Reading: English Blind-Stamped Bindings

February 18, 2026

Reading: English Blind-Stamped Bindings

Nicknames of Bookbinders

In this text J. Basil Oldham studies the tools used on blind-stamped bindings in England between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. He looks at groups of bindings that may be attributed to particular craftsmen or bindery diving deep into identifying and researching their application, situation and designs.

I wanted to read this book after researching into the bookbinder identities in this blogpost. When I found out that binders had nicknames based on the selection of tools they chose to use, I wanted to find out more. I am interested in finding out about what it might have been like to be a bookbinder during it's peak of business and trade, and peak of craftsmanship.

Oldhams glossary of terms

Pages of particular interest to me

Reading notes

"On the death or retirement of a binder his tools were bequeathed or disposed by sale; (...) more likely to be bought in his own town than elsewhere."

"The binder himself might move, and the tools become associated with another town."

~ "Tools passed from one hand to another." ~

Example; the Monster Binder has his name because of a tool he used that resembles a strange beast, a monster. Apart from this particular tool, all his other stamps were also used by the Lattice Binder, Heavy Binder & especially Unicorn Binder.

Quirks of the binders:

The Dragon Binders stamp was damaged around 1505, but he carried on using it.
Oldham aligns a name based on the designs of stamps used. E.g. "Floral Binder because out of his fourteen tools, all but two bear flowers of some sort,"
"The Crucifier Binder sometimes used metal bosses (not corner pieces) in the corners of his bindings." So badass.
The Bat Binder has the name due to the "characteristic tool, a bat fitted into a half-circle, which he used doubled, back to back, as a frame."

On rolls:

'Sidberch's Dancing Peasants' roll has a great name.
The design of rolls were "frequently copied from woodcut borders in Paris Books of Hours."
"The type of roll, used in both England and France, with a twisted stem and pineapple ornament, might be derived from an ornament used in stone." !!
The cherub (in roll design Oldham is referring to) might also be derived from an ornament used in stone.
"There can be no question that one type of ornament that is always occurring on rolls is defiantly copied from a single iron grille,"
"A possible explanation of the chequered pattern, practically peculiar to Canterbury, might be found in the pattern of split flint and stone that is a feature of a number of walls in and around Canterbury."

On the makers of tools:

Binders may have gotten their tools locally, made by die-cutters who also practiced as seal engravers. Or they might have been bought at "the great book fairs which enjoyed international patronage,"
There is "possibility of conscious copying to the order of one binder who had admired a tool used by another."
One tool cut artist has been identified as Hans Holbein, who is a known German woodcut artist. I looked into him and house this series of prints from 1526, published 1538, under the name 'The Dance of Death'.

Fanzine idea

After reading Oldhams book, English Blind-Stamped Bindings, I am inspired to collate together the binders that I liked from his selection and make a fanzine. This is to be cuttings from his book of the stamps of the binders and the zine decorated with other stamps, such as the plates he has presented, or singular elements such as ornaments and rolls (a tool with a design on a wheel) which can be used to design a frame

I also want to incorporate illustrations from old of bookbinders, whatever I can find, as well as the tools and what they look like, to explain visually to the reader.

Found images of bookbinders

Images from scans of BOOKBINDER 2007 vol. 21, The Journal of the Society of Bookbinders.

"An illustration of a bookbinder at work, from C. Weigel, Abbidung der gemeinnützlichen Houpr-Stände, Regensburg, 1698"

"An illustration of a monk using a sewing frame, found in a 12th Century Manuscript from the monastery of Michelsberg, Bamberg."

Images from The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bookbinder in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg, An Account of his Life & Times, & of his Craft, Various Authors

"Rolls and small stamps used in the Williamsburg bindery."

"This engraving from the French eighteenth-century encyclopedia of Denis Diderot shows the interior of a bookbindery of the time, and some of the equipment used. The operations under way in the shop are (a) “smashing” folded signatures flat on a stone anvil; (b) sewing signatures together on the stitching frame; (c) trimming the edges of a book before the covers are put on; and (d) squeezing a stack of finished books in a standing press."

This is an image of a bookbinder using a roll.

Images from this article by Peachey Conservation. This article proved to be a very interesting read, so lots of notes on the following!

"Jost Amman’s 1568 Bookbinder from the Book of Trades."

The author of this article wrote another article with this image that relays a poem that I really liked, written by Rabb, Theodore K. Taken from A Sixteenth-Century Book of Trades: Das Standebuch.

“Both lay and sacred, big and small,
Give me books: I bind them all
In parchment or in boards of wood.
And my clasps and locks look good.
I shape and cut the books for size,
And a stamp that beautifies,
And gild some spines, but just a few.
My income is quite handsome, too.”

Jost Amman’s 1588 “Two of Books”.

This image comes from a book titled "Book of Trades" by Jost Amman’s and as the author of this article states, "each image in the book was originally accompanied by short verses in Latin and German. The two Peters (Zillig and Verheyen) provided a translation:

"Because I too serve the liberal arts
By binding various/diverse books
I hope you will appreciate me
As a small link in Phoebe’s realm
Look here and see the benefits"

As my name is Phoebe, I am very intrigued as to what "Phoebe’s realm" is all about. According to the article, research by one of the translator, Verheyen, found that Phoebe (aka. Endymion, Diana, Cynthia) was an allegorical figure. In John Keats's 1818 poem Endymion the moon goddess is referred to interchangeably as Cynthia, Diana, and Phoebe. This goddess falls in love with Endymion, a beautiful mortal shepherd (or prince) who falls into an eternal, enchanted sleep. I also looked up that Phoebe is known as a Titaness of Brightness in Greek mythology. More information here.

Anyway, with that being said, according to the author of the article, the images in the book are in a playing card iconography, so they made the link in which this card may "represent the search for virtue in the material world." Apparently “two” in a Tarot deck of cards "concerns the transfer of oral to written history, which is mirrored in both these images of the material production of written texts."

Jost Amman’s 1588 “Five of Books”.

The author notes that this image "visually references the etymology of the word “book”, by portraying the books growing on a tree." The tree is beech, which was often used for boards in Germany at that time. Furthermore, “The word book comes from Old English bōc, which in turn comes from the Germanic root cognate to ‘beech‘."
In this illustration, the author of the article depicts "a bookseller has fallen asleep or passed out, while monkeys steal books out of his basket, urinate or defecate on his head, and pick his pocket. The horn books that the monkey is stealing are usually made out of wood. Or is the monkey stealing only a codex book and leaving the horn book?" Apparently "the cards in this deck were intended to promote “the advantages of Industry and Learning over Idleness and Drunkenness.” "

In another article written by Peachey Conservation, there is this image from John Bradford's book. Bradford was a lifelong journeyman bookbinder in early 19th century New York City and seemed to write poetry on bookbinding !