Showing posts with label History of the Trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History of the Trade. Show all posts

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Beachtenswerte Fachschriften

Aus Braunwarth & Lüthkes 1928er Katalog... Keiner dieser Titel darf in einer zünftigen Fachbibliothek fehlen.


Beachtenswerte Fachschriften

Adam
  • Die einfachen handwerksmäßigen Buchbinderarbeiten
  • Die Kunst des Blinddrucks, der Handvergoldung und der Ledermosaik
  • Die Kunst des Entwerfens
  • Leitfaden für die Gesellen und Meisterprüfung der Buchbinder. 3. Auflage
  • Das Handvergolden, der Blinddruck und die Lederauflage
  • Das Marmorieren des Buchbinders auf Schleimgrund im Oel- und K!eisterverfahren. 2. Auflage
Bogeng
  • Der Bucheinband, ein Handbuch für Buchbinder und Büchersammler
  • Deutsche Einbandkunst im ersten Jahrzehnt des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts
Brade's Illustriertes Buchbinderbuch. Lehr- und Handbuch der gesamten Buchbinderei und aller in dieses Fach einschlagenden Techniken. Gänzlich umgearbeitet von Paul Kersten. 8. Auflage

Cockerell, Der Bucheinband und die Pflege des Buches. 2. Auflage

Collin
  • Der Preßbengel (ein Gesprächsbüchlein zwischen Bücherfreund und Buchbinder) Geb.
  • Paul Kersten (Biographie), Pappband (1 bis 400 St.) Mk 8.75, Büttenausgabe (50 St.)

Eschner, Der Buchbinder. Lehr- und Lern-Buch für Fach-Fortbildungs-Schulen und zum Selbstunterricht

Franke, Die Buchbinderei, Anleitung zur Herstellung sämtlicher Buchbinderarbeiten

Fritzsche
  • Anleitungen und Vorlagen zum Lederschnitt
  • Mustertafeln für Lederschnitt
Heß
  • Die Praxis der Pappenverarbeitung. Teil I
  • Die Praxis der Pappenverarbeitung. Teil II: Pappenverarbeitung und Papiermache
  • Die Papierprägetechnik. Praktisches Handbuch für die gesamte Papierprägetechnik. 2. Auflage Geheftet
  • Die Kartonnagen-Fabrikation. Praktisches Handbuch für die gesamte Kartonnagenfabrikation. 2. Aufl. Geh.
  • Kalkulations-Leitfaden für die gesamte Kartonnagen-Industrie mit praktischen Kalkulationsmustern
Keilhack
  • Praktische Winke zur Herstellung von Papier- und Druckerzeugnissen. Band I. Karr..
  • Der Druckereibuchbinder (Bd. II der Praktischen Winke zur Herstellung von Papier- und Druck-erzeugnissen)
Kersten
  • Der exakte Bucheinband. 4. Auflage
  • Leitfaden für Buchbinder
  • Das Färben und Marmorieren von Leder
  • Die Marmorierkunst, Anleitung zum Marmorieren
  • Der Buchbinderlehrling
  • Moderne Entwürfe für Bucheinbände (1906)
  • Bd. I: Vorlagen für Künstler. Lederbände (Je in Mappe mit losen Tafeln.)
  • Bd. II: Vorlagen für Ganzleinenbände
  • Verzierungstechniken des Bucheinbandes (Beschreibung der Verzierungstechniken) Geb.

Kolbe, Preisberechner (Kalkulations-Formulare)

Kraft, Schriftsatz und Buchdruck für Buchbinder

Leo's Buchbinder-Taschenkalender. In Kaliko gebunden

Lohse, Die Technik des Kontobucheinbandes im Handwerks- und Fabrikbetrieb

März, Handvergolden in der Buchbinderei, im Lederwaren- und Galanteriefach,
Präparate für Hand- und Preßvergoldung (Rezepte für Vollgrund, Halbgrund und Beizen)

Mais
  • Die Arbeiten an der Vergoldepresse
  • Preistarif über Buchbindereiarbeiten (sogenannter Bundestarif) (Ausgabe 1925). Neu bearbeitet
  • Preisverzeichnis für Partie-Arbeiten (bearbeitet vom Verein Stuttgarter Buchbindereibesitzer, in Gemeinschaft mit der Bucbbinder-Zwangs-Innung Stuttgart)
  • Preis und Berechnungsmethoden für den Einrahmer- und Vergolderberuf

Schaupp, Der Halbfranzband

Sonntag, Die Faltschachtel

Sprengel, Preistabelle für Bildereinrahmungen

Stephen, Die moderne Großbuchbinderei

Weiße, Das Ornament des Buchbinders. Heft I

Saturday, March 11, 2017

Bookbinding and Ideology

On the Print blog (3/10/17), Steven Heller wrote a piece titled "Normalized Letterheads":
By 1936 the Nazis were firmly in place in all aspects of government, society and culture. Gleichschaltung was the term for standardizing or normalizing the Nazi aberration. It meant that every aspect of the Third Reich followed the dictates of the ideological wing of the state and party. These innocent-looking letterheads, void of political references, were examples of that Gleichschaltung imposed on the design and printing industries.
This Gleichschaltung was applied uniformly across all media, trades, social organizations, ..., aligning and subordinating all to the dictates of the state in all regards. Indoctrination started in the schools, youth organizations, and trade schools that all apprentices attended. Der Buchbinderlehrling (The Bookbinding Apprentice) was the journal for apprentices with subjects included social studies, math, and science as they related to binding. This also included paper making, leather tanning and parchment making, cloth, and in-depth engineering of bookbinding machines. During its run from 1927-1943 one is struck by how insidiously this Gleichschaltung progressed in the years after 1933, with the apprentices thoroughly indoctrinated so that there was no longer any difference between the trade and ideology. In the same vein the teachers at the trade schools/art academies were required to be party members, especially if civil servants, joining either out of conviction or expedience in some sort of Faustian bargain...

Typography for book titles from Der Buchbinderlehrling, Vol. 9, Nr. 7, 1935.

While some of title designs may seem "innocent looking," this ideological aesthetic was applied not only to bindings, but also presentation materials, desk accessories, just about everything bookbinders made forcefully, with many examples in the trade literature of the time. Prominent among these was Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Under the pseudonym “Nicolli,” Ernst Collin wrote in Der Buchbinderlehrling what can best be described as a tragic review of 1933’s national bookbinding competition on Hitler’s Mein Kampf. He wrote that in binding this book the German bookbinding trade could demonstrate its commitment to Hitler and to taking on the challenges and demands that lay ahead. The trades, publishing, social organizations, and just about every other aspect of life were quickly brought to reflect the party line under “Gleichschaltung.” As a “servant” of the arts and crafts, bookbinding was given a special standing, and binding Mein Kampf in a dignified and appropriate manner was a way to demonstrate this standing. To demonstrate the new collective mindset, the names of none of the participants or winners were mentioned. Stating that this was not the place to describe individual bindings, he went on to write that given the nature and importance of the book it was clear that many of the bindings would include the black, white, and red of Imperial Germany and the Third Reich, with the swastika a key element. However, Ernst noted also that including these elements did not make for good design that would inspire and demonstrate respect. He concluded that the book could not become a playground for overwrought designs and gimmicks, challenging binders to think about and prepare themselves for increasing amounts of this kind of work. ([Nicolli]. “Ein Zeitgemäßer Wettbewerb.” Der Buchbinderlehrling, Vol. 7, Nr. 12, 1933. (167-168))

While no images from the 1933 bookbinding competition were found in Der Buchbinderlehrling, below two, one by an Martin Lehmann, an apprentice/student of Franz Weiße, and one by a master and one of the leading teachers of the day (Professors at art academies and trade schools), Hugo Wagner.

Martin Lehmann's apprentice/student binding on Mein Kampf.
From Der Buchbinderlehrling. Vol. 10, Nr. 6, 1937.
In the article the image accompanied he described his motivations and design choices a "flag red" leather for the  binding, white type, and black for the eagle, all based on the Nazi flag. About the eagle he wrote that it was based on the Luftwaffe insignia because it was more "dainty," yet aggressive and full of life, ready to take up the fight against all that is false...

Martin Lehmann with Franz Weiße
From Der Buchbinderlehrling. Vol. 11, Nr.11, 1938.

Binding by Hugo F. Wagner, Breslau, on the occasion of his 25th anniversary as a teacher.
From Der Buchbinderlehrling. Vol. 10, Nr. 12, 1937.

Bindings by Hugo Wagner from Vom Buchbinderlehrling zum Buchbindemeister (1941)


Otto Dorfner, Weimar, was another one of the leading teachers during this time, and will be featured in due time, also because he remained in the Soviet occupation zone (the DDR) after the war and continued working. One of Germany's greatest design binders, he studied under Paul Kersten, founded his school in Weimar, taught at the Bauhaus, and elsewhere, helped found the Meister der Einbandkunst... Below another binding on Mein Kampf by one of his students, Willi Fischer.

Binding by Dorfner student Willi Fischer on Mein Kampf.
From the Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbindereien, Nr. 27, 1936.

Another teacher was Heinrich Lüers, Magdeburg, best known for Das Fachwissen des Buchbinders that appeared in several editions, including one postwar with a new introduction by his Gustav Moessner. It is very interesting to compare the editions, especially as the politically charged ones have been scrubbed out. Lüers also edited Vom Buchbinderlehrling zum Buchbindemeister (1941) for the Reichsinnungsverband des Buchbinderhandwerks (the national bookbinding guild), a pamphlet produced by the BDBI describing the trade and requirements designed to attract new apprentices and others. Like Lüer's book, this too was republished after the war in a sanitized edition. After all, why waste an otherwise significant text, and Das Fachwissen is one of the best of its genre and incredibly comprehensive.

Lüers concluded his pamphlet by stating that during the (still rather young) war, bookbinding had proven itself to a secure trade, and able to withstand any crisis and serve the German people. He ended with a quote by Hitler praising the German trades...

Below, Franz Weiße (Wiemeler's teacher), Erhard Klette, Otto Dorfner, and Hugo Wagner jurying the 1938 apprentice competition. Dorfner and Wagner appear to be wearing party insignia on cravat and lapel, and Klette was an influential publisher in the field, including the Archiv für Buchbinderei and the Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst.

Franz Weiße, Erhard Klette, Otto Dorfner, and Hugo Wagner jurying the 1938 apprentice competition.
From Der Buchbinderlehrling, Vol. 12, Nr. 5,1938.

See also this post about Frieda Thiersch's similar work during this period, "Hitler's Bookbinder." Her biography, Frieda Thiersch und ihre Handbuchbinderei (1968), by Fritz Krinitz mentions little and illustrates even less of her work from this period.

So, imagine if this scenario were to return... No, let's not go there.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Bookbinders and Pizza Cutters

I was given this wood engraving of a bookbinder years ago, and always wondered where it was from as it had obviously been removed from a book... In the course of cleaning up, actually took it out of the frame, scanned it, and searched on Google Images using the scan. Great tool for IDing things or at least narrowing them down... In this case, the image was used on several blogs, most not attributing it to anything, including those of special collections type libraries. Alas...

My copy. Where did it come from...?

Image is from the 1824 edition of The Book of English Trades. There were numerous editions of this text with differing illustrations for the trades, and a varying selection of trades. HathiTrust has many of these editions online, and by comparing the image and where it appears was able to conclude it was from the 1824 edition because the image was on the verso facing the text. The 1827 edition has it on the other side... In the 1818 edition a different bookbinder faces the other way.

1824, position and image match my copy.

1827, same image, but on facing page.

1818, different binder facing in opposite direction.
The number of rolls on the rack in the background varies, too.

And, on the subject of racks of rolls, and because it's past lunchtime, here a picture of "pizza cutters" I recently added to my collection...

"Pizza cutters"

Verso of "Pizza cutters"

Lunch...

Friday, August 12, 2016

Frühe Anleitung für Buchbinderarbeiten gerichtet an Laien | Early Introduction to Bookbinding for Amateurs

Ernst Collins erstes Buch war Buchbinderei für den Hausbedarf [1915], eine Anleitung für Laien und Amateure. Obwohl in England recht verbreitet, könnte diese, nach meinen Recherchen, die erste solche Anleitung die zuerst in deutscher Sprache erschienen ist. Douglas Cockerells Bookbinding and the Care of Books, daß auch an Amateure gerichtet war erschien zuerst 1902 in Übersetzung als Der Bucheinband und die Pflege des Buches, und 1925 in einer neuen Ausgabe mit neuer Einleitung von Maria Lühr. 

So dachte ich wenigstens bis ich So fertige ich allerlei Buchbinderarbeiten von Richard Parthum (Heft 24 in der Selbst ist der Mann Serie, Leipzig, [1911]) fand. Dieses kleine Heft ist wie einige der Englischen an Schulkinder, auch in Sonderschulen... gerichtet. Neben der Broschüre beinhaltet es auch einige andere Projekte wie Kästen für Schreibzeug oder Schmuck um den Eltern Freude zu machen. Es kann in ganzen Umfang unten gelesen werden.

Ernst Collins’s first book published was Buchbinderei für den Hausbedarf [1915], a basic bookbinding manual specifically for amateurs. Based on a review of the literature, this is perhaps one of the first such manual written originally in German. Douglas Cockerell’s Bookbinding and the Care of Books first appeared in German as Der Bucheinband und die Pflege des Buches in 1902, with a 1925 edition with new introduction by Maria Lühr.

That's at least what I thought until I discovered So fertige ich allerlei Buchbinderarbeiten by Richard Parthum (Pamphlet 24 in the Selbst ist der Mann series, Leipzig [1911]). This small pamphlet is like many of its English counterparts directed at school children, including those in "special schools." Illustrations and instructions are minimal, but give a good sense of the projects that include portfolios and a variety of boxes for writing implements or jewelry designed to please the parents. The full pamphlet can be viewed at the bottom.

Umschlag | Cover

Mappe mit "Frosch" | Portfolio with expandable pocket

Ziehmappe mit Gestaltingsideen für die Decke | Portfolio with ideas for cover design

Wer kennt noch mehr? | Who knows of more?

Hier die ganze Broschüre zum Lesen...
Here the whole pamphlet for reading



Friday, July 15, 2016

Bookbinding as Rehabilitation | Buchbinderei als Rehabilitation

Last May I shared a number of articles and other publications related to bookbinding as rehabilitation.  I recently received a postcard from Germany depicting the bookbinding workshop of the Pfeiffersche Anstalten in Magdeburg-Cracau, likely from the time around World War I or thereafter based on fashions... US Senate Document 166 from 1918, Vocational Rehabilitation of Disabled Soldiers and Sailors, mentions a call for support to build a trades-based home for war veterans there from 1915, helping with the dating.

Im letzten Mai teilte ich einige Artikel und andere Herausgebungen zu Thema von Buchbinderei als Rehabilitation. Vor kurzer Zeit bekam ich aus Deutschland eine Postkarte die "Lehrwerkstätten Buchbinderei" der Pfeiffersche Anstalten in Magdeburg-Cracau zeigt. Das Bild entstand um die Zeit des Ersten Weltkriegs oder danach den Moden nach. Ein Bericht des US Senats von 1918, US Senate Document 166, über die berufliche Rehabilitation von verwundeten Soldaten und Matrosen erwähnte die Gründung dieser Anstalt in 1915 was auch mit der Datierung hilft.

Lehrwerkstätten Buchbinderei

The Pfeiffersche Anstalten were also very involved in providing learning opportunities akin to those in todays "sheltered workshops" to a wide range of individuals with special needs from children to the elderly. In addition to the trade-based programs these facilities also offered medical care and therapies appropriate to the needs. Based on an a German article from 2015, after 1933 many became victims of the Nazi's euthanasia  program.

Ein "Blatt" über die Pfeifferische Anstalten war auch stark in der Fuersorge von Kindern, Kriegsinvaliden, und Anderen tätig. Es wurde auch ärztliche Hilfe und Therapie angeboten. In der Zeit nach 1933 wurden die Anstalten dann von dem "Euthanasieprogramm" betroffen.


Saturday, January 30, 2016

Hermann Nitzs Kombinationseinband


Als Buchbinder haben wir alle schon Verlagseinbände, (hoffentlich bessere) Taschenbücher, und ähnliches als "pseudo" Franzband eingebunden. Manchmal als Übungstücke, oder auch als Präsentation- oder Geschenkeinband. Oft lohnt es sich nicht neu zu heften, bei Klebebindungen kann man das eh vergessen. Was machen wir, wir entfernen Decke/Umschlag, säubern Rücken, pressen ab, und hinterkleben mit Gaze oder anderen passenden Gewebe. Danach Kapitalband (handgestochen oder geklebt), Deckel ansetzen und weiter... Der amerikanische Buchbinder Henry Hebert nennt diese "fancied-up," aufpoliert. Einige meiner Exemplare sind hier zu sehen.

Mit der Industrialisierung wurde auch bei Einbänden rationalisiert und vereinfacht wo es nur ging - alles damit es schneller und billiger ging. Maschinenheftung wurde entwickelt mit Faden und Draht, der Deckenband entstand. Im späteren 19. gab es Bemühungen die Lage und den Ruf der Hand- und Kunstbuchbinderei zu besseren, und nach Georg Collin und anderen gingen viele Aufträge nach England oder Frankreich wegen Aesthetik und Verarbeitung. Die deutsche Verlagsarbeit dagegen wurde als Spitze angesehen. Die Großbuchbinderein, auch Dampfbuchbinderein genannt, legten sich  Sonderabteilungen für Hand- und Kunsteinbände an, unter diesen E.A. Enders, Fritzsche, Hübel & Denck, Lüderitz & Bauer, Spamer, Wübben, und W. Collin in Berlin und Leipzig. Die Einbände, Buntpapiere, und andere Arbeiten die dort entstanden mußten sich nicht von denen der anderen Hand- und Kunstbuchbinder verstecken.

Hermann Nitz (1881-1965) war Adam- und Kerstenschüler, und arbeitete als Kunstbuchbinder bei Hübel & Denck und Spamer in Leipzig, später in Berlin als Großbuchbinder. Er war auch Mitglied des Jakob-Krauße-Bund (J-K-B) und der Meister der Einbandkunst (MDE). Obwohl als Kunstbuchbinder ausgebildet, arbeitete er seine ganze Karriere-lang in Großbuchbinderei, wo er sich bemühte die Tugenden des Handeinbandes mit Hilfe von Maschinen in größeren Auflagen zur Geltung zu bringen. Dies war auch das Thema seiner Schriften in denen er über Werkstoffe, Arbeitsabläufe der industriellen Buchbinderei, und Innovationen schrieb. Diese Themen ließen sich schwer mit der Kunstbuchbinderei vereinbaren und führten zu Spannungen mit dem MDE, so daß Nitz austrat.*

Eine dieser Innovationen war der Kombinationseinband in dem Maschinenheftung, lederschärfen und Pressvergoldung mit den Techniken des Handeinbandes (besonders dem Franzband) kombiniert wurden. Das Ergebnis war ein Einband der der Ästhetik des Franzbandes entsprach, aber schneller und billiger zu verarbeiten war, ohne die Qualität negativ zu beeinflussen. Diese Technik wurde zuerst in Über einen neuen Einband-Typ von Spamer 1923 herausgegeben.


Decke von Hermann Nitzs Über einen neuen Einband-Typ
 Beschreibung der Spamersche Buchbinderei Leipzig, rechts ein Handeinband.
Andere Abbildungen zeigen diese und Kombinationseinbände damit
der Kunde vergleichen kann.

Nun...



Also, was war der Kombinationseinband? Nach Moessners Buchbinder-ABC war dieser ein "Handeinband, der unter weitgehender Maschinenbenutzung wie Heften, Lederschärfen, Pressvergolden usw. gebunden wird und dann meist einen vorgetäuschten tiefen Falz hat." Nitz beschreibt es als Folgendes auf Seiten 6-7:
Das bedeutsame Merkmal dieser Einbandart ist das Ansetzen der Deckel von Hand auf tiefen Falz vor dem Insledermachen, womit, genau wie bei reinen Handeinbänden, eine unlösliche Verbindung von Buckblock und Deckel geschaffen wird. Im übrigen ergeben sich die verschiedensten Variationen je nach dem Preis, der für den Einband angelegt werden kann. Die wohlfeilste Arbeitsmethode ist folgende:

Heftung mittels einer besonders konstruierten Fadenheftmaschine, nicht etwa auf Baumwollgaze, sondern auf Hanffaser, Deckel ansetzen von Hand auf tiefen Falz, Kapitalband angeklebt, Insledermachen von Hand, Vergoldung auf Rücken und Deckeln mit der Prägepresse.
Dabei gab es auch andere Extras die den Preis beeinflussten. Die Technik wurde gedacht als Einband "für die Herstellung kleinerer oder größeren Auflagen bzw. Teilauflagen von wertvollen Klassikern oder sonstiger Belletristik, für wissenschaftliche und kunstwissenschaftliche Werke, Lexika, u. dgl., soweit edles Leder für den Rücken oder den ganzen Einband als Material vorgesehen ist." Die ganze Broschüre kann unten, oder über diesen Link gelesen werden.


Nitz beschrieb diese auch in seiner Die Technik des Bucheinbandes (1931). Sie wurde auch von  Heinrich Luers in dem Das Fachwissen des Buchbinders (1943, 1946 (271-72)) beschrieben als Kombinationsfranzband.


Gerhard Zahn beschreibt es in Grundwissen des Buchbinders (207-9) als der "imitierte" Franzband und zeigt Vorsatzarten und das ansetzen der Deckel auf tiefen Falz. Fritz Wiese in Der Bucheinband (256-7) als etwas ähnlichem, Lederband nach Franzbandart.

Zu Nitzs Die Technik des Bucheinbandes, dies war ein Buch wie Collins Pressbengel (1922) der die Buchbinderei und ihre Techniken für Bibliophile beschrieb. Es wurde heraus gegeben in einer Auflage von 500 Exemplaren durch die Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen, Berlin. Im Kontrast zu Collins Dialog, ist dies eher als ein für Laien verständliches Fachbuch mit Abbildungen geschrieben. Mehr hierzu in einem weiteren Beitrag...

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Hermann Nitz's "Kombination" Binding, the Ur-Fancied-up Book


Back in August 2012, Henry Hebert who was at the time a NBSS student coined a new term, fancied-up books. By this he meant trade books that were disbound in varying degrees and then rebound in more attractive bindings, whether paper, cloth, leather, ... Essentially budget design bindings, and we've all done it. Reading some new additions to my collection, I came upon what could be considered the ur-type of this.

With industrialization, bookbinding became more and more simplified with consequences for aesthetics and structural integrity. Away from sewing on raised cords and lacing those through the boards, the cords became thinner, were sewn in, sewing became mechanized (with staples being used like sewing in Germany), case binding developed, and some will say devolved from there. In Germany, the arts and crafts movement contributed to a return to sounder structure and better design, a movement the larger binderies also appropriated with the addition of extra binding departments that produced works on par with those of hand/fine binders. Leading binderies in Germany, these located in Berlin, and the book capitol of Leipzig were: E.A. Enders, Fritzsche, Hübel & Denck, Lüderitz & Bauer, Spamer, Wübben, and W. Collin among others.

Hermann Nitz (1881-1965) was a student of Paul Adams and Paul Kersten who worked as a craft bookbinder at Hübel & Denck and Spamer, and became a member of the Jakob-Krause-Bund (J-K-B) and the Meister der Einbandkunst (MDE). Despite this fine craft pedigree, he dedicated his life to working in large trade binderies where he merged the work of machines and fine craft bookbinding to create durable and pleasing bindings. He also taught and wrote on this topic, including about materials, industrial binding processes, and innovations to merge the craft and trade. This tension allegedly created animosities with peers, so that he left the MDE.*

One of these innovations was the Kombinationseinband, that combined machine sewing with simplified forwarding to give the appearance of an extra binding at lower cost, and without sacrificing quality. It was first described in this pamphlet Über einen neuen Einband-Typ published by Spamer in 1923.

Cover for Hermann Nitz's Über einen neuen Einband-Typ (About a New Binding Structure)
Spamer's Bindery in Leipzig: Most modern commercial bindery, 250 machines, 400 employees.
All kinds of bindings: Extra binding department for hand-binding, decorated papers, folders
At right an example of a handbound book. Other illustrations depict these and Kombinationseinbände
so comparisons can be made.

So, something about Spamers Kombination Bindings...



So, what was it. From the pamphlet, "the distinguishing characteristic of this style is the board attachment by hand with a 90° joint before covering," essentially extra binding. Nitz further describes the book being sewn on a modified sewing machine hemp fibers rather than gauze, backing to 90°, stuck-on endbands, covering by hand, and gilding using the blocking press and dies. At additional costs, the book might be hand-sewn, receive hand-sewn endbands, and other details. The binding style was developed for smaller or larger print runs of the classics, literature, encyclopedia, etc, in full or quarter leather, something these simplifications made possible. The pamphlet can also be viewed here, and features numerous images of books using this structure.


The style was also described by Nitz in his Die Technik des Bucheinbandes (1931), and Heinrich Luers' Das Fachwissen des Buchbinders (1943, 1946 (271)) where it is described as the Kombinationsfranzband, linking it to the extra binding. As a formal binding manual, it provided greater detail on the process, including for gilding. In it, after preparing the textblock and attaching the boards, a spine stiffener with raised false bands if desired is prepared, and pasted to the covering leather that has been pared, working the bands... When dry it is gilt in the blocking/stamping press..., and the binding then completed per the style.

Die Technik des Bucheinbandes, a work that like Collin's 1922 Pressbengel (The Bone Folder) described bookbinding for bibliophiles and was issued in an edition of 500 copies by the Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen, Berlin. In contrast to Collin's dialog format, his is written more like a manual but in lay terms. A contemporary counterpart would be Jamie Kamph's A Collector's Guide to Bookbinding (1982) in an edition of 250 copies. More in a later post...

Sunday, January 10, 2016

W. Collin Mappe und Etikette

[Geändert 5/11/16: Diese Abbildung meiner W. Collin Mappe und verschiedene Etikette und Stempel von W. Collin sind in Die Collins zu sehen]

Diese Geschichte der Collins und die folgende Bibliographie der Schriften von Ernst Collin beansprucht nicht vollständig zu sein, vor allem, weil sie aus der Ferne mittels digitalisierten Sammlungen, Fernleihe und angekauften Büchern zusammengestellt wurde. Sie will einen Anfang machen und darüber hinaus einen Einblick in die Welt der Familie Collin geben. Ernst Collins Ansichten und Schriften über Buchbinderei sind unter allen Quellen die wichtigsten. Die Arbeit soll auch dazu dienen, das Vermächtnis und die Leistungen dieser Berliner Familie wieder ins Gedächtnis zu rufen.

Es folgen in weiteren Teilen Kapitel zum Leben von Ernst Collin, seinen monographischen Schriften, Aufsätze in Zeitschriften, eine Beschreibung der Quellensuche, und ein Verzeichnis seiner einzelnen Schriften.
Das Gesamtwerk ist noch im Aufbau und wird Ende 2016 vollendet sein. 
Mehr hierzu können Sie unter „Colliniana“ wo einige Teile des Inhalts vorab beschrieben wurden.

Mappe von 1892









Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Paul Kersten's Decorative Leather Work

There are very few mentions, never-mind articles about German bookbinders and bookbinding in English-language publications. Octave Uzanne's article "Paul Kersten's Decorative Leather Work," published in The Studio: an illustrated magazine of fine and applied art, is one of the few that I have found.

Frontispiece portrait of Paul Kersten from
Collin, Ernst. Paul Kersten: Festschrift des Jakob Krausse-Bundes zum 60. Geburtstage seines Ehrenvorsitzenden Paul Kersten. Berlin: Corvinus-Antiquariat E. Collin, 1925.
Lithograph by Edmund Schäfer

Wrote Octave Uzanne in his article:
The bindings of Mr. Paul Kersten, who has been established for a short time at Aschaffenbourg, and displayed some very fine examples of his work at the recent International Art Exhibition at Dresden, are the most striking manifestation yet made by the young German school of binding. He shines especially as a gilder. After a long course of work for a big firm at Leipzig, under the management of M. Sperling, for whom he did his earliest bindings, Paul Kersten was confident enough to start on his own account, in order to bring his name before the public and do justice to his signature.
[snip]
Having awarded full praise to the heavy leather covers of the bouquins of the seventeenth century, Mr. Kersten has to admit that the eighteenth century produced nothing but copies of French bindings; and, further, that if German bindings attracted any attention in the course of the nineteenth century, soon after 1840, it was solely due to the binders. Purgold and Trantz, men of German origin, living in Paris, and to Kalthoefer and Zaehnsdorff, who were established in London. As a matter of fact, try as one will, it is impossible to deny that Germany, during the centuries in question, was very poor as regards art binders, and this fact makes its recent efforts to achieve celebrity in this direction all the more meritorious. Mr. Paul Kersten had few predecessors, and when he talks of Trantz and Kalthoefer he must mistake the facts connected with these artists. They did no work "at home " - that is in Germany - but were "outsiders," who cannot be taken into account on the present occasion. Mr. Kersten himself is one of the foremost German exponents of his art, and he may without vanity be proud of the eminent position he holds.

Unidentified binding from Octave Uzanne's article


The complete article can be read in The Studio: an illustrated magazine of fine and applied art, Vol 24, Nr. 104, 1902. The Studio was one of the premier arts & crafts journals.

Paul Kersten (1865 - 1943) was one of the seminal German fine bookbinders, and his Der Exakte Bucheinband (1923) helped define German fine binding. Ernst Collin wrote the biographical "Festschrift, Paul Kersten," of this in honor of this seminal binder's 60th birthday in 1925. It was published by Collin's Corvinus-Antiquariat E. Collin for the Jakob-Krauße-Bund. The publication is divided into 6 essays titled The Pioneer, Apprenticeship and Journeyman Years, The Author, The Artist, The Craftsman, and The Man. Also included are a bibliography of Kersten’s writings and illustrations of 48 bindings created between 1896 and 1925. Among them also a binding of Der Pressbengel. The illustrations were taken from Kersten’s Der exakte Bucheinband, and the Archiv für Buchbinderei, one of the premier arts & crafts bookbinding journals. Like Georg Collin with whom he worked at W. Collin, Kersten was heavily involved with teaching, including at the Lette Verein (a trade school specifically for women founded in 1866) where he succeeded Maria Lühr, Germany's first woman Meister. Other notable students included Otto Dorfner and Otto Pfaff, both of who Collin also wrote about in articles.



Colophon from Paul Kersten

Below Kersten's Bundverzierungen, Spangen und Schliessen in moderner Richtung für die Vergoldepresse (1898), a sampler of dies available for embellishing raised bands and boards. While in German, the illustrations speak for themselves. Below, embedded text from HathiTrust.



Kersten was the author of numerous manuals for bookbinding, design, gilding, ... , however his Der exakte Bucheinband; der gute Halbfranzband, der künstlerische Ganzlederband, die Handvergoldung is considered the first manual for arts & crafts design binding. What makes the book especially interesting are the 133 depictions of bindings, technique, and design patterns, in addtion to 48 samples of decorated papers and other materials provided by various vendors at the back. Below, embedded text from HathiTrust.




Der exakte Bucheinband was also mentioned in Ernst Collin's Der Pressbengel (translated as The Bone Folder) when the Meister and Bibliophile were discussing board attachment. See "Aufschabeblech - What would it be called in English?", a post published back in 2011 for more information.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

More Paste Papers - Mehr Kleisterpapiere

Some more paste paper covered books from my collection, one by a "professional," the others by apprentices.

The first is on Buch und Bucheinband: Eine Festschrift für Hans Loubier, Verlag von Karl W. Hiersemann in Leipzig, 1923. The book (text and binding) was designed by Walter Tiemann. There is a description in a review (in German) in Das Werk, vol 11, 1924. Whether that is the case with this binding is not clear, but there is another just like it (see below). The binding is in quarter vellum with labels and gold tooling on spine.

Noch mehr Kleisterpapier bezogene Bücher aus meiner Sammlung, eins aus "Meisterhand," die Anderen vom Lehrlingen...

Das erste ist Buch und Bucheinband: Eine Festschrift für Hans Loubier, Verlag von Karl W. Hiersemann in Leipzig, 1923. Die Gestaltung von Text und Einband ist von Walter Tiemann. Eine Rezession aus Das Werk, Bd. 11, 1924 ist hier zu finden. Ob das auch für diesen gilt ist mir unklar, aber noch einer konnte bei einem Antiquar unten gefunden werden. Der Einband ist in halb-pergament mit Rückenschild und Vergoldung.

Buch und Bucheinband: Eine Festschrift für Hans Loubier, Verlag von Karl W. Hiersemann in Leipzig, 1923.

Verlagswerbung aus dem Archiv für Buchbinderei Vol. 24, 1924.
Advertisment for the book in Archiv für Buchbinderei Vol. 24, 1924.


Rezession aus Das Werk, Bd. 11, 1924

Here a dealer description for another copy. I did not get my copy from John Windle.

Hier der Inserat von einem Antiquar für noch ein Exemplar. Ich habe meins nicht von John Windle bezogen.

Antiquarian dealer notice from viaLibri

Next, an apprentice binding on Paul Adam's Lebenserinnerungen eines alten Kunstbuchbinders (Memoires of an old Craft Bookbinder) published by the Meister der Einbandkunst (MDE) in 1925. The book was published in further editions in 1929 and 1951. My copy is 223/300.

Als Nächstes, Lehrlingsarbeit an Paul Adams Lebenserinnerungen eines alten Kunstbuchbinders herausgegeben von den Meister der Einbandkunst (MDE) 1925. Das Buch wurde 1929 und 1951 in weiteren Auflagen herausgegeben. Mein Exemplar ist 223/300.

Paul Adam, Lebenserinnerungen eines alten Kunstbuchbinders, 1925

Below a detail of the title on the spine. You can see clearly how it was pieced together using pallets and gouges. This is the same technique that was used on both spine and front cover (with onlays) on my copy of the 1927 Meister der Einbandkunst Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst.

Unten ein Detail von dem Titel, zusammen gesetzt aus Linien und Bogen. Dies ist die selbe Technik die bei meinem Exemplar vom Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst, herausgegeben von den Meister der Einbandkunst, 1927.

Title detail from Paul Adam, Lebenserinnerungen eines alten Kunstbuchbinders, 1925
Click to enlarge

You can see another binding on this text, this one by W. Collin student Maria Lühr in the Sammlung Max Hettler in Stuttgart, Germany.

Man kann einen anderen Einband an diesem Text, diesmal gebunden von der W. Collin Schülerin Maria Lühr in der Sammlung Max Hettler in Stuttgart finden.

Der Buchbinderlehrling
Volume 14, 1940 - 1941; Volume 15, 1941 - 1942; Volume 16, 1942 - 1943.

I have many more apprentice bindings using paste papers (see above), most in my collection of Der Buchbinderlehrling to which I dedicated a post here last summer.

Ich habe noch viele weitere Lehrlingseinbände mit Kleisterpapier eingebunden in meiner Sammlung (siehe oben) vom Buchbinderlehrling über die im letzten Jahr geschrieben habe.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Paste paper sample books in the United States

Paste papers, Kleisterpapiere in German, are one of the oldest forms of decorated papers. They were "developed" in German-speaking areas during the late 16th century, and used to cover books and as endsheets. Among the most famous are the Herrenhuter papers made by members of the Moravian Church, most often by women in "Single Sister" houses.  When this group emigrated from Moravia to North America they settled largely in Pennsylvania during the 1740s,where they were active in printing, binding, and making these papers. Their archives in the United States are in Bethlehem, PA.

Even in Germany they fell out of favor, were considered old-fashioned by the time the 19th century ended. However, with austerity measures during the First World War, paper bindings and the papers that decorated them came back, with many innovations in manufacture and aesthetics. Among them were paste papers. This was something Ernst Collin viewed as one of the few benefits of austerity and touched on in some of his articles.

Paste papers are made by mixing pigments (dry, tempera, acrylic, ...) into a paste made from flour, starches of other kinds, or more modern materials such as methylcellulose. Patterns can be made by brush strokes, pulling, stamps, rollers, any combination of these, and more. They have become very popular and there are numerous tutorials online. I have gathered many of these at the Book Arts Web.

More recently, they were "reintroduced" by German immigrant binders who passed the skills and love of the papers to their apprentices, most actively in New England where Arno Werner taught and mentored many. Below from his obituary in the New York Times dated 8/5/1995.
Arno Werner was born in Mylau, Saxony, one of 10 children of a weaver. He was apprenticed to a bookbinder at 13 and did the customary stint as a journeyman moving around Europe. He came to New York in 1925 with $25 and his tools in a cigar box.

For years he shuttled between jobs in this country and in Germany until he was persuaded to train with the famous master binder Ignatz Wiemeler in Leipzig, a center of publishing and antiquarian book dealers. He returned to the United States when war broke out in 1939 and set up his own bindery in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1942. He maintained it until 1977, when he moved the workshop to Hadlyme.
Fritz Wiese's Sonderarbeiten des Buchbinders (1948) bound by Arno Werner

From David Bourbeau's introductory essay in Katran Press' Pastepapers of the Pioneer Valley,
 Also in the latter half of the century, Arno Werner, a German-born and -trained master bookbinder, bound books for some the major antiquarian dealers, collectors, libraries, and printing masters of the day including the Cummington Press in the 1950s and Gehenna Press in the 1960s and 1970s. Arno had started making decorative papers in Pittsfield during the Second World War when European Products were difficult to come by... ... These he produced in the style of the Bauhaus movement that influenced most of his work. A Leonard Baskin and his Gehenna Press attracted and inspired a new generation of designer-printers, Arno Werner trained a new generation of studio bookbinders, Many of his students in turn have taught the art to others.

As mentioned by Bourbeau, these papers were made by and for private press books giving them a distinctive elegance, and their manufacture and use have spread across the United States. With this, some makers and presses have also issued elegant sample books of their papers, most with recipes and other tips. All-in-all, real treats for lovers of these decorated papers. A small selection of samples from this books in my collection can be found below:

Morris, Henry. Roller-Printed Paste Papers for Bookbinding. North Hills, PA: Bird & Bull Press, 1975

Overall view of Roller-Printed Paste Papers with bird and bull pattern

Title Page
Recipes
Samples
Samples. The one at left is the Bird & Bull "trademark."

Fraser, James H. The Paste Papers of the Golden Hind Press. Fairleigh Dickinson University Library and Tideline Press, 1983. Edition of 70. This book has been partially digitized here. From the introduction:
Historical changes in the European process of spattering, combing, impressing or otherwise distributing colored paste on paper have been variations niore of design and color preference than of mechanics. To belabor the history or the technique, which is little more than a function of in1agination and deft fingers, would be redundant considering the writings of Albert Haemmerle or Rosamund Loring. [Loring's "notebook" is online]

The number of paste paper artisans since the close of the nineteenth century, where these two accounts leave us, has likely been greater than in all the previous centuries. Quite possibly there is quantitatively more paste paper being produced at the beginning of the 1980s than at any other time in history in the scores of countries in which, like the United States, a revival in the book arts is being experienced. Yet with this productivity there is perhaps little to be added to our understanding of this simplest of paper decorating procedures except to document and exhibit so1nething of their variety.

Title page
Example Four
Examples Nine and Ten
 
Prospectus

Bolton, Claire. Maziarczyk Paste Papers. Oxford: The Alembic Press, 1991. Edition of 175. 8vo. quarter cloth, paste paper over boards. 53 pages. Contains nineteen samples of Claire Maziarczyk's paste papers, and also describes how they are made. The text includes a history of paste papers and notes on the range of patterns used. quarter cloth, paste paper over boards.

In the introduction, Bolton gives an overview of the historical use of paste papers, also mentioning an article by Paul Adam, "Die Kleistermamorpapiere" in Archiv für Buchbinderei, v7, nr 12 1907-1908 (176-182). 

In the section on "markets," Bolton notes that "Maziarczyk papers today sell to two main groups, bookbinders and interior designers, and the colours and the patterns are chosen with these two groups very much in mind... Apart from book covers and endpapers Maziarczyk papers are regularly used by designers as backdrops for photographers."

Before retiring from making paste papers, Claire Maziarczyk presented widely in the United States and Canada often including tips for ergonomics to reduce repetitive stress injuries. Her website is here.

Title page
Sample from text describing process
Sample - Maziarczyk's papers often have an iridescent shine.
Sample - Maziarczyk's papers often have an iridescent shine.
Sample
Sample

Bookbinder Elissa Campbell wrote about a visit to Claire Maziarczyk in her blog, sharing many images of the Studio.

One of my absolutely favorite people in the book arts is Warwick Press' Carol Blinn whose work ranges from her whimsical Once Upon a Time books to the serious. Throughout, Carol makes use of paste papers, a technique she learned from Arno Werner and taught frequently. You can see some images from workshops on her website. On the subject of paste papers, wrote two small chapbooks, Decorative Paste Papers at Warwick Press (1991) and On Making Decorative Paste Papers (2005) in which she shared tips and tricks.

Carol Blinn's Arno Werner / One Man's Work
Blinn's chapbooks
Her magnum opus on the topic, however, is Serious Play: Decorated Paste Papers, as much a tribute to her path and experiences learning from and working with Arno Werner, as it is a sampler.

Blinn, Carol J. Serious Play: Decorated Paste Papers. Easthampton, MA: Warwick Press, 2006. Edition of 35.

From the prospectus:
This book is the most ambitious to date issued from Warwick Press. The text describes my introduction to paste papers and explores my friend-ship with bookbinder Arno Werner. My affection for Arno shines through the description of his showing me how to decorate with paste. Early photographs of Arno as well as reproductions of some of my papers used on Warwick Press projects are included. For many years I have wanted to document my papers. This book is the result of endless prodding to get the edition done before I become too feeble to life a paint brush. Serious Play is a unique gathering together of my writing and paste papers and it gives me great joy to present it to discerning collectors. I fell in love with the making of this book & I hope you will too.

35 copies; 64 pages; 7 by 9 ½ inches high; designed, typeset in Dante, and letterpress printed by Carol on Zerkall Book; 22 paste paper samples, with descriptions of how to make each one; stenciled title page; a calligraphed title by Sarah Roberts; 12 digitally reproduced illustrations; hand bound by Carol with paste-paper-over-board covers glued onto signatures bound using a four-needle Coptic sewing stitch, the spine of the book being exposed; wrapped in an orange paper wrapper with colored label; signed.


Title page
Sample with description below
Sample with description below
Sample with description below
Sample with description below
Another Easthampton binder with the same lineage back to Arno Werner, a neighbor of Carol Blinn's at One Cottage Street, is Sarah Creighton. A selection of her beautiful papers can be found on her website, papers she often used in her edition bindings and other creations. There are numerous others, too.

On the West Coast we find Marie Kelzer who produced a series of seven Paste Paper Pattern Books between 2002 – 2012. All of these contain recipes and tips and tricks regarding the techniques used to make the papers, this along with an average of 50 tipped in samples. Kelzer was introduced to the technique by Eleanor Ramsey, a binder in San Francisco, and also learned from Claire Maziarczyk.


Paste Paper Pattern Book, Volume VI


Sample with description below
Sample with description below. Note use of toy cars.
Sample with description below. Note use of pastry rollers.


Not from a sample book, here two papers by Don Rash Fine Bookbinder on books from his Boss Dog Press.

Fritz Eberhard's Three Lectures covered in original pastepaper
Click here to see how the pastepaper was made on the Boss Dog Press blog
Fritz Eberhardt's Rules for Bookbinders in a simple non-adhesive wrapper.

Below some links to pages in English and German about (historical) paste papers, all with lots of images:

So, head to your benches and make paste papers keeping in mind Henry Morris' "parting words."

Good Luck

More Paste Papers - Mehr Kleisterpapiere

 Some more paste paper covered books from my collection at the link above, one by a "professional," the others by apprentices.