RSS Feed

‘binder of the month’ Category

  1. Bookbinder of the Month: Hannah Brown

    February 10, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    dontlooknow_hannahbrown1This edition of Daphne Du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now and Other Stories was published by the Folio Society in 2007 and bound by Hannah Brown in 2008 for the Designer Bookbinders Annual Competition, receiving the Mansfield Medal for Best Book. Bound in a dark grey goatskin with miscellaneous leather bird onlays in black, grey, dark green, pale turquoise and dark turquoise. Bird outlines are machine-sewn with twenty-four additional bird silhouettes in hand-pierced brass. Hand-tooled birds in carbon and Moon gold with hand-made finishing tools.

    The book is housed in a drop-back box covered in a pale grey bookcloth highlighted with elements from the binding.

    dontlooknow_hannahbrown2 dontlooknow_hannahbrown3dontlooknow_hannahbrown4

    Metal pieces appear a lot in your binding. How did you start working with this material, do you cut and shape the metal pieces yourself?
    I began to learn how to work with metal whilst doing my degree course in Brighton. Visually I have always liked the appearance of the pierced metal against leather. I tend to always use brass as the base metal, in my early books I lacquered the metal to prevent tarnishing, however I have now moved on to getting the brass pieces I use gold-plated.

    I do pierce the shapes out myself, I also solder posts on to the reverse of the shapes and attach them to the boards by drilling holes and feeding these posts through. I do not trust glues to withstand the test of time and feel far happier knowing that the metal is physically fixed through the covers. I have also started to experiment with acid etching to create texture on the flat metal surface, and intend to do more with this on future bindings.

  2. Bookbinder of the Month: Hannah Brown

    February 3, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    thesomme_hannahbrown1

    The Somme: An Eye Witness History is a Folio Society edition published in 2006 and bound by Hannah Brown in 2007. Boards are covered in pale turquoise goatskin with a dark grey goatskin spine piece. The covers were machine-sewn with red thread and hand-tooled in carbon and Moon gold with handmade finishing tools. The ribbon bookmark was hand-tooled to indicate the scale of map depicted on the boards.thesomme_hannahbrown2thesomme_hannahbrown3

  3. February // Bookbinder of the Month: Hannah Brown

    February 1, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    shakespeare_hannahbrown1

    This gorgeous fine binding was bound by Hannah Brown for the 2012 Designer Bookbinders International Competition. The theme of the competition was Shakespeare. Bound in full purple goatskin is a 1906 edition of Flowers from Shakespeare’s Garden: A Posy From the Plays with illustration from Walter Crane. The book contains quotes from various Shakespearean plays, each one containing the name of a flower. Walter Crane beautifully illustrates figures dressed in garments inspired by the flowers mentioned. Each flower in the book appears somewhere on the cover, doublure and endpaper design.

    The leather is embroidered over various colored leather onlays using a variety of silk and metallic threads. There are nine gold plated brass pieces attached to the boards. Using handmade finishing tools, Hannah further embellishes the cover with carbon and gold.

    shakespeare_hannahbrown5

    The endpapers and doublure design was done using soft-plate off-set printing and embellished with additional embroidery and tooling. 

    shakespeare_hannahbrown2shakespeare_hannahbrown3The binding is housed in a tulipwood box, mitered and held together with bog oak keys. A floral line drawing was etched into the lid of the box with a computer-controlled router. Pads are placed inside the box for added protection, the bottom pad was embroidered with a single flower.

    Hannah specializes in fine binding and custom commissioned pieces, working with a variety of materials and found objects; inspired by her habit of collecting. Check out the interview below to find out how Hannah got into bookbinding and come back every Sunday this month for more fine bindings.

    You graduated from Brighton University in 2004 with a BA (Hons) in Three Dimensional Craft. Can you explain your studies, what type of medium(s) did you work in and what materials were you using?
    My degree was nicknamed ‘WMCP’, standing for wood, metal, ceramics and plastics. It was a three-year degree, in the first year we rotated through the four materials learning basic making skills including wood-turning, silver soldering, mould-making and casting in resin. In our second year we had to specialise in two materials so I chose metal and ceramics and went on to make jewellery for my third year degree show.

    When were you first introduced into bookbinding and what was your attraction to it? Can you also talk about your first instructors and the training you had?
    At the Brighton University Grand Parade site, there were many different art-related degree courses running including Graphic Design, Illustration, Sculpture and Fashion. There was a permanent bookbinding studio that students could use as part of their studies if they were doing the Graphics and Illustration courses, however I was not permitted to as my degree course fell under a different department.

    I remember a fellow student on my course showing me some bindings she had made whilst doing bookbinding evening classes in her final study year. I was very impressed by the books she had made and decided to sign up for an evening class myself once I had graduated. At the time I was lucky enough to be working in Brighton for two different jewellers, improving on the metal working skills I learnt whilst doing my degree.

    I signed up to a beginner’s class and my first tutor was Peter Jones (a current Fellow and past President of Designer Bookbinders). We began by making a simple single-section book and then a few weeks later progressed on to making a multi-section, case-binding. I was hooked from pretty much class one, delighting in the fact that I had made my own little notebook!

    Due to my fascination with collecting, which developed during my degree course, I took it further and starting stitching found objects to my book covers. I moved from Brighton a few months after I graduated but was fortunate to carry on going to bookbinding evening classes at The Institute in North London, an adult education college. My tutor there was Chris Damp, a trained book conservator, and this is where I first began to learn how to work with leather.

    You were elected as a Licentiate member of the Designer Bookbinders in 2009. Congratulations! You’ve been assigned two mentors, can you talk about this experience and what opportunities have arose from this honor?
    I applied to be a Licentiate member of Designer Bookbinders after winning the Mansfield Medal in the 2008 Annual Competition for my binding of Daphne Du Maurier’s, ‘Don’t Look Now and Other Stories’. I was thrilled and it was suggested by other bookbinders that I apply.

    I was assigned both Peter Jones, my first bookbinding tutor from Brighton, and Jenni Grey (also from Brighton) as my mentors. They were chosen specifically for me as it was felt their work had specific relevance to mine. I use a lot of embroidery and sewn detail in my work, as does Jenni, and I am also trying to develop ways to use other materials (such as wood, metal and acrylic) into my bindings, which Peter does a lot of.

    The fact that both my mentors live in Brighton is fantastic as I love going down to see them, and reminiscing about by university days. In the four years that they have been my mentors I have been to see them about three times. Each time I have tried to take along work in progress as the most useful feedback I can get is during the making progress, when it is easiest to see how the book is functioning beneath the leather cover. I am able to ask other Fellows for advice too, which is an invaluable tool.

    One of the main opportunities that have arisen since being elected as a Licentiate, has been the chance to regularly exhibit my work alongside the other Fellows and Licentiates. I am also surrounded by a fantastic group of people with which to exchange advice and knowledge. DB has also recently put on a series of master-classes for Licentiates, which are invaluable for improving core skills.

    In a few years you’ll be eligible for election to Fellowship member, are you working towards this distinction?
    I work as a Museum Technician at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London four days a week and do as much bookbinding as I can around this. It is often hard as I only get small blocks of time to work on my fine bindings and commission work, however each binding I do I learn from and progress, therefore in this way I feel I am naturally working towards this distinction. I am approaching my fifth year as a Licentiate and am starting to think more seriously about applying for Fellowship, however I do not want to rush this decision as I have up to seven years in which to apply.

    The advice I get from my mentors and other fellow binders is invaluable and I still feel I have a lot to improve upon. I am confident in my design work but wish to progress further with my forwarding before applying for Fellowship, and I am not sure how long this may take.

    You currently work in your home studio in North London. Do you enjoy working in your home?
    As mentioned previously, I work a four-day week at the V&A Museum, therefore my binding work is done around this. I have often thought about looking into renting a studio space elsewhere, however at the moment it does not make sense financially. I do really enjoy working from home but I have to be quite strict with my time so as not to get distracted by household tasks!

    studio_hannahbrown

    At present my fiancé George and I are in the process of setting up a proper home bindery for myself in our spare room in North West London. In the meantime I currently work between the other rooms in the house and am in the process of expanding my range of bookbinding equipment and other machinery. I am always amazed what it is possible to produce with limited space and equipment, and if I were bookbinding permanently I would definitely chose to rent a studio space to house everything in.

    What is your most loved tool(s)? Do you make any of your tools?
    In 2007 I did my first gold tooling class with Tracey Rowledge at Cit Lit College in London. I loved the course and was thrilled to learn that it was easy, and a lot cheaper, to make my own hand tools. I bought some lengths of brass and some wooden dowel and set about filing the brass into shape. These hand-made tools are the favourite tools I own as they were so simple to make yet are so versatile.

    The first book I made with tooling on it was, ‘The Somme: An Eyewitness History’. I made a series of small tools for the design on the cover, and have since used these six tools over and over again in later bindings. I also have a series of hand tools shaped as birds, made for my binding of, ‘Don’t Look Now and Other Stories’, which I still use very regularly. I have also taught on how to make hand tools and am pleased to pass on my knowledge.

    On your about page you mention your passion for collecting. Can you talk more about your process of collecting? Do you find inspiration in the artifacts you collect or does your inspiration come from other artists and bookbinders?
    I am not a methodical collector, I hold on to items that interest me whether it be because of the colour, texture, personal significance or none of the above. I have a treasure trove of objects that I cannot bring myself to throw away and I like the idea of giving these objects new lives by adding them to my bindings. I do not do this very often in my fine binding work, but more regularly in my sketchbook and small commission work. It has however directly led to my interest in incorporating alternative skills into my fine binding work including metalwork, textiles, printmaking and woodwork.

    At university I did my dissertation on the field of collecting, looking specifically at why people amass objects and what their collections consist of. It is particularly significant to me that I am now involved in a field where my work is being added to bookbinding collections, each of my clients having their own interests and reasons for acquiring their bindings.

    As a committee member of the Society of Bookbinders, what is your role in the organization?
    I am a committee member of the London and South region of the Society of Bookbinders. I attend committee meetings to discuss matters arising in our region, plus we put on a programme of workshops and talks throughout the year.

    I am also the co-organiser of the SoB International Bookbinding Competition, with my friend Arthur Green. We have been running this competition for three years and are enjoying the challenge. It is held every two years and runs in conjunction with the Society’s biennial conference. Like the conference it has grown over the years and now attracts around one hundred entries from countries all over the world.

    There are five categories in which binders can enter books which are; Fine Binding, Case Binding, The Complete Book, Restoration and Historic Binding. There are a variety of prizes on offer and the winners are announced at the Society’s conference. These winning books then form a touring show that goes to three different venues around the UK. 

    hannahbrown

  4. Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota

    December 30, 2012 by Erin Fletcher

    asimov_sobota

    I’m finishing off this month of Jan Sobota bindings with another miniature book that was created in collaboration with his wife Jarmila. Inside the hand-sculpted robot lives an accordion book of sixteen panels. The text explores the birth and usage of the word “robot”, which is first used by the Czech playwright Karel Čapek in 1920 (the word “robot” derives from a Czech word meaning forced labor or serf). The term “robotics” was coined by the Russian writer Isaac Asimov.

    The accordion-fold panels fold ingeniously into a compartment in the back the 2 3/4″ tall metal robot. A metal panel is held in place with a magnet affixed to the back of the robot’s head, securing the pages inside the robot. The robot is made with the use of A+B EpoPutty plasticine and metal parts and finished with an application of patina, the front is engraved with three lines: Karel Čapek / I, Robot / Isaac Asimov.

    This binding was created in 2007 in an edition of 30, each copy is signed by both Jan and Jarmila Sobota. The book object is housed in a suede-lined clamshell box. 

    asimov_sobota2resource: J. & J. Book Arts Studio

  5. Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota

    December 23, 2012 by Erin Fletcher

    rachlik_sobotaIn the spirit of Christmas, I offer this binding by Jan Sobota that appears like box within a box. In 1986, Sobota completed this layered book object of Frantisek Rachlik’s Komedie plna lasky (Comedy Full of Love), a story about the life of Jindrich Mosna, a famous Czech actor during the nineteenth century. Each layer of the book object represents three different costumes from his most important roles. 

    The book object lives inside a box sculpted out of board to mimic a newspaper reporter’s jacket. It is covered in natural sheepskin and includes buttons and a pocket with document, with details outlined in blind tooling. The second layer of protection is a slipcase modeled after a soldier’s uniform. Also sculpted out of board, the slipcase is covered in blue calfskin with onlays of various colors embellishing the jacket. Blind tooling is also used to finish off the details.rachlik2_sobota rachlik3_sobotaFinally, the boards of this box-binding are sculpted with board to represent the costume of a Czech peasant, covered in white goatskin and natural cowhide. Relief onlays, gold and blind tooling complete the design. 

  6. Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota

    December 16, 2012 by Erin Fletcher

    rimskalyrika_jansobotaThis book object and stand were crafted by Jan Sobota in 1987, the book is Rimska Lyrika (Lyrics of the Roman Empire). The book is covered in natural calfskin with blind tooling, decorative edges and headbands. The stand is made of binders board and balsa wood covered with natural goatskin and dark red onlays. The overall design is a canopy bed with slightly erotic elements inspired by the old Roman lyrics. 

    resource: The New Bookbinder: Journal of Designer Bookbinders. Volume 10, 1990.

  7. Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota

    December 9, 2012 by Erin Fletcher

    Over the course of 10 years, Jan Sobota participated in four Helen Warren DeGolyer Triennial Competitions. Every three years the Bridwell Library on Southern Methodist University’s campus chooses a book from their collection to be rebound by an individual binder. Each participant offers a proposal binding for the chosen title in addition to an example of their work. The winner of the Helen Warren DeGolyer Award receives a commission to bind the selected book according to their design proposal.  Two other prizes are awarded for excellence in fine binding and design. 

    The first time Sobota entered this competition was in 2003, creating a proposal for Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. His design was given the Judge’s Distinction of Interpretation award:

    An example of his work submitted for the 2003 competition:

    This binding of Les Chansons de Bilitis by Pierre Loüys is translated from Greek and includes illustrations by G. Barbier engraved on wood by François Schmied. This edition was printed in Paris in 1922. A triple cover board binding structure bound in brown Harmatan goatskin for the top layer, gold leather for the middle and dark blue goatskin for the doublures with blue suede leather flyleaves. The same gold leather was used to create wrapped headbands, the top edge was gilt. 

    For the Fourth Helen Warren DeGolyer Exhibition in 2006, Sobota presented his proposal for Jorge Luis Borges’ Ficciones:

    Sobota proposed a triple cover board binding structure, to be covered in dark blue paper made of leather-maché, light blue French box calf (title in relief outlined in gold tooling) and batik suede pigskin. A brass plate on the spine engraved with the author’s name along with a brass clasp along the foredge engraved with the author’s portrait. The middle board would be covered with gold leather and doublures of batik suede pigskin. The flyleaves would be light blue paper of leather-maché. Double core leather-tooled headbands and silver multi-metallic gilt top edge.

    “The design depicts the ‘fictitious’ soul of the text and the illustrations, which the author also suggests in the title of the book”. The 1987 edition of Ficciones includes illustrations by Gabriela Aberastury, Julio Pagnao, Mirta Ripoll, Raúl Russo and Alicia Scavino.

    An example of Sobota’s work included in the 2006 submission was a binding of Jules Verne’s Le Tour Du Monde En Quatre-Vingts Jours:

    John Grave’s Goodbye to a River: A Narrative was chosen for the Fifth Helen Warren DeGolyer Competition in 2009. Here is Sobota’s proposal submission: 

    read more >

  8. Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota

    December 2, 2012 by Erin Fletcher

    Jan Sobota produced several miniature bindings, which were included in various exhibitions. This binding of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat was published in a small edition of 20 by Jan and Jarmilla in 2009. This book-object was designed as a ‘Jack-in-the-Box’, the book is permanently attached to a spring that jumps forward as you open the lid. The black cat silhouette on the front cover is laser cut and finished with hand painting and tooling in white foil.

    The box is covered in black binders’ cloth and the lid is hand tooled in a pattern resembling a brick wall. The box measures 2.75″ x 2.75″ and the book measures 2.3″ x 2.3″.

    resource: J. & J. Book Arts Studio

  9. December // Bookbinder of the Month: Jan Sobota

    December 1, 2012 by Erin Fletcher

    Jan Sobota grew up engulfed by books, about 20,000 to be exact. His father was an avid collector of literature, most specifically children’s literature, filling their small house to the brim with books. Every available square inch of wall space was covered with bookcases leaving only the windows and doors untouched; before dinner books were cleared from the table and chairs. Eventually his father’s collection was moved to the barn after being converted into a library and office. Several books suffered from the passage of time and needed to be repaired. Sobota accompanied his father to trips to the bindery, eyeing the machinery and craftwork of the binders. One particular binder who peaked Sobota’s interest was Karel Silinger, working in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia as a designer bookbinder. At the time Pilsen attracted several artists creating a cultured and literate community. 

    Sobota began an apprenticeship with Silinger in 1954, learning binding techniques while conversing with artist, writers and actors. Sobota was accepted to a bookbinding program in Germany, but was unable to attend due to the Communist occupation at the time. Instead, he studied at the School for Applied Arts in Prague, where he was exposed to drawing, painting, sculpture and restoration of materials such as wood, metal, glass, ceramics, glass, paper and books. In 1957, Sobota completed his studies with both Silinger and at the School for Applied Arts.

    Left on his own to work, Sobota struggled with developing his own style of binding. His first bindings matched the style of Silinger’s bindings and other artists he found inspiring. For a time, Sobota did not have access to foreign literature from restrictions put forth by the Communists and therefore it became difficult to further his studies of bookbinding until the mid-1960s. During this time he concentrated on the techniques of Czech early Gothic-style bindings, being introduced to Gothic box bindings. He began to consult with Czech bookbinding professor such as Emil Pertak and Vaclav Vladyka. 

    In 1966, the Communists began lifting restrictions on art, allowing more bookbinding exhibitions and lectures to enter Czechoslovakia exposing Sobota to master bookbinders such as Jindrich Svoboda and Jan Vrtilek. Sobota continued to develop his personal style of binding though he found experimentation to be a struggle from the confinement by deep-rooted techniques of standard bookbinding, believing that binders were being held back from innovation and future development. It wasn’t until 1977, after reading Philip Smith‘s New Directions in Bookbinding did Sobota find the courage to produce more sculptural bindings known as book-objects.

    Sobota’s book-objects are sculptural box-bindings or flat bindings with a sculptural or relief box; the text is completely housed inside the sculpture keeping it safe from dirt and exposure. The construction of his book-objects are quite complex, but the books can be opened easily and read comfortably. Sobota never considered his work to be experimental. His intentions were to create something new, while serving the book by expressing its contents through his artistic and technical abilities. In 1979, he received the title ‘Meister der Einbandkunst’. 

    In 1984, Sobota was directed to Cleveland where he began working in the conservation lab at Case Western Reserve University; his latest position was as the Director of the Conservation Laboratory in the Bridwell Library of SMU in Dallas, Texas. Sobota was active in various bookbinding communities. As one of the initiators of the Society of Czech Bookbinders, he was elected their first president in 1997. Beginning in 1969, Sobota exhibited his bindings in 137 group shows and 32 individual shows, in addition to winning over 30 prizes for this work as a craftsman and educator. 

    In May of 2012, Jan Sobota passed away, months later at the Standards of Excellence conference, his wife Jarmila accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Guild of Book Workers in which he was an active member. Sobota was gifted as an artisan and craftsman with a deep knowledge of conservation for both contemporary and historical bindings.

    The design binding in this post is a compilation of works by Charles Perrault completed by Sobota in 2011. The box is styled after the location where Perrault lived and worked, the Chateau de Breteuil, a 17th century castle located near the Chevreuse Valley. The Chateau is well known for its elegant interiors and majestic brick and stone exterior.

    The main text was published in conjunction with the 9th Biennales Mondiales de la Reluire d’Art in France in 2007 in an edition of 1,000 copies in which this is number 414. The additional 12 miniature books were published by Jan and Jarmila Sobota in Czech in 2007 in an edition of one. The box-binding (the tower and building exterior) are covered in both goatskin and calf in five different colors. Windows were cut from hologram glass and cover the ‘hollow boxes’ that house the 12 miniature books. The miniature books are covered in a gray goatskin with silver stamping and hologram silver gilt edges. The main text edges are gilt with hologram gold.

    Blue silk doublures lined the inside covers of the box, which also include portraits of Charles Perrault and Louis de Breteuil (the original owner of the Chateau).

    The tower is hollow with two floors connected by a wooden spiral staircase; on the first floor is an image of Puss in Boots (a character created by Charles Perrault) and on the second floor is a scene from Chateau de Breteuil lining the walls with a replica of the famous Teschen table (also known as the ‘Table of Europe’).

    resources:

    1. The New Bookbinder: Journal of Designer Bookbinders. Volume 10, 1990. pg. 3 – 11
    2. Guild of Book Workers Newsletter. Number 203. August 2012, pg. 9

  10. Bookbinder of the Month: Edgar Mansfield

    November 25, 2012 by Erin Fletcher

    Moby Dick by Herman Melville is the classic novel possessing the iconic white sperm whale, whose image graces the cover of this binding by Edgar Mansfield. Following the design of Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (1952) and A Rage to Live by John O’Hara (1952), Mansfield created this design for Moby Dick in 1953. Tooling in black, Mansfield creates movement and depth with variations in tone and line width.  The book is bound in a native dyed red morocco.

     Les Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire (The Harvill Press. 1952), bound in yellow morocco inlaid in red and black, tooled in blind

    A Rage to Live by John O’Hara (Random House. 1949), bound in orange-red morocco tooled in blind

Older Entries
Newer Entries
  • My name is Erin Fletcher, owner and bookbinder of Herringbone Bindery in Boston. Flash of the Hand is a space where I share my process and inspirations.
    The StudioNewsletterInstagramEmail me
  • Archives