Bookbinding Core Certificate Program

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking.  It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them to rent studio time in our bindery. Core classes must be taken in order, 1 through 4.

Click here to learn more about the Bookbinding Core Certificate Program and how to receive a discount!

Bookbinding Core 2: Flat-Back Case Binding

In this second Core Bookbinding class, students will create what most of us refer to as a hardbound book. In bookbinding terms, it is known as a case binding; where a sewn textblock is glued into a separate structure known as a case. Students will learn more about the mechanics of books as they build on skills from Core 1 and expand both their vocabulary and capabilities in and around the bindery.

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite:
Bookbinding Core 1

Materials to Bring:
All tools and materials will be provided. Students are also welcome to bring any leftover pastepapers from Core 1 that they might want to use on their book.

About the Instructor:
Madison Halaby Gordon (she/they) is a bookbinder and conservator-in-training living in Oakland, CA, currently working at Zukor Art Conservation and the Walt Disney Family Museum. She is fascinated by paper, and loves making and repairing practical, fun, accessible, and well-made structures for the use and enjoyment of everyday people. Madison is also trained in letterpress printing and has worked previously with the Key Printing & Binding (Oakland, CA) and Small Editions (Brooklyn, NY).

SFCB is thrilled to welcome visiting instructor Anne Covell.

The Japanese Bookmaking Intensive is designed to give students the unique opportunity to learn three distinct Japanese crafts: Paper patterning and book cover decoration, hand bookbinding, and 2-flap portfolio boxmaking.

Each day we will build upon skills learned in previous sessions to create a body of work that is considerate of the resources, materials, and aesthetics that define Japanese bookmaking.

Students can expect to leave this workshop with a collection of hand bound books housed in a custom built Japanese portfolio, as well as a stack of luscious hand dyed decorative papers to use for further exploration.

On the first day of the workshop, we will begin by learning several traditional methods for decorating Japanese washi paper including brush and dip dyeing with natural dyes common to Japan such as kakishibu (persimmon tannin), clove, and indigo, as well as burnishing and embossing techniques using cut stone and wood blocks. We will also experiment with shibori, a manual resist dyeing technique for creating patterns in cloth and paper that dates to the 8th century, as well as momigami, a folding and crumpling technique (also known as kneaded paper) that strengthens the paper and gives it an appearance similar to leather. We will then use our handmade decorative papers to create laminated cover papers for our bindings. Students will have the opportunity to work from blocks carved with traditional Japanese patterns to emboss their papers for historical effect.

On the second day, we will use these materials to bind a selection of traditional Japanese books: the account binding (Daifuku chō), multi-section binding (Retchōsō), and stab binding (Yotsume Toji). Additionally, we will also create an accordion (Orihon) with pockets to house a selection of the paper samples we create.

On the final day, we will create a two-flap Japanese wraparound case with bone clasp closures to house our books and to tie together the work we produced into an elegant, finished product.

The available scholarships for this workshop have been awarded.

Prerequisite:
Ideally, students will have some bookbinding/making experience. This class will be physically demanding and intensive.

Tools/Materials to bring:
Bookbinder's toolkit including: bonefolder, awl, glue brush, 4 bookbinder's needles or tapestry needles with a small eye, X-Acto or scalpel with extra blades, sharp scissors, ruler, pencil. Please wear clothes that can get messy; aprons are available.

About the Instructor:
Anne Covell is a book artist, edition bookbinder, and hand papermaker. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book where she was the recipient of an Iowa Arts Fellowship, and an MA in Library and Information Science & Graduate Certificate in Book Studies from the University of Iowa where she was a Robert A. Olsen Fellow in Special Collections. She studied Asian and Western papermaking techniques with Timothy Barrett, and has taught for numerous educational institutions including the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory, Penland School of Craft, and the University of Georgia study abroad program in Cortona, Italy, among others. Her work has been exhibited internationally and can be seen in an expanding list of private collections, special collections libraries, and museums worldwide. Covell lives and works out of her home studio in La Mesa, California.

SFCB is thrilled to welcome visiting instructor Islam Aly.

The stiff-leaf binding is a non-sewn technique ideal for assembling printed sheets into a rigid,durable book. Learn how to transform your prints and papers into a beautifully bound artist’s book using simple folding, gluing, and cover-making methods.

Learn the fundamentals of stiff-leaf binding, including hinge construction, page attachment, and material considerations with a balance of demonstration, hands-on practice, and discussion. Variations such as frames, windows, and layered pages will also be introduced.

Participants will create their bindings with time for troubleshooting and group discussion. By the end, participants will complete different sample books and gain the skills to adapt the structure for their projects.

Prerequisite:
Basic bookbinding experience (such as Introduction to Bookbinding) is helpful, but not required. Good hand skills are important, as some tasks involve precise cutting and folding.

Tools/Materials to Bring:
None. All tools and materials will be supplied.

About the Instructor:
Islam Aly is a book artist and lecturer of bookbinding at the German University in Cairo. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Art Education from Helwan University, and later pursued an MFA in Book Arts at the University of Iowa, where he refined his artistic focus. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning with a concentration in Art Education at the University of Iowa.

His practice lies at the intersection of culture, technology, and aesthetics. Drawing on historical bookbinding traditions and integrating digital technologies, Islam reimagines the role of the book in contemporary art. His work pushes the boundaries of book art, offering innovative approaches to how history and technology can coexist on the page.

Bookbinding Core Certificate Program

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking.  It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them to rent studio time in our bindery. Core classes must be taken in order, 1 through 4.

Click here to learn more about the Bookbinding Core Certificate Program and how to receive a discount!

Bookbinding Core 3: Limp Paper Binding

In centuries past, books were sometimes sewn onto cords and then laced into soft covers before being bound for a specific collection or library. Often covered with calfskin, these limp vellum bindings became an important structure all their own. In this class students will bind a book using these bindings as a model but employing thick paper as the folded and laced wrapper. Students will learn to use a sewing frame and the skill of sewing headbands.

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite:
Bookbinding Core 1 and 2

Materials to Bring:
None, all tools and materials are provided.

About the Instructor:
Madison Halaby Gordon (she/they) is a bookbinder and conservator-in-training living in Oakland, CA, currently working at Zukor Art Conservation and the Walt Disney Family Museum. She is fascinated by paper, and loves making and repairing practical, fun, accessible, and well-made structures for the use and enjoyment of everyday people. Madison is also trained in letterpress printing and has worked previously with the Key Printing & Binding (Oakland, CA) and Small Editions (Brooklyn, NY).

Experience the pleasure of working with vellum and learn to make this enduring and beautiful historical structure.

Vellum is a prepared animal skin — usually made from calf, sheep or goat — known for its smooth surface and itslongevity. It was commonly used as a covering material for limp or ‘stiff-boarded’ bindings from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century all across Europe. Indeed, until the development of the cloth case in the 1820s, vellum was commonly used as a cheaper alternative to leather covers.

The limp vellum style was revived in the late nineteenth century by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement in England, who recognised its simple beauty. It is an extremely elegant and refined structure, and relatively straightforward to make.

Students will sew the book, using linen thread, around sewing supports made from thongs of alum-tawed skin, another very durable material with roots going back to medieval times. Plain linen endbands will be sewn on with linen thread around an alum-tawed core.

The vellum cover is made ‘off the book’ from good quality vellum, from Cowley’s in the UK, one of the last traditional manufacturers of vellum in the world.

This class is particularly useful for those who have completed the bookbinding core classes and are keen to learn more about historical binding structures.

Prerequisite:
Bookbinding Core 1-4, or equivalent experience preparing textblocks, sewing, and trimming.

Materials to Bring:
Your personal bookbinding tools

About the Instructor:
Michael Burke (he/him) studied bookbinding with Dominic Riley and paper conservation with Karen Zukor. Michael lives in England, where he teaches bookbinding as well at events across the UK. Michael researches the structures of ancient and medieval bindings and received his Masters degree in the History of the Book from the University of London in 2011.

Michael is a co-founder of Book Camp, an immersive residential bookbinding experience which aims to teach new generations of binders.

Bookbinding Core Certificate Program

The San Francisco Center for the Book celebrates the craft and art of bookbinding. Our Bookbinding Core Certificate Program introduces students to four different binding models, leading them through the history and evolution of bookmaking.  It provides students a comprehensive foundation to delve into the practice of binding and qualifies them to rent studio time in our bindery. Core classes must be taken in order, 1 through 4.

Click here to learn more about the Bookbinding Core Certificate Program and how to receive a discount!

Bookbinding Core 4: Classic Rounded Back Cloth Binding

The final class in our Core Bookbinding series (taught in two sessions) uses skills learned in each previous class to create a beautiful and classic rounded back cloth binding. After sewing, the book will be rounded and backed before the boards are attached and covered. This binding style points to many historical structures that came before it, making it an ideal structure for anyone interested in learning to bind books with leather, or learning to repair books.  More terms, more tools, more techniques: such are the rewards of the skilled bookbinder!

SFCB's Windgate Scholarship Fund is dedicated to providing need-based financial support to individuals interested in learning bookbinding, letterpress printing, and related book arts. Click here to apply.

Prerequisite:
Bookbinding Core 1, 2 and 3

Materials to Bring:
None, all tools and materials are provided.

About the Instructor:
Erika Lindensmith (she/her) has been a book conservator for almost 30 years. She trained in library and archives conservation at the University of Texas and worked at institutions in Wales, Scotland and New York before settling in California. Her interests are historical book structures and repair. She is excited to share her love of making books.

Although known from around 1650, pastepapers were made really popular in the mid 1700s by the Moravian Sisters of Herrnhut in Saxony. Recent study of these papers has sparked a revival of interest in them, and in this workshop the instructor will introduce you to the methods, materials and patterns used on the original pastepapers.

Class will begin by mixing the colors using natural earth pigments, and making the few simple tools used by the Sisters. Students will then reproduce each of their original designs using the same colors, patterns, freehand brush strokes and tooling. Part two of the class will bring us up to date with a wide range of inventive techniques for making modern pastepapers.

The instructor will demonstrate how to make combs, stamps, rollers and other mark-making tools used in pastepaper design, and show a range of techniques he uses to create many different effects, from the simple pulled papers, to the highly regular striped patterns.

This class may be of interest to students interested in historical processes; those who enjoyed the pastepaper process in Bookbinding Core 1 or the Paste Papers & Gift Wrap workshops.

Prerequisite:
None

Tools/materials to bring:

Optional:

• 1 inch and 1-1/2 inch paint brushes
• cellulose sponge
• notebook and pencil
• things to make marks in paper, such as: string or cord, plastic decorator's comb (Artex spreaders), natural materials such as leaves, old credit cards, rubber rollers (brayers), bubble wrap

About the Instructor:
Michael Burke (he/him) studied bookbinding with Dominic Riley and paper conservation with Karen Zukor. Michael lives in England, where he teaches bookbinding as well at events across the UK. Michael researches the structures of ancient and medieval bindings and received his Masters degree in the History of the Book from the University of London in 2011.

Michael is a co-founder of Book Camp, an immersive residential bookbinding experience which aims to teach new generations of binders.

The Ideal Sketchbook is modeled on the ones used by Wordsworth and Ruskin as they wandered the Lake District to draw and write. Strong, elegant and pleasing to use, it was the 'daybook' of choice for all the great Romantic poets and artists.

The Sketchbook is an honest structure made from good quality materials, opens beautifully flat and is very durable. Most importantly for the beginning bookbinder, it can be made at home with no equipment, just a few simple tools, and requires no pressing.

Working from full sized sheets, we will fold and slit the paper to give a beautiful, feathery deckled edge. We’ll sew the book with linen thread on hand-made tapes, and sew in a cloth hinge for strength. The spine is rounded, for easy opening, but not backed, which eliminates the need of a laying press. The case is made from greyboard covered in a strong natural canvas.

If time allows, students will tool their finished binding with creative lines and circles, using traditional finishing tools and both carbon and colourful metallic foils. All this makes for a handsome, rugged book that can withstand all the hard knocks associated with going 'out into the field'.

Prerequisite:
Bookbinding Core 2 or equivalent experience preparing a textblock.

Tools/Materials to bring:
None. All tools and materials will be provided. Students are also welcome to bring any of their own favorite bookbinding tools.

About the Instructor:
Dominic Riley (he/him) is an internationally renowned bookbinder, artist, lecturer and teacher. He has his bindery in England, from where he travels across the UK teaching and lecturing. He spends part of the year teaching in San Francisco and across the USA. His work is mostly restoration and Design Binding, for which he has won many prizes in the Designer Bookbinders competition. He was elected a Fellow of DB in 2008 and is Patron of the New Zealand Association of Book Crafts. His bindings are in collections worldwide, including the British Library, the Grolier Club in New York and the San Francisco Public Library. In 2013 he won first prize, the Sir Paul Getty Award, in the International Bookbinding Competition. Dominic is a past President of the Society of Bookbinders. Dominic and Michael Burke are co-founders of Book Camp, an immersive residential bookbinding experience which aims to teach new generations of binders.

He has taught masterclasses in the USA, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, at the Centro del Bel Libro in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Canada.