San Francisco Center for the Book

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.