hardcover, sewn
2024 · Ann Arbor, MI
by Lindsay, Jen
Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2024. hardcover, sewn. Bookbinding. 8.5 x 10 inches. hardcover, sewn. 216 pages. This is the revised 2nd edition of this popular, long out-of-print book by the highly respected bookbinder, scholar, and teacher.
The purpose of this book is to guide the reader through the sequence of operations involved in creating a book bound in leather, or a "fine binding." The author defines a fine binding as a book fully covered in leather, with leather-jointed endpapers, gilt edges, and leather doublures. Although a basic knowledge of bookbinding terms and techniques is assumed, this book is meant for both novice and experienced bookmakers.
The book is intended to be used as an active guide during the process of fine binding. It is arranged into sixteen sections, listing the sequence of operations, beginning with preliminary work and ending with preparing and putting in leather doublures. Each section includes appropriately numbered instructions allowing the user to find his or her place in the sequence of operations with a reference for what step is next. There are also numbered explanatory sections that include a rationale (why you do it) and technique (how you do it). The work includes 226 black and white illustrations, four appendices, and a bibliography.
Jen Lindsay is a bookbinder with extensive experience in teaching, lecturing, and writing on bookbinding and the history of the book. She first studied bookbinding at Camberwell School of Art and Crafts, London (1977-1979), and then worked as a freelance bookbinder. She was a bookbinding tutor and Program Convener for the BA Bookbinding and BA Calligraphy programs at Roehampton Institute, West London (1983-2001) and then bookbinding tutor at The City Literary Institute, London (2001-2005).
Praise for the first edition
"First, a cut to the chase: if you are interested in the process of creating a full leather binding, no matter your level of skill or experience, buy this book…. A fine binding is not a beginner's structure. But in her introduction, Lindsay suggests to novices, "why wait?," that "making a fine binding is a good education in observation, attention to detail, and meticulous workmanship: all essential wherever you think your real interest lies - repair and conservation, edition binding, artists' books, jobbing binding, box making or even fine binding ... if you can make a fine binding, you will have learned much more than just that."
- Karen Hanmer, The Bonefolder (Spring 2010).
"'Fine binding', as the introduction acknowledges, is a very particular area of bookbinding ... [and] Jen Lindsay's book seeks to describe this process in all its detail, and at the same time to place it within a wider theoretical and aesthetic contect."
- Charles Gledhill, Antiquarian Booksellers' Association Newsletter (November 2010)
"The author's intent is that you keep this book on your workbench and use it as you work through each stage of the making process.... The list of operations involved is accompanied by the details (the rationale), which explain the reasons for each operation. [And] it is the 'rationale' that I find fascinating. It is a unique feature of the volume."
- Sylvie Gokulsing, The Scribe (Summer 2010)
"Most striking perhaps is the precision of both the work and of its writing style.... The content is well arranged and easy to navigate and there is an innovative appendix on how to approach the appraisal of completed work which is consistent with the writer's undoubted desire for practitioners' development and growth through achievement, to which in this book is a strong aid. For those working along and without the advantage of a tutor to hand this book will be all but indispensable."
- Alan Isaac, Society of Bookbinders Newsletter (April 2010). (Inventory #: 141072)
The purpose of this book is to guide the reader through the sequence of operations involved in creating a book bound in leather, or a "fine binding." The author defines a fine binding as a book fully covered in leather, with leather-jointed endpapers, gilt edges, and leather doublures. Although a basic knowledge of bookbinding terms and techniques is assumed, this book is meant for both novice and experienced bookmakers.
The book is intended to be used as an active guide during the process of fine binding. It is arranged into sixteen sections, listing the sequence of operations, beginning with preliminary work and ending with preparing and putting in leather doublures. Each section includes appropriately numbered instructions allowing the user to find his or her place in the sequence of operations with a reference for what step is next. There are also numbered explanatory sections that include a rationale (why you do it) and technique (how you do it). The work includes 226 black and white illustrations, four appendices, and a bibliography.
Jen Lindsay is a bookbinder with extensive experience in teaching, lecturing, and writing on bookbinding and the history of the book. She first studied bookbinding at Camberwell School of Art and Crafts, London (1977-1979), and then worked as a freelance bookbinder. She was a bookbinding tutor and Program Convener for the BA Bookbinding and BA Calligraphy programs at Roehampton Institute, West London (1983-2001) and then bookbinding tutor at The City Literary Institute, London (2001-2005).
Praise for the first edition
"First, a cut to the chase: if you are interested in the process of creating a full leather binding, no matter your level of skill or experience, buy this book…. A fine binding is not a beginner's structure. But in her introduction, Lindsay suggests to novices, "why wait?," that "making a fine binding is a good education in observation, attention to detail, and meticulous workmanship: all essential wherever you think your real interest lies - repair and conservation, edition binding, artists' books, jobbing binding, box making or even fine binding ... if you can make a fine binding, you will have learned much more than just that."
- Karen Hanmer, The Bonefolder (Spring 2010).
"'Fine binding', as the introduction acknowledges, is a very particular area of bookbinding ... [and] Jen Lindsay's book seeks to describe this process in all its detail, and at the same time to place it within a wider theoretical and aesthetic contect."
- Charles Gledhill, Antiquarian Booksellers' Association Newsletter (November 2010)
"The author's intent is that you keep this book on your workbench and use it as you work through each stage of the making process.... The list of operations involved is accompanied by the details (the rationale), which explain the reasons for each operation. [And] it is the 'rationale' that I find fascinating. It is a unique feature of the volume."
- Sylvie Gokulsing, The Scribe (Summer 2010)
"Most striking perhaps is the precision of both the work and of its writing style.... The content is well arranged and easy to navigate and there is an innovative appendix on how to approach the appraisal of completed work which is consistent with the writer's undoubted desire for practitioners' development and growth through achievement, to which in this book is a strong aid. For those working along and without the advantage of a tutor to hand this book will be all but indispensable."
- Alan Isaac, Society of Bookbinders Newsletter (April 2010). (Inventory #: 141072)
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