief Conservator for Special Collections in the Harvard University and Harvard College Libraries. During her tenure as Guild Librarian, Pam has arranged for the re-cataloging of the Guild collection, which had not been done since 1979. Numerous new books have been added to the collection through purchases and donations. We will miss Pam as Librarian, but we’re sure she will continue to contribute services in some form to the Guild. Thank you, Pam, for all the work.
Priscilla Spitler officially opened the new location of her "Hands On Bookbinding Studio" with a party on June 6 in downtown Smithville, Texas. The event was held in conjunction with the city’s "First Saturday Night Out" festivities when the Main Street shops and restaurants stay open with lots of live music on the street. Her studio is spacious and equipped and ready for workshops. Priscilla’s new address is P.O. Box 578, Smithville, TX 78957.
Catherine Burkhard will open her expanded and remodeled "Books ‘n Letters Studio" in late August, ready for classes and workshops this fall. Catherine teaches bookbinding and calligraphy.
Tony Haverstick
pays tribute to the late Fritz Eberhardt in a feature article
written for Biblio magazine (June 1998, vol. 3 no. 6). "Ties
that Bind" recounts the 25-year relationship between these two
colleagues and friends, and the path that led to Eberhardt’s
final work-;a design binding commissioned by Haverstick. A
full-page photograph of this last commission, along with color
photos of some of
Eberhardt’s exquisite but rarely seen earlier design bindings,
illustrate the article.
Bindings by Fritz Eberhardt in the possession of the Rare Book
Department of the University of North Carolina will be shown in a
case at the Greensboro Hilton Hotel during the Standards Seminar in
October.
Jill Oriane Tarlau’s embroidered bookbindings will be on view from September 17 to October 15 in Paris at the Librairie Nicaise, 145 Blvd. St. Germaine, 75006. There will be an accordion -folded, color catalogue, Liures en Broderies.
New Head of Bookbinding Appointed at North Bennet Street School
North Bennet Street School is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Andersson as the head of the Bookbinding program, effective September, 1998.
Mark Andersson has worked at the University of Washington Libraries since July, 1992, where he has been involved in the conservation treatment of general and special collections. In addition, he has had a private conservation practice for individual and institutional clients across the U.S. While on leave for twelve months in 1996-97, he was a Fulbright scholar at the Carolina Rediviva Library, Uppsala University, Sweden.
Mark is a 1992 graduate of the Bookbinding program at North Bennet Street School under Mark Esser. Prior to that he had worked as the Associate Curator at The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. He has led training courses in the Seattle area for the Book Arts Guild, and was co-teacher of a three-week NEH training project for book repairers from institutions throughout the Northwest.
He will assume his teaching duties here in September, but will be preparing for the new year beginning August 17. He can be reached then at (617)227-0155, or at this e-mail address: nbss@nbss.org.
Drew University Book History MA Program
Drew University, in Madison, New Jersey, is inaugurating a new M.A. program in Book History -; the first such program outside Europe. The instructors will be drawn from Drew’s permanent faculty and from neighboring universities, libraries, and museums.
Pending approval by the university’s board of trustees, the first intake of students will be in September 1999. The program is designed for librarians, teachers, bibliophiles, [bookbinders?] booksellers, publishing professionals, and students who plan to pursue doctoral degrees in history or literature. For further information and application forms, contact the Office of Graduate Admissions, Drew University, Madison, NJ 07940-3110, USA; tel: 973-408-3110; e-mail: gsoroka@drew.edu.
In connection with this program, Drew University will, beginning in Fall 1998, sponsor a two-year series of public lectures by working book historians, funded by a $10,000 grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Speakers and topics will announced in the near future. (This notice appeared on BOOK_ARTS-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU )
Grolier Club Exhibition of Duke August of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
A Treasure-House of Books: The Library of Duke August of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel will be on exhibition at the Grolier Club (47 East 60th St., New York, NY; ph: 212-838-6690) from December 9, 1998 through February 6, 1999. Spectacular highlights from the library of one of the world’s greatest book-collectors. Among the manuscript treasures will be a 9th-century Gospel book from Tours, a Gospel lectionary illuminated at Reichenau in the early 11th-century, a priceless 14th-century Sachsenspiegel (the first legal codex in the German language, as well as a landmark in late medieval manuscript illumination), a Wycliffe Bible, and a 15th-century psalter belonging to Queen Beatrix of Hungary, and formerly part of the renowned Corvine collection of Italian illuminated manuscripts. The printed books in the exhibition will include the "September Testament" Luther Bible translation; printed in September 1522, and a very rare 1517 presentation copy on parchment of the Theuerdank, a chivalric poem commissioned by Emperor Maximilian I to commemorate his wooing of Maria of Burgundy.
The works in this exhibition document a lifetime of collecting by Duke August of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1579-1666). At his death the Duke owned over 135,000 printed books and manuscripts spanning seven centuries, and his library was one of the largest in Europe. Widely traveled and the product of a humanist education, the Duke was an author, a scholar, and his own librarian. The planned nature and scale of his book-buying activities, as well as the unique structure of his library and its catalogues, continue to this day to fascinate scholars and bibliophiles. The collections now form the core of the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, a modern research center with a wide-ranging program of scholarly and cultural events, which joins the Grolier Club and the Goethe Institute in sponsoring this event. the treasures on display represent the cream of Duke August’s own personal collection, and many of them appear in America for the first time. An illustrated catalogue will be available.
(Ed. note: Guild members who attended last year’s Seminar in Ann Arbor will remember Dag-Ernst Petersen’s presentation on Treatment of Wooden Boards. Mr. Petersen is head conservator of the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel.)
Oak Knoll Fest V
The Fine Press book Association, a new organization promoting interest in fine printing will hold its first convention during the Oak Knoll Fest V in New Castle, Delaware September 26 - 27, 1998. This year’s Fest features talks by Claire Van Vliet, of Janus Press in Vermont, and Sebastian Carter, of Rampant Lion’s Press in Cambridge, England. For contact information, see the Calendar, this issue.
Stone Type: An Exhibition of the Typeface Designs of Sumner Stone
The San Francisco Public Library will present an exhibition of typography by Sumner Stone, one of America’s foremost typeface designers and a pioneer of computer typography, September 1 through October 31, 1998, in the Skylight Gallery at the Main Library. The exhibition provides an intimate view of a one-person type foundry in the digital era, with examples of Mr. Stone’s original drawings, digital representations, test proofs, critiques and early trial uses of the typefaces. The exhibition was organized by the Book Arts and Special Collections Center of SFPL.
From 1984 to 1990, Sumner Stone was Director of typography at Adobe Systems, Inc., where his development of computer-based type fonts combined with its PostScript language and software revolutionized the potential of desktop publishing.
This exhibition will feature a presentation of Mr. Stone’s type designs as they have appeared in a broad range of published material running the gamut from art exhibition catalogs to a $3 stamp. In addition, it will include some of Stone Type Foundry’s work in reviving historical typefaces, such as ITC ‘Bodoni’ and Scripps College ‘Old Style’, designed by Frederic Goudy and produced in digital form by Mr. Stone for Scripps.
On September 10, Mr. Stone will present a lecture in the Koret Auditorium of the Library. For information, contact Special Collections at 415/557-4560.
Book Arts in the West
On the evening of June 5, 1998 the "Westward Bound" book arts exhibition opened at the Finch Lane Gallery in Salt Lake City Utah.
Designed as a celebration of book arts in the American West, and in particular in the Intermountain region, this exhibition includes fine press, artist books, and design bindings. It was organized to mark the successful completion of the first three years of the University of "Utah Marriott Library Book Arts Program". It showcases the juried works of 31 Western and Intermountain book artists. The exhibit also includes the work of 11 distinguished invited artists, all of whom have made significant contributions to the program’s success. These include western artists such as Tim Ely (Portland OR), Peter Koch (Berkeley, CA) and Joe D’Ambrosio (Phoenix AZ), in addition to international artists Claire Van Vliet, Ken Campbell and Philip Smith. Seventeen artists are members of the Guild of Book Workers. (Ten of them are members of the Rocky Mountain Chapter).
Enthusiasm ran high among close to 300 visitors who attended the opening reception. Many of them were professors and students at the University of Utah. The diversity of the work, the spirit of exploration, and the high level of technique that emerged from the Intermountain and Western artists is a demonstration of the level of interest in book arts and dedication to professionalism in this part of the country.
Juror’s awards were given to Sam Garriott Antonacci’s "Seattle Skyline", a miniature black and silver piece that opens up to show the Seattle skyline at night; to Sue Cotter for "What is lost can be found", a personal piece with painterly images and an embossed leather cover; and
to Nancy Culmone’s "Spirit Moon", a painted accordion that evokes images of the New Mexican landscape.
The "Westward Bound" exhibition provided the focal point for a series of book-related activities throughout the month of June, partly funded by the Utah Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. There were calligraphy and children’s bookmaking workshops, an evening panel discussion with Edwina Leggett and Dianne Reeves (about making a living as a book artist) and a papermaking workshop with Dianne Reeves. "The Marriott Library Book Arts Program’s" Summer Intensive continued with a two-week workshop with Claire Van Vliet.
"Westward Bound" will travel for the next two years. It opens early in August at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art. Later in the year it will travel to Boise ID, and from there to other venues throughout the West. The sixty-four page "Westward Bound" catalog includes color photographs of all exhibition books, as well as an introduction by Dr. Sidney E. Berger. Copies of the catalog are available for $20, through the Marriott Library Book Arts Program, 295 South 1500 East, Rm Dock, University of Utah, Salt Lake City UT 84112-0860.
The Paper and Book Intensive 1998
The 16th Paper & Book Intensive was held at Camp Whittier in Santa Barbara, California in June 1998. Camp Whittier is a beautiful, back-to-the-basics camp located behind the Santa Barbara Mountains, approximately 30 miles from the Santa Barbara airport. For many years I had heard about the Intensive, known about the presenters and heard spirited reports from those who attended. My experience this year certainly lived up to my expectations.
I arrived at the camp and found the campsite hosts very well prepared. This year’s directors were Steve Miller, Bill Drendel, Maria Fredericks, and Eileen Wallace, with sponsorship from the University of Iowa Center for the Book. The site-host was Inge Bruggeman. Throughout the Intensive, the directors and staff were prepared for all eventualities, and kept things running smoothly. I congratulate them.
My cabin seemed about a mile from the main dining hall, past the swimming pool and fire pit, craft bungalow, lodge and tennis courts. I shared a cabin with six other campers. The five cabins in our group shared two cabins of bathroom facilities. The beds were Spartan. I saw a snake and a huge spider. Others reported seeing scorpions and deer. Everybody saw the black flies.
The first session’s classes were 1/2 day, making it possible to attend two classes per day. The session lasted 4 days. Two classes were held in the lodge each session. For the first session, Mindy Dubansky and Sandra Reese created binderies from long tables and small cutters and copy presses. During my breaks from Korean Papermaking, I watched the participants create several boxes with Mindy, and an edition of ten books with Sandra.
I was in the big tent, which had been set up across from the lodge. Lynn Amlie, (with a lot of help from Helen McPherson from Australia), had built vats from pine and plastic bags to hold the pulp for the papermaking. Lynn had brought traditional moulds made in Korea. These were attached above the vats, so they would swing above the water. When we dipped the moulds, we moved them sideways, paused in the middle to swirl them, shooting the fibers in all directions, and swung them in the opposite direction. This is what Lynn describes as the Hanji waltz. Hanji is the name of the style of Korean paper we were making. Each sheet is formed in two layers. The couching is reversed for each second layer, making the couching process into yet another dance.
Lynn was a very thorough teacher. We cooked, soaked, scraped, beat the bast fiber, and in the process learned about lye, translucency, strength, and more than I can include in this report. I left with a greater appreciation for the craft of papermaking and for the mastery Lynn showed and shared with us.
In the afternoon I learned to use a hewing hatchet on an elk bone, along with rasps and steel wool and scrapers. We ground hacksaw blades into knives with a hand-powered grinder and Japanese waterstones. Jim Croft is a master toolmaker (and an amazing trombonist).
In the craft bungalow I met Janet Takahashi, who conducted the session on gilding. I never saw so many kinds of gilding in one place. Janet has a command of several different ways of gilding and an enthusiasm for sharing her techniques.
Each evening there was a slide show or demonstration by visitors like Michelle Cloonan, Sid Berger, and Barbara Tetenbaum, and by instructors Mindy Dubansky, Lynn Amlie, Janet Takahashi, Cathy Baker, Jim Croft, and Stan Nelson.
After the first session there was a day in town. The Special Collections Department of the library at the University of California at Santa Barbara arranged for participants to view a book arts exhibit. Harry and Sandra Reese, proprietors of Turkey Press, hosted a relaxing lunch and open studio. They were gracious hosts. Their home is a few blocks from the beach and afforded a much-needed break from the camp. The afternoon was on our own in Santa Barbara. Some of us shopped on State Street, some walked along the harbor.
The second four-day session consisted of one class which met for a full day. Pamela Spitzmueller and Carol Barton took over the binderies in the lodge. Pam’s class produced medieval girdle bindings, and Carol Barton’s learned the basics of the pop-up and produced a group recipe book. The craft bungalow was taken over by Stanley Nelson and his class in punchcutting, and the big tent became Merilyn Britt’s workshop for creating plant dyes for paper.
I spent the next four days reviewing the chemistry of adhesives, testing and comparing the properties of eleven adhesives and discussing their possible uses. "No adhesive is perfect" became the motto of the group taught by Cathy Baker, whose years of experience were evident in her explanations and examples. Perhaps the high point for me was learning the remoistenable tissue technique, and the introduction to pecap, a textile which can be used as a substitution for a paper-washing support.
Throughout the Intensive Nancy Morains of the Colophon Book Arts Supply worked hard to supply essential materials, to make the classes go smoothly.
Several evenings during the Intensive, a campfire was lit and everyone was welcome. During the day, we had access to the swimming pool and tennis court as well. The final day was reserved for the auction, which took place in the morning, and the banquet, which was a Mexican fiesta complete with a piñata at the campfire and dancing in the lodge.
I could go on about the genuine camaraderie, and the generosity of all participants, but PBI is something to be experienced, and difficult to describe in words. The three wonderful issues of the Whittier Whitler produced by Susan Sayre Batton capture the spirit, but of course the newsletter was distributed to the PBI participants. Well, you simply have to attend.
More details of the classes and biographies of the instructors can be found on the PBI Website (www.slis.ua.edu/pbi.html). Next year’s Intensive will be held at Haystack in Maine in early May. I would certainly recommend the experience to anyone interested in the Paper and Book Arts.
Pamela Barrios, July 28, 1998
Gwenyth Swain.
Bookworks: Making Books By Hand. Carolrhoda Books, Inc. The
Lerner Group, 241 First Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401, 1995.
64pp. $15.95 hb, 9.95 pb. ISBN 0-87614-858-5 (hb) or 1-57505-073-0
(pb).
Reviewed by Artemis BonaDea.
Many times when I’m exploring a new area of interest I go first to the children’s section of my public library. It’s there that I find clear, concise and simple information about my new field of study. After a couple of juvenile books, my confidence is up and I’m ready to tackle the "grown-up" books in the subject.
If I was just discovering books and took myself off to the children’s library, I would love to find Gwenyth Swain’s Bookworks: Making Books By Hand. For the fearful beginner in me, this book has great photos, clear instructions and lots of examples of books made by kids at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. The adult in me loves the way the book is organized and the fact that it includes a real live book artist, historical models and book forms from other cultures. No matter what your age, this book has something for you.
Ms. Swain wastes no time in introducing the idea that while books can serve many very ordinary purposes, they don’t have to look ordinary -; or even square. "[A book] can be as tiny as your thumb or as tall as a refrigerator. It can even be shaped like a pyramid or a circle or a fish." After getting permission to dream of books that wouldn’t necessarily fit on the library shelf, several book forms from other cultures are introduced -; including one totally new to me, the quipu (pronounced KEY-pooh), a Peruvian "book" made of strands of strings tied together.
Since writers of any age can experience writer’s block, creating text is discussed and the author includes a list of "story starters" to get you moving. Planning how the text will flow through the pages is shown in story board form as is the concept of choosing the right shape of book to match the narrative or illustration.
For Ms. Swain, making a book also means making or decorating the book’s paper as well so there is information on simple papermaking and marbling. The directions are clear and the photographs illustrate the process very well -; although it did occur to me that if the kids really worked without aprons as shown in the photos, there’s no way they could be that clean! However, even neat and tidy, there are plenty of smiles and beautiful paper being created.
The actual binding instructions include a scroll book, three-hole pamphlet stitch and books bound with pipe cleaners and rubberbands. The accompanying photographs constantly reinforce the idea that books don’t have to be square and collage is prominent for those of us who sometimes feel creatively impaired. The safest way to fold an accordion is demonstrated (something I’ve not seen even in many adult books) and the variations take off from there, including clear instructions and illustrations for Hedi Kyle’s flag book and accordion pop-ups.
In the final chapter, printing and illustrating is discussed, as is typography and the notion that words don’t have to be attached to the page in straight lines. Crayon rubbing, eraser carving and collage are all included as options for decoration.
Bookworks includes a glossary, bibliography, resource/ supply list and a full index. It’s a great starting point for kids (and their adults) who want to explore books from the inside out. If there’s no binding teacher handy, the instructions are clear, the illustrations good and the reinforced library binding lets the book lies fairly flat when open. Bookworks would be a fine addition to any binding library or a great book to send your favorite kids to get them hooked on books!
Greenfield,
Jane. ABC of Bookbinding. New Castle: Oak Knoll Books and New York:
Lyons Press, 1998. 200 pp. Over 700 illus. [by the
author]. $35. ISBN 1-884718-41-8.
Reviewed by Sidney F. Huttner, The University of
Tulsa.
Sub-titling her book "A Unique Glossary with over 700 Illustrations for Collectors and Librarians," Greenfield has created a work self-consciously parallel to Carter’s ABC for Book Collectors and related to but different from Etherington and Roberts’s Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books. The text lacks Carter’s wit and Etherington and Roberts’s frequent depth, but nearly every one of the brief definitions in the "Glossary of Bookbinding Terms" is accompanied by an informative line drawing, and the other sections of the book abound with them as well. Not to disparage the work in any way, it might be reasonably be viewed as a collection of captioned drawings.
The book has three principal sections. A "Glossary of Bookbinding Terms" is a straight-forward A to Z of about 1,000 terms, each defined in a sentence or two and, as mentioned, illustrated. A "Glossary of Bookbinding’s Structural Evolution" "explores the evolution of binding structure from the earliest known Coptic examples through the Middle Ages to the latest techniques of the twentieth century" (p. 77). The text is again succinct: distinguishing features of each selected structure are set forth in bulleted array and placed opposite and amongst informative drawings. This section is arranged by century, says Ms. Greenfield, "because it is easier to think in centuries than in periods beginning and ending with specific years."
A "Glossary of Binders, Designers, and Styles of Decoration" is a relatively short (29 pages) A to Z of binder’s names and named styles. Each entry is embellished with at most one drawing, and since the entries typically do not point unambiguously to distinguishing features, the drawings here often tend to be a bit difficult to "read." They are suficiently detailed that the expert’s eye is drawn to the significant detail, but the less expert may find themselves befuddled. Representing with a single drawing prolific binders (Katherine Adams (1862-1952), Rose Adler (1890-1959), and Robert Aitken (1735-1802), to take just the first three named) gives at best the barest sense of the range of these artist’s work. It certainly raises the question of whether the chosen design is "representative" of the binder’s "style," a question that is addressed in part by a four page list headed "Sources of Drawings" which relates particular illustrations to published photographs on which they have been based.
The glossaries are Followed by a 12 page "Index of Binder’s Identification," that is, an indication of where and how certain binders (or binding firms) signed their bindings; a 129 item bibliography; and an "Index of Alternate Terms", (e.g, "acid migration" has been preferred to "acid transfer", "Paschal Lamb" to "agnus dei").
Not everyone will find this book equally accessible -; it is often true that a picture conveys the information of a thousand words, but it is also true that we must bring considerable knowledge to bear in "seeing" correctly the information the picture contains. Short on connective, cautionary, complicating tissue, this book requires other books, and replaces none. The author-illustrator, however, has worked hard to select words and make images which reinforce each other, and thus the book packs an immense amount of useful information in small compass. ABC of Bookbinding earns a rightful place on the reference shelf.
Peter Bowers, ed.
Studies in British Paper History: The Oxford Papers. British
Association of Paper Historians, 1996. 108pp. $29.95. ISBN
095-25757-0-1. Distributed in the U.S. by Oak Knoll Press, 414
Delaware Street, New Castle, DE 19720; oakknoll.com.
Reviewed by James Downey, President, Legacy Art &
BookWorks.
This is Volume 1 in a new series of reference works, containing essays presented at the Fourth Annual Conference of the British Association of Paper Historians, held at Oxford in September of 1993. While the two main themes of the conference were the historical use of straw in papermaking and the paper history of Oxfordshire, England, the published essays range more widely: from technical studies of fiber content and paper performance to the history of various English mills; from James Watt’s 19th century efforts to develop a practical copying machine (and find a suitable paper for its use) to papermaking in Kashmir, India.
There is a little something for everyone in this volume. For those who are looking for reference material on dating specific papers according to pulp content, Peter Bower’s essay on "Straw in 19th Century Papermaking" provides a nice overview. In the essay he discusses the economic as well as technical aspects of the subject, and has a useful appendix abstracted from the 1967 text Strength and Other Characteristics of Book Papers 1800-1899 by William J. Barrow. Companion essays on specific paper mills/papermaking families provide additional information on how to place specific papers in both locale and time, according to their characteristic watermarks or mold-surface impressions.
Anyone interested in the papermaking process will find a great deal to consider with an essay simply titled "Straw" by James Brander, in which he discusses not only the use of this material by papermakers through history, but also prospects for the use of straw by papermakers today. An informative primer on basic fiber properties and how they influence sheet performance is covered in a short essay by H.W. Kropholler, D.J. Ryder and C.P. Wilkins titled "Fibres and Paper." And a quick overview of beater history is to be found in "The Development of the Beater" by Phil Crocket.
Paper conservators will relish the information in two essays: "Observations from an art conservator about the use of straw in paper and boards" by Penny Jenkins; and "The Evolution and Development of Drawing Papers’ and the effect of this development on Watercolour Artists, 1750-1850" by Peter Bower. The first has observations on the behavior of aging straw paper and boards, and some sound advice on how to treat those materials. The second is an extensive investigation into the interaction between artists and papermakers, as new types of paper were developed to meet medium-specific needs.
I’m not sure where the essays on James Watt’s copying machine, or the photo record of Kashmiri papermaking in 1917 fit in, but hey, those are kinda fun, readable, and have good illustrations/images.
All in all, this is a good first effort, and if the rest of the series holds up to the promise of this first volume, it will be a nice addition to the literature available in the field.
Sharpe, John L. III and
Kimberly Van Kampen. The Bible as Book, The Manuscript Tradition.
The British Library & Oak Knoll Press in association with the
Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities, 1998. 224pp. Illus.
$55. ISBN 1-884718-38-8. oakknoll.com
or 414 Delaware Street, New Castle DE 19720.
Brief review by Sidney F. Huttner, The University of
Tulsa.
The Bible as Book is a wide-ranging collection of papers presented at a 1995 conference which brought together leading scholars from different disciplines "to investigate the many ways in which scribes and craftsmen created cultural artifacts which enhanced their readers’ veneration for ... holy texts." One of the papers, Christopher Clarkson’s "Some Representations of the Book and Book-Making from the Earliest Codex Forms to Jost Amman," pages 197-203, will be of interest to Guild members.
Clarkson writes, "It is still true to say that the history of bookbinding is mainly viewed as the history of a two- dimensional decorative art. But I regard bookbinding as a fascinating three-dimensional mechanical craft and one which should be held in highest regard within the general history of medieval technology." To this end, Clarkson collects and discusses representations of the codex book from frescos, mosaics, and manuscripts, some of which are reproduced on seven (of the 32) pages of black and white illustrations. His fullest discussions concern the frontispiece in an early twelfth century manuscript of the works of St. Ambrose in the Bamberg Staatsbibliothek and the frequently reproduced image of a binder’s shop first published by Jost Amman and Hans Sachs in 1568.
The twelfth century image, "the earliest known illustrations representing the stages in Romanesque bookmaking," shows the Archangel Michael in a rectangle bordered with 10 smaller images in roundels, each of which depicts a process, from "nibbling" a quill to proudly displaying the finished work.
A second article, Sylvie L. Merian’s "The Amenian Bookmaking Tradition in the Christian East," pages 205-214, also discusses bookbinding, and in a brief but lucid paper, "Books of Hours, ‘Imaging’ the Word," pages 137-143, Christopher de Hamel outlines the traditional components and purposes of these books, which he calls "the most common surviving medieval manuscripts containing biblical texts: tens of thousands of them must exist."
This time we will discuss wet pressing and consolidation of the sheet of paper.
Wet Pressing
There are two reasons for wet pressing: first, water removal and second, sheet consolidation.
Water Removal
Excess water must be removed from the paper to reduce its moisture content to the point where the wet paper can be handled during the drying process. The "wet strength" of paper is highly dependent on its moisture content and increases dramatically as the sheet becomes drier.
Sheet Consolidation
The other important function of wet pressing is the consolidation of the sheet of paper. As the water is pressed out of the paper and flows out through the press felts, the fibers come into more intimate contact with each other and inter-fiber bonding starts to occur.
Wet Pressing Procedures
In the last column, the stack of wet felts and freshly couched papers (the "post") had been built on the bottom press board.
The centering jigs are unclamped and removed from the front edge of the press board, then the front edge of the press board (with the post on it) is lifted up and at the same time the press board and post are heaved into the press simultaneously centering it!
With my press, which has a maximum nine inch (23 cm) opening, when making large sheets such as 22" x 30", the wet post of twenty-seven sheets and felts can weigh up to two hundred pounds (over 90 kg), so the papermaker must lift half of this when heaving the post into the press. This is not a sport for weaklings!
Once the post has been centered in the press, the top press board is placed on top of the post, the oil-hydraulic press pump (or manual jack, as the case may be) is turned on and the wet pressing begins.
The wet sheets in the post are still very fragile and are just held together by the felts, so great care must be taken to apply the press load very gently at first. If the top press platen is lowered too fast, the wet paper will be squeezed out from between the felts and the paper will be ruined.
On the vertical side frame of my press I have marked the position of the top press platen in G inch intervals. I watch both the platen’s downward movement and the rate at which the water is escaping as the pressure is gradually applied to the post.
Once the flow of the water has almost ceased, the pressing pressure can be raised to the maximum (in my case, 30 tons) and held there for two minutes or so.
Just to make sure that all the possible water is removed by wet pressing, the top press platen is raised until it clears the post and then pressure is reapplied to the maximum for another minute.
Then the top platen is raised completely and the post (which is, of course, much lighter now) can be eased out of the press onto a waiting dolly.
I should mention that the floor of the wet area of my paper mill is made of asphalt that has been sloped from each side of the room downwards to a drain. The drain discharges through the exterior wall into a double filtration system which catches 99% of the fibers that escape. Thus, after papermaking and wet pressing, the whole floor and area can be hosed down using a pressure hose to keep the floor and equipment clean.
In the next column, we will talk about several drying processes and their effects on sheet dimensions and paper flatness and finish.
Edward H. Snider, Cranberry Mills Handmade Papers, RR #1, Seeleys Bay, ON, K0H 2N0, Canada. (10/10/97)
Handmade Paper
The Paper Facility at the University of Iowa Center for the Book has a new address and a new phone. You can find them at 100 Oakdale Campus, M109OH, Iowa City, IA 52242; ph: 319-335-4410; FAX: 319-335-4077. For specific information regarding orders, please contact the shop manager, Lynn Amlie at <lynn-amlie@uiowa.edu>.
For Sale:
Bookbinding/record preservation business.
Send inquiries to:
Excel Binding, Inc.
3338 University Ave., SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Equipment
Call: (612)378-1235.
The Handbridge Bindery in Austin, Texas is expanding again and would like to add 2 experienced binders immediately. We are a team of 5 binders, 3 of whom have over 40 years of combined experience, and 2 trainees with great potential. We specialize in custom binding, restoration and limited production work. We have a nationwide clientele of serious collectors, institutions and booksellers.
Ideally, we would like to find one very experienced binder with a minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience, strong organizational skills, and well developed interpersonal skills. The binder would assist with various book and paper treatments and housing projects, including resewing, rebacking, individual stamping and production of limited small editions; constructing paper slipcases to full leather boxes; and paper mending, including washing and lining.
We are also looking for an experienced trainee with either formal training, hands on experience, or the right attitude. We strongly believe in the training and mentoring of serious students of the trade.
We offer a unique environment for personal growth. Our talented binders are very involved with the local music and art community. The bindery is located in an old home, near downtown Austin and Barton Springs. We are a close group that gets along as friends and we are looking to add to our family. Salary depends on experience, attitude and potential. Please contact Glenn Fukunaga at (512) 445-4544 for individual attention, or fax your resume to (512)445-2927. Handbridge Bindery, 1720 South Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78704.
Books
Bookbinding for Book Artists: sewn and pasted cloth or leather bindings requiring no special tools or equipment, by Keith A. Smith and Fred Jordan. Published and distributed by keith smith BOOKS. Smythe sewn paperback, 432 pp. $35. It will be available approximately at the end of August 1998 from keith smith BOOKS, 22 Cayuga St., Rochester, NY 14620-2153, USA. Tel & Fax: 716/473-6776; email:ksbooks@netacc.net.
Alphabet Book. 26 pages. A collaboration. Letterpress printing by Alan Hillesheim of the Digger Pine Press, Berkeley, CA on Rives paper in twenty-seven typefaces. Gouache illustrations and binding by Jean Buescher of Bloodroot Press, Ann Arbor, MI. Deep Green German Ingres (or Ingres Antique) -covered boards with inlaid full alphabet label. Cloth spine. Exposed longstitch sewing. 3 1/4"w x 6 5/8"h. Edition of 20. Write or call Jean Buescher, Bloodroot Press, 1404 Lutz Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48103-4619; Ph: 734/668-7436 for a prospectus.
After a two year break, The Calligraphers Engagement Calendar has returned with an edition for 1999. The editors, Eleanor Winters and Carole Maurer have chosen 52 pieces by 50 different calligraphers from the over 200 submitted from 11 different countries. For 1999, the theme is Flowers and Gardens - all quotations concern the same subject. Mike Kecseg designed the cover; calendar pages are by Barry Morentz. Now printed and available from the publisher, John Neal, Bookseller, and other calligraphy suppliers. $13.99. Quantity prices available.
The theme for the 2000 Calligraphers Engagement Calendar will be Numbers - a fitting concept for that millenial year. For a Call for Entries for the 2000 calendar, or to order 1999 calendars, contact: John Neal, Bookseller, PO Box 9986, Greensboro, NC 27429 USA. Ph: 1-800-369-9598 or 336-272-6139; Fax: 336-272-9015; email: JNealBooks@aol.com; Web page: www.JohnNealBooks.
Periodicals
Art et Métiers du Livre, the French periodical on binding, calligraphy, book collecting and prints, is again being received by GBW after an unexplained hiatus of a couple of years and will be available from the Library.
• AML, No. 208, March-April 1998
"L’Elégance d’Alain Devauchelle" features the work of this contemporary French binder with color photos of five of his bindings.A new section added since we last saw a copy of AML is a notebook on binding techniques written by Jacques Michel and Godelieve Dupin Saint Cyr of the Atelier d’Arts Appliques du Vesinet. The section is printed ‘up’ the page to make a folded 4-page section from one page of the magazine. Since these are pp. 37, 38, 45, & 46, this feature must have begun some time ago. The illustrations are color drawings, very clear, of various techniques. This issue (in French, of course) covers ploughing in, rounding, pressing, pasting down cords, and making a protection envelope for the book block.
The Festival of the Book held in Belfort , France, last fall is covered, with some beautiful photos of bindings.
Calligraphy features Hassan Massoudy and his work.
• AML, No. 209, May-June 1998
features the bindings of Annie Boige, a member of AIRneuf.the binding technique notebook, this time, is three pages (which make up 12 folded pages, pp. 47 - 58) of instructions for backing and covering a book in leather or cloth.
Actualities (what’s going on where) covers the exhibition of bindings in Greece last November sponsored by l’ARA and the National Center for the Book in Greece, and an exhibition in June at the Wittockiana of the bindings by 23 binders of the work of poet Pierre Lecuire, among other things.
Printing History 35, Vol. XVIII #1. Journal of the American Printing History Association.
"Oh, Mr. Jefferson - After All These Years, Why Do We Know So Little about the Books of Your time?", a talk given by Roger E. Stoddard to the 20th annual conference of APHA in October 1995.The Europeans Are Coming! Or, What’s New in Continental History of the Book: A Review Essay by Paul F. Gehl.
Strategies of Shopfloor Inclusion: The Gender Politics of Augusta Lewis and Women’s Typographical Union No. 1, 1868 - 1872 by Walker Rumble.
Reliures et Papiers, Vol. 12, No. 1 1997, publication of L’Association des Relieurs du Quebec (Casier Postal 637, succ. Outremont, Outremont (Quebec) H2V 4N6, Canada) contains articles in French on "Le papier, un héritage de l’Orient", "Centre de Conservation du Quebec", "L’ Histoire de la dominoterie", "Les métiers d’art en Bibliothèque"
WAAC (Western Association for Art Conservation) Newsletter, Vol. 20, No. 1, January 1998.
Eugena Ordonez and John Twilley assess the chemistry of efflorescence on works of art, including leather bindings.An extensive introduction to legal contracts is by Virginia N. Naud.
Also available in the Guild Library
The New Library Scene, Vol. 16, No. 4, December 1997. The Journal of the Library Binding Institute.
Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies, Vol. 1, No. 5, Autumn 1997.
Association of Book Crafts (New Zealand) Jan/Feb 1998, March/April 1998 & May/June 1998.
This list is compiled by Sid Huttner and includes catalogs received by him which include books of interest to GBW members. Catalog number, address, phone number and Internet address (when stated in the catalog) are recorded.
The BookPress 111 & 112 (250 items). P.O. Box KP, Williamsburg, VA 23187. 757-229-1260. <bookpress@widowmaker.com>. 111: new arrivals, including some book arts. 112: 67 books about books items, several on binding.
Charles B. Wood III 98 (104 items). P.O. Box 2369, Cambridge MA 02238. 617-868-1711. <cbw@world.std. com>. Arts, crafts, trades, manufactures, with two bookbinding items: The Whole Art of Bookbinding (Oswestry: 1811), $4950, and Henry Parry, The Art of Bookbinding (London: 1818), $2500, the first and second manuals in English.
Claude Cox 127 (651 items). 3 & 5 Silent Street, Ipswich ip1 1tf, England. 011-44-01473-254776. Fine printing and arts of the book.
Frances Wakeman Books 37 (410 items). 2 Manor Way, Kidlington, Oxford ox5 2bd, UK. 011-44-01865-378316. <fwbooks@globalnet.co.ukk>. Book arts, featuring bookbinding, papermaking, and printing.
James S. Jaffe 49 (786 items). 367 West Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041. 610-649-4221, <jaffebks@pond. com>. 20th century fine printing arranged by press, indexed by author.
Joshua Heller New Series List Four (672 items). P.O. Box 39114, Washington, DC 20016-9114. (202)966-9411. <hellerbkdc@aol.com>. Printing history, printing technology, type specimens, and typography, with other book arts. Index of individual names.