Weekly Bookbinding Report: sewing, repairing & leather

Week six as an apprentice bookbinder at York Bookbinding

Week six at York Bookbinding was two days in one week as I wasn't to come in previous week due to staffing logistics.
The first day I did side sewing on three books, learnt about leather and started repairing football pamphlets for a clients collection. The second day I finished repairs and sewed the sections together. I then prepared a collection of train magazines for sewing.

Saws and strings!

Helen showing me the collection of keys for different tapes for the cradle.

Week six accomplishments:
  • Repairing and sewing old fragile pamphlets.
  • Preparing magazines by de-stapling and taking the glue off using sandpaper.
  • Putting the magazines in order, ready for sewing.
Thinner book, thinner string.
Thicker book, thicker string.

Markings for drilling

The finished book block of pamphlets I had repaired and started sewing from last time, which Helen finished.



New skills acquired during week six:
  • Learning about leather.
  • Using judgement for problem solving.
  • Time saving by streamlining process.
This pamphlet folds out as concertina. In order for the reader to be able to access and look at the whole pamphlet rather than sew it in like the others, just the first fold is sewn in.

Instead of sanding down the binding side of the laminated covers individually, so that we can glue them, I stacked some up and positioned them (like I would when gluing endpapers) so that the amount that needs sanding is peaking out for each magazine. Then I could sand them all at once, saving time and effort. I places a guard of card on the top magazine too so that it had the same accuracy as the others.

A piece of this pamphlet had been torn out and the rip continues. To stop this from ripping further I applied the Filmoplast to it and cut around the tare, so it isn't noticeable.



I ran into a problem in which this piece was a flyer rather than a pamphlet. Discussing it with mike, the first option was to tip it in so that it is stuck to one of the pamphlets either side. However this could have caused problems with structure as the flyer was far larger than the pamphlets so susceptible to tearing when being handled.

So instead we decided to fold a small piece of card, making a 'guard', to stick the flyer onto, then sew that in. This gives it structure rather than flapping around, at risk of ripping. The pamphlet that follows is slotted into the crease to give the whole system extra support, then all of that is sewn in and the normal procedure resumes.


What I need to improve on:
  • Clarity in working; making sure to make clear which markings to adhere to! This can lead to mistakes such one I made this week; drilling a hole for sewing in the wrong place.
  • Speed of sewing the fragile page.
This is where I drilled a hole for sewing in the wrong place. It won't be noticeable as it will be covered, but these kind of easily avoidable mistakes could be critical in some situations!

Notes of the week:
Leather - calf is cheaper, goat is stronger.

Goat leather, to be used to replace a spine. It needs to be cut, pared back and dyed.

This is the book cover that the new leather will be used for. It is much darker, but the worn bits reveal what the original leather material was like, which has been matched to be the goat.

Tools for paring back leather.

Originally we thought that that the type was foiled separately and stuck on, another technique that will have been used to improve workflow and lower costs. However we can also see that there is evidence of blind tooling underneath the sticker, so perhaps a mistake was made on the original bit of spine or there has been an attempt of repair.

Mike's work paring back the leather so that the transition from old leather to the replacement is smooth as well as fitting into the covers.

Reflections on bookbinding history:
On the way to work I had been reading about the history of bookbinding, learning about blind tooling being the fast and cheap option for cover decoration. We can see that this bible is blind tooled using multiple tooling. There has also been little care into the transition of each tooling and so we can make a judgement that, although it is a well bound and pretty at a glance, it was perhaps made in a quick and knock-up manner, in comparison to a more intentional work that was to be of higher value. 
Through its imperfections, and the assumptions we have made from the the way it has been produced, we can see a lot more of the binders story and the person/people who used and owned this bible. It paints a picture of what the practice of a bookbinder may have looked like at that time, which contrasts with those practicing today quite radically in the current industry climate. As the book is high quality and substantially made, but not quite as highly decorated as it could have been, gives us insight into who may have owned it and how it may have been used. It also questions the intention of the binding. Had it been made to a brief from a client who asked for this specifically? Perhaps wanting something of substantial quality, but trying to save money on decoration, not too concerned with this. Or did the binder make this with the intention of creating something that looks fancy on the surface, impressing the buyer, but hadn't taken long to make and is nothing too special, allowing perhaps to make that little extra pocket money at no expense to their time. 
Furthermore, the fact that it has survived all these years suggests that it has been cherished, despite the condition it is in. It is an example of how a book, whatever the intentions, can be of much value as one that has been 'expensively' produced in terms of the story behind it and the value to its owner(s). And even thought it is nothing 'special', the current owner wants to keep it in good knick, showing its value to them. 
It's all relative, and though the original binder may have had lesser intentions for this book, we can see their skill and understand how life would have been at that time, It creates a narrative and along with the aura the book has cultivated over the years, it has ended up being a special and valuable thing. A book that has been made 'expensively' but not touched in order to keep it in good condition due to its original value may not have as much of a story or aura, and so for some much as myself, it perhaps has ended up not as valuable!


I found this article detailing an early binding from Magdalen’s Old Library Collection, MS 5; a manuscript of Peter Lombard’s 12th century The Four Books of Sentences from the 15th Century. In this article they describe the binding in detail and what it reveals about the book and its story. It has some similarities to the bible above, and I've found it interesting to read someones analysis of the binding. It is a fascinating example as it is also complicated to work out the intentions of the binder due to some of the attributes it has...
The writer of the article starts by saying, "is an example of a fine blind-stamped leather binding, which suggests that this book was valued". Due to the period it was made, this is more true than the bible above. As the writer states; "it would have been very time-consuming to create such a binding design as this". We can also tell there has been more time spent on the placement of tooling within the design, with the placement of the tooling being more considered. The writer describes the design of the tooling; "it features a diaper design which was the main style of decorating boards from the late 1470s, not only in Oxford but throughout the country. The diaper design features lozenge-shaped compartments, filled with small stamps within a framework".  However, despite the considered design, it is still a blind tooled book rather than the more expensive choice of using gold.
Furthermore, and in contrast to the bible binding, the writer states, "It is brown calfskin leather over rounded bevelled wooden boards." which reveals that this book is perhaps not of higher value, as they say; "Calfskin was the type of leather most commonly used for bindings from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries, chosen on account of its availability, durability, suitability for impressed decoration and its aesthetically pleasing, fine-grained appearance."
As the writer states, "The boards are made of wood, which provided very sturdy protection and durability as was the custom in the fifteenth and early-sixteenth century before this tradition changed to pasteboard as an alternative to wood." So this choice of material was a decision based on functionalism and the normalities of the time. However, it is then revealed that it recycles earlier manuscripts for the pastedowns, as well as the endleaves. This could be seen as a way of saving money, time and effort.


The Greyhound Binder
The article presents the theory behind who the binder was, referring to the research of Oldham (1952), who suggests that this binding is one of only ten known examples of the work of the ‘Greyhound Binder’. Which can be identified through the use of his use of a triangular greyhound stamp. This is where I find myself fascinated, when we start to reveal the story of the binder...
"According to Oldham (1952), one peculiarity of the Greyhound binder was the use of pink leather thongs for the clasps, not common with calf bindings as well as pink plaited headbands which were a rarity in England. Often the pink surface of the thongs has worn off over the years but in our binding it is still clearly visible."

After reading this I started to look for more information, but I then came across this article from the Newcastle University Special Collections blog. It discusses bookbinders with highly intriguing names; the 'Demon Binder' and the 'Dragon Binder'.

The Demon Binder
The ‘Demon Binder’, identified as Gerard Wake, is so called after use of a binding tool that resembles a horned devil within a lozenge. We can see an example of the Demon Binder’s work on a copy of Reporta Parisiensia that was printed and bound in 1478.

Details of the book showing the 'demon' tool.

The Dragon Binder
The ‘Dragon Binder’, thought to be Thomas Bedford, is so called after use of a binding tool that resembles a dragon inside a lozenge. He also uses a Tudor rose within a circle. We can see an example of the Dragon Binder’s work on a copy of Summa Angelica that was printed and bound in 1498. According to Oldham (1952), the dragon tool was damaged in 1504/1505 with a nick under the dragon’s tail, but its use continued.

Details of the book showing the 'dragon' and Tudor rose tools.

Side note; the writer of the blogpost writes that in the Seventeenth Century, "a wealthy wool merchant, Thomas Sandes (1606-1681) of Kendal in Cumbria donated books to the school he founded. The Sandes Library of Kendal Grammar School was donated to Newcastle University in the 1960s." Which included this copy of the Dragon Binders Summa Angelic. The reason I want to include this information is simply because I was born and partly raised in Kendal, so this fact pleases me.

The writer goes on to reveal that there are several other early binders from the fifteenth century that have been assigned nicknames:
"Oldham references the Lattice Binder (named after his use of a lattice stamp); the Unicorn Binder who used a small lozenge stamp depicting a unicorn looking over its shoulder; the Fruit and Flower Binder; the Monster Binder, named for his strange beast with a head at the end of its tail; the Greyhound Binder who used a triangular greyhound stamp; the Fishtail Binder, named after a stamp depicting a creature whose only recognisable feature is its fish-tail and several more."
However, it is important to note that this research is very flakey and assumption based; "binding workshops might have had multiple staff so we can’t be certain that it was always the same individual that created the bindings. It is also possible that tools passed to other book binders."

The Unicorn Binder
The 'Unicorn Binder' is so called after use of a binding tool that resembles a unicorn looking over its shoulder inside a lozenge. They worked in the late fifteenth-century and according to this article belonged to the Cambridge bindery.




Other articles to look at: