San Francisco Center for the Book

The Presentation Album was developed as an answer to a question: how to create a simple album which can house photographs in an elegant embossed page without swelling the book? 

The album is very handsome, with pages made from a good quality card. Each page has an impressed panel to house the photographs; the finished panels resemble the impression of an etching plate. The pages are hinged together on the inside with thick paper strips, and a small amount of PVA is all that’s needed to hold it all together — no need for sewing. The album has cloth joints for strength and an attractive cloth cover, and like the Ideal Sketchbook, opens beautifully flat.

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. 

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: Students should have some experience working with glue and paper/cloth; Bookbinding Core 2 (flat back case binding) or equivalent experience.

Materials to bring: All tools and materials will be provided. Students are also welcome to bring any of their own favorite 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.