Disbinding Bradel, Part 1: Who was Bradel? Does it Matter?

This is the first in series of articles that grew out of the research that went into my workshop on the ur-form of what we call the Bradel given to students and staff at the University of Iowa Center for the Book and University Libraries on October 1 -2, 2021. As part of the William Anthony Lecture Series it was supported by the Nadia Sophie Seiler Fund and the University of Iowa Libraries & Center for the Book.

I had originally considered formally publishing this in a journal, but for a variety of reasons I am serializing here at the Pressbengel Project, perhaps somewhat less formally. Advantages of online publication include the ability to embed video... When completed, the posts will be combined into a downloadable form. The title, "Disbinding Bradel" was originally suggested by Jeff Peachey. I am also grateful to Susie Cobbledick, Guild of Book Workers Journal co-editor, for her thoughts on converting my hand-out into an article.

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To Disbinding Bradel, Part 2: A walk through the German bookbinding literature, in which I will focus on the evolution of that which defines this structure – the spine piece and board attachment. 

To Disbinding Bradel, Part 3: Binding your Pappband, aka ur-Bradel

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What do we (primarily in the English-speaking world) mean when we refer to a "Bradel" binding, what are its origins, and how, and what did it evolve into?  Originally, the structure consisted of a single piece spine stiffener and a connecting strip attached to the text block, with the boards then attached as the binding was completed working outwards from the text. Over time, that evolved into a separate spine stiffener and a connecting strip of paper to which the boards were attached. 

The images below are of a binding of Lessing's Works (Berlin, 1838) in my collection. 

Here, book closed, the one-piece spine and connector construction. 

The book open.

Pappbänder: 1812, 1825. 1842.

This question of the origin of the structure came to the fore when I was asked to present a hands-on workshop on the original, ur-form of the Bradel to students and staff as part of the William Anthony Conservation Lecture Series at the University of Iowa Center for the Book and the Libraries' Conservation Lab. 

I was trained in, and am very familiar with the modern form of the German case binding covered in paper and its variant forms, and nowhere does that descriptor of "Bradel" appear in the German manuals, historical and contemporary. Instead, one finds Pappband (paper binding), gebrochene Rücken (referring to the way the spine piece and cover are constructed), and variants of these structures. I have described several of the modern German variants in published tutorials linked to from here, but have not until now traced the evolution of the structure from its origins. The structure also appears in other national traditions, in particular the French, often with nuanced differences. Still, there are questions about the original form and history of this structure, one most often associated with German books of the 18th and 19th centuries. 

One thing that stands out is that most English-language publications on this and related structures are based on observational studies of period bindings. Manuals describing the structure in whatever language are seldom referenced, a challenge when the sources and language are not known or accessible to the researcher.

In his "Teaching Genealogies of American Hand Bookbinders" (Guild of Book Workers' Journal, Vol XXVIII, 1990. 3-4) Tom Conroy wrote:

The low profile of the German element in American hand binding is hard to understand, although several factors can be identified. German-tradition binders have added little to the English-language literature of binding; and little has been translated from German. Much of the German contribution to the common pool has been forwarding and technique rather than design finishing. The German tradition has contributed little to the philosophy of binding in America (this comes largely from the English Arts and Crafts movement); and in aesthetics American binders have tended to follow the French in aping painting and the fine arts.

Having regularly been asked to find and translate German sources for colleagues researching and writing articles, this was a challenge I am very familiar with and enjoy. Thanks to my paper-based reference library and digital collections, I was able to trace the evolution of the structure in the German tradition back to Zeidler in 1708. Not a Bradel to be found ... 

So, the question of "who was Bradel" and what is his connection to the structure remained. Let's see what we can find out about this structure's namesake [in the English and French-speaking worlds].

 

In English, a good starting point is searching lexica like Don Etherington's Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books, where the Bradel is described as:

A type of binding having a hollow back, and not unlike a library binding, except that it is considered to be temporary. The style was originated in Germany by Alexis Pierre Bradel, also known as Bradel l'ainé, and also as Bradel-Derome, son-in-law and successor to Nicholas-Denis Derôme. The style was taken to France sometime between 1772 and 1809. Bradel bindings generally have split boards into which are attached the extensions of the spine lining cloth. The edges are uncut, sometimes with the head edge being gilt. They generally have a leather or linen spine. In France the style was known as "Cartonnage à la Bradel", or as "en gist".

Ligitus' the Language of Bindings Thesaurus (LoB) is "intended to provide a consistent and agreed terminology to be used by anybody working with historic books, such as conservators..." It is the only lexicon that uses the term "gebrochener Rücken" in describing the Bradel as:

The German term for the three-piece case, 'gebrochener Rücken', meaning literally 'broken back', is presumably a reference to splitting a one-piece case into two sides with a connecting spine-piece. This meant that it was possible to have a thinner flexible spine-piece that allowed the book to open whilst having a rigid board on each side to support and protect the book block, a dual function that was not possible with the one-piece case. The three-piece case was known in France at the end of the eighteenth century as the ‘reliure Bradel’ or ‘cartonnage à la Bradel’ having been introduced there, apparently, by a member of the Bradel family.

While being very general about the "who", it gets at the essence and functionality of the structure though I disagree with the translation of "gebrochener", a term that refers to the act of folding and creasing, in this case the piece of thin board/card that connects the boards. This is traced in detail in the literature review, in particular see Anweisung zur Buchbinderkunst (1802), Greve (1823), Thon (1856), and Adam (1898).

CERL, the Consortium of European Research Libraries, in its thesaurus describes Alexis-Pierre Bradel (d. 1760), "also known as Bradel l’Âiné as he carried on the work of his uncle Derome Le Jeune, as a well-known Parisian binder. Bradel moved to Germany, where he started a style of a temporary binding that later became very popular in Germany." Comparing these two sources, we start to have issues around Bradel's dates and his role." 

The bookbinding database of the French National Library, Reliures.bnf.fr, has no record of an Alexis-Pierre Bradel. It does have a record for a Francoise-Paul Bradel (1757-1827) describing him as a "bookbinder belonging to a family dynasty of bookbinders, established in Paris since the end of the 17th century, one of whose members definitively ensured the durability of the name, which has now become a common name to designate a casing process that he would have imported from Germany to France in the 1770s. François-Paul Bradel is the son of Paul Bradel, master bookbinder in Paris, and Marie-Louise Le Cornu." 

Johann Denninger in his article "The 'Temporary' Binding of Alexis Pierre Bradel", The New Bookbinder (1996) goes much deeper than most. He described Bradel as a Bavarian "Maesterbuchbinder" who arrived in Paris ca 1800 and introduced the technique. The technique itself was "simply an imitation of the German binding made by the bookbinder Lichtscheid, who was working in Vienna in 1800. Lichtscheid, a famous bookbinder at the time, stated that he made his bindings using the Dutch of the time as an example." Denninger goes on to write that "around 1820 Bradel's friend (and later enemy) Lesné took over and adapted the original form as a 'German binding'. Denninger mentioned a La Reliure, toutes les operations de la reliure (1827) by Séb Le Normand. This was found in Gallica as Manuel du relieur dans toutes ses parties (1827) where the structure was referred to as “Cartonnage allemand, dit à la Bradel” (German binding in paper, called Bradel). The manual was later published in several editions as Nouveau manuel complet du relieur with the description retained. 

From the 1827 edition:

The type of binding that has become known in Paris, was imported from Germany by a bookbinder who alone made it for some time, with this type of binding acquiring a certain reputation. When well executed, it has a number of advantages: it looks good enough on a library shelf; it is clean and can be made with solidity; the leaves are not so that works can be read for a long time as they were simply bound, and when it is they retain wide margins. Here's how it's done... (p 209)

The instructions for the technique described by Le Normand map 1:1 to the German manuals of the time. In addition to this background information on Bradel, Denninger purports to give instructions for Bradel's pre-1823 structure, admitting he has never seen one. Unfortunately, those instructions are seemingly for a hybrid Danish millimeter and modern German Edelpappband, known in the US as a "millimeter binding" or by North Bennet Street School Students as "Rubow". This combination makes the article on the whole confusing. [NOTE: Le Normande also appeared in German as Die Buchbinderkunst in Allen Ihren Verrichtungen (1832). See Part 2 ...]

Thanks to Jeff Peachey another source was able to weigh in. Emil Thonin in his encyclopedia Les Relieures Francais 1500-1800 (1893) listed pages of Bradels going back several hundred years. Of most relevance were his concluding remarks on a Bradel (pp. 219 – 221):

We are familiar with the so-called, German-inspired 'Bradel' bindings "because, says Lesné, Bradel was one of the first bookbinders who started to make them and because he makes them well enough". That being said, in another passage of his poem, he mentions him again, this time in a much less benevolent manner, speaking about those binders who claim to have invented some new system:

 With the help of a very amphibological jargon, he impresses the fools, and exposes himself to criticism; Such are the processes of Bradel, Cabanis, who charm the province and even all Paris. The one binds in the German style, And the other sews as in Holland.

Our poet speaking in the present tense, it seems obvious that the author of these bindings must have lived in 1820, but how do we identify which one of all these Bradels he was referring to? We give up on that, as well as we give up on trying to identify the other one that he quoted and whose talent presumably equaled that of Chaumont and Deboisseau, well regarded binders of the restoration period. (Thank you to Benjamin Elbel for this translation)

So, while we seem to have no definitive answer about who this Bradel was, the resources above seem to agree on an origin somewhere in Germany in the late 18th, early 19th centuries, and that the core elements of the structure are integral to many binding styles and their variants. From the memoirs of 19th century bookbinders such as Adam Henß (1780-1856), Paul Adam (1849-1931), and other mentions we know that bookbinders travelled widely during their journeyman years and sometimes emigrated, e.g. Germans to England in the 18th century. This process greatly facilitated the spread of ideas and techniques across Europe. So, does it really matter if we don't have a "who"? We do need an agreed upon descriptor for the base structure, though, no?

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To Disbinding Bradel, Part 2: A walk through the German bookbinding literature, in which I will focus on the evolution of that which defines this structure – the spine piece and board attachment. 

To Disbinding Bradel, Part 3: Binding your Pappband, aka ur-Bradel

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As always, I welcome questions, references to additional sources, and other thoughts via the comments. Just remember to cite those sources. Thank you 

A Brief History of Book_Arts-L (1994 – 2023)

By Peter D. Verheyen
This article is adapted from the original, published in the Guild of Book Workers' Newsletter, Number 270, October 2023.

So long and thanks for all the "books".
The last postings from the "home" of 28 years, Syracuse University.
The list was home at Cornell University its first year.

On June 1st of this year, Book_Arts-L was migrated from Syracuse University’s servers to Emory University. This date was a month shy of the list's 29th anniversary, an eternity in the online world. But, what is Book_Arts-L, and why did I create it?

The “Internet” as we know it now with the World Wide Web (WWW) was invented by Tim Berners-Lee on April 30, 1993, though its conceptual origins go back even further.. In 1987, Walter Henry at Stanford created the Conservation Distlist, the first discussion group for all things conservation, accessible via email from anywhere in the world, if you had a connection. I got connected to it in early 1989 with a slow dial-up modem and a Compuserve account. Despite its focus, other topics more binding and art related crept in, something I was certainly guilty of contributing to and encouraging. Walter Henry was very patient, but also encouraging of my questions. In 1990, Peter Graham, a librarian at Rutgers, founded Exlibris, an online discussion group for rare books and special collections with many opportunities for exploring topics related to the book arts.

The world was still overwhelmingly analog at the time, newsletters like the Guild of Book Workers’, the American Institute of Conservations', and the Abbey Newsletter, among others, with their calls for exhibits, workshops, and jobs, were eagerly-awaited resources. I was fortunate to spend those early years in places with active book arts and conservation scenes, such as Chicago and New Haven, so in-person activities also played a large role.

In 1993, I moved to centrally isolated Ithaca, NY, where I was rare books conservator at Cornell. Compared to my past haunts, Central New York was a very barren and remote place to practice the book arts.. Attempts were made to form a loose regional group with a newsletter, but this never succeeded in building the active critical mass required for success. Was there any help for getting out of this professional and avocational loneliness? Could these new online tools, like listserv and gopher (a precursor to the web), help? Typo-L, a list which continues to serve the typographic community, was founded in early '93. For much of its first year, however, that list was unusually quiet, with numerous "is anyone else out there" messages. I also happened to be unaware of its existence.

Encouraged by Walter and Peter, I founded Book_Arts-L in June 1994 on Cornell's list server, and it was announced on the DistList and Exlibris. It was my turn to see “who was out there”. I knew about some of the technical details, but was clueless about what I was getting myself into. The subscriber list grew slowly, but steadily, as did participation, and by the end of that first year there were about 400 subscribers with as many postings. When I moved to Syracuse, the list followed me there as well. In 1997, there were 900 members with 3000 postings. Initially, I found myself doing quite a bit of "handholding" as people learned how to subscribe,use a listserv and use email. To some extent this continues to happen, though much more infrequently. With time, most of these challenges faded away, and the list grew to a peak of over 2500 global subscribers. Managing those could have been a chore, but was generally a great deal of fun as one gets to know like-minded people all over the world. Some of my virtual connections are still ongoing and sustaining, and have led to collaborations and other opportunities for both parties. 

Walter Henry offered to host its archives at CoOL, initially on a Gopher server and shortly thereafter to the WWW. The archive remains available to subscribers via the web in different places including the Internet Archives's Wayback Machine (1994-2009). It is my wish to pull all these together in a unified and consistent interface, but that will require some work and goes beyond my abilities.

Not content to simply discuss technical matters, within weeks we were debating the essence of the book. This topic would recur periodically, and it exploded in the spring of 1998 around the question of defining the artists’ book. An "innocently simple" question, looking for a definition of "artists’ book", results in 89 printed pages that are still regularly read and cited. Like many other discussions, it traveled a very circuitous routes, becoming "what is art," the difference between "art” and “craft," the definition of "craft," training, technical competence... While there the ubiquitous "me too" replies, the list and its archive nevertheless became a great repository of collective experience and knowledge about such arcane topics as reconditioning a press, finding a particular supplier, using materials, and how to practice the craft of bookbinding. The quality of postings varies, determined by the expertise of the poster, but even a simple or naive post serves an educational function as well. We all learn best from our own or others' experiences. Sustaining all this learning is an incredible global community of individuals who share generously of themselves. In a few cases, participation has become multi-generational, with parents and offspring contributing to the discussions. Those early days, including beyond Book_Arts-L were the topic of  Bringing us together / Getting us out presented at Hot Type in a Cold World, the Silver Buckle Press' 25th anniversary symposium.

In the early days, the idea of Book_Arts-L, an online community, or pretty much any presence of our allied arts and crafts on the then-newish internet was not met with universal acceptance. Indeed, there were numerous voices that spoke out against it within the Guild and its membership, as well as other similarly-focused organizations. Among the concerns were gatekeeping, “trust”, fad, and fears for the survival of print publications such as newsletters. When I started Book_Arts-L, I had no idea how long it would last.  Almost 30 years later, numerous other friendly and aligned lists and fora appeared, and then faded. The book arts, and related fields, have also proliferated on social media. While they do provide easy ways to share work, especially images, such platforms are not well suited to long form discussions. 

So, what has contributed to Book_Arts-L’s success? I believe that the most significant factor is [pro]active stewardship – as list owner starting and contributing to threads, and sharing resources, especially during lulls. While lulls in conversation are natural, and often good, in the context of a resource like listservs and for a it can lead to “out of sight, out of mind”. Also, important are actively engaging with subscribers, especially when topics become contentious, along with occasional calls for civility. A global community is a microcosm of society with all that implies, and contexts in one place may not be the same elsewhere. The list language is English, but that is not everyone’s native language – things can be lost in translation. It was my role to make sure that things did not get too heated. These challenges were however a very small part in the history of Book_Arts-L largely because of the [pro]active stewardship.

In 2019, on the 25th anniversary of Book_Arts-L, I made the decision to step back by the 30th, quietly hoping that the list would continue under new “ownership”. In late 2022, I opened that conversation, and very quickly events took on a life of their own. Of great importance to me was also the continued availability of the archive. I was very glad and relieved when Kim Norman and Emory University Library’s Preservation Department stepped forward, especially as they use the same backend infrastructure. On June 1st of this year, the community moved to Emory. I look forward to mentoring Kim as she takes the reins and reshapes the list to better reach its community, all the while moving it forward. At the same time, I will enjoy watching and contributing without the responsibilities. It was an adventure I will always be grateful for. In parallel to the list, I also maintained my Book Arts Web at philobiblon.com. Still an often-accessed resource, it has suffered from neglect in recent years. It will be interesting to see what is left of it, but a snapshot will always be available via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

What follows are some snapshots of Book_Arts-L’s activities these past 29 years. Similar data was shared via a Bonefolder Extras post in 2015. The trends have remained constant.

Where did subscribers come from? As of the end of May 2023, 2376 subscribers came from the United States (2236*), Canada (36), Australia, United Kingdom (18 each), Germany (9), Netherlands, New Zealand (8 each), Romania (3), Italy, South Africa, Sweden (2 each), Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Malta, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland (1 each). This number is based on the “domain” of the subscriber with all .com, .org, .edu being attributed to the US. Given that Gmail, AOL, and many other internet providers are international, but based in US, this significantly inflates the US total of subscribers.

In the past 29 years, Book_Arts-L received a total of 90,831 posts that represent approximately 53,000 “threads” or topics that were sent by approximately 7000 “subscribers”. Names online are one of those things with frequent changes, so the actual number of distinct posters will be lower than those 7000, but based on a cursory scan, not by much. There has also been a good level of turnover over the years with subscribers coming and going. That said, the top posters have remained fairly stable, some posting regularly over the lifetime of the list.

The chart below shows the total number of posts by year. The number climbed steeply in the first 3 years, but has been in decline since 2010.

Book_Arts-L Total Postings June 1994 – May 2023.

This same trend can be seen in visits to the Book Arts Web, the website I have maintained with a vast number of links to other resources. Google started offering its Analytics in 2006. Facebook and other social media started becoming more prevalent after the introduction of the “smart” phone by Apple in 2007.

Book_Arts-L and Book Arts Web Overall 2007 – May 2023

The top 20 threads are shown below. As with everything related to posts, sometimes the subject lines of the thread don’t apply at the message level, perhaps having morphed during the conversation. 

Top 20 Threads

Most postings were sent mid-week, with the weekends the slowest. This pattern seems logical, as subscribers have lives outside the book arts.

Book_Arts-L Postings per Day of Week by Year

On June 1st, 2023 Book_Arts-L moved to Emory – Now, onto the next 29...

The full FAQ at Emory with instructions for joining the community here.

Maria Lühr and a Stool

CREATIVE FEMALE HANDS

Miss Master Bookbinder

As in so many professions dominated by men alone, women have also turned to bookbinding. In the workshop of Maria Lühr, Berlin, where only female hands exercise the craft, artistic and tasteful book bindings are created under the direction and the own hands of this woman.

The products of this unique female bookbinding workshop will soon be shown in America as part of an exhibition of German women craftsmen in St. Louis and Chicago.

Apprentices inserting the books into the hand press for "backing" and placing the finished books into the standing press.

Copyright by Presse-Photo G.M.B.H.
Berlin SW. 38 -- Wilhelmstr. 130

Apprentices inserting the books into the hand press for "pressing"
and placing the finished books into the standing press.

Also seen at far left is the "forgotten Bauhaus stool" manufactured
by Rowac in Chemnitz", Germany.

Schaffende Frauenhände

Fräulein Buchbindermeister

Wie in so vielen vom Manne allein beherrschten Berufen, hat sich die Frau auch dem Buchbinderhandwerk zugewardt. In der Werkstatt von Maria Lühr, Berlin, in der nur weibliche Hände das Handwerk ausüben, entsehen unter der Leitung und den eigenen Händen dieser Frau künstlerische und geschmackvolle Bucheinbande.

Die Erzeugnisse dieser wohl einzig dastehenden weiblichen Buchbinderwerkstatt werden demnächst in Amerika im Rahmen einer Ausstellung Deutscher Kunstgewerblerinnen in St. Louis und Chicago gezeigt werden.

Lehrlinge beim Einsetzen der Bücher in die Handpress zum "Abpressen" und Setzen der fertigen Bücher in die Stockpresse.

Copyright by Presse-Photo G.M.B.H.

Berlin SW. 38 Wilhelmstr. 130

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The image was shared with generous permission by Alide & Dieter Amick / Rowac who are reissuing this classic stool.

Position of the Tongue in Bookbinding

 This fun poster was created by James Welker sometime shortly after 2004. Mark Andersson, then teaching bookbinding at North Bennet Street School is demonstrating a trade binding popular in mid 20th century Sweden at Guild of Book Workers Standards in 2004, and I am teaching the German-style springback at Minnesota Center for Book Arts in 2003. 

Are there other national preferences for tongue position in binding? Asking for a friend.

Fritz Otto Examines "The Salmon of Wisdom"

 A new fish skin binding acquisition for the piscatorial collection.

The Salmon of Wisdom from the Folklore Fish series. It is bound in salmon prepared by @sosnastudios with hazelnut-dyed salmon lacing. The book was one of 3 exhibited in the Beyond Bookbinding 2023 exhibit at @nbssboston in Boston where Sara, '23, is a student. Take a look at her Instagram and more fish skin bindings.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fritz Otto Buchbinder (@fritzottobuchbinder)

Bookbinding As A School Subject

Here the second of the two "manuals" introducing bookbinding subjects to school children that I recently received. They are both parts of the Technische Jugend Bücherei  (Technical Library for Youths) edited by L.M.K. Capeller, instructor for art education at the teacher training institute in Munich. The first pamphlet Papparbeit (No. 17) was described in my previous post, and covered the subject of paper crafts such as desk accessories, calendars, boxes, ... 

Buchbinden (No. 18) is the second that introduces bookbinding. Both were published in 1926. The structures that are introduced are the single-section pamphlet in a wrapper and the multi-section Pappband, or as it more commonly referred to in North America, Bradel binding. The appendix briefly describes sewing on sawn in cords rather than tapes, and suggests working with a carpenter to construct a sewing frame (diagram in book).

The covers on these pamphlets are rather attractive,
with the central decorative element representing a box.

Title Page

Diagram for making the hooked endpaper out of a
single strip. This will result in a pastedown,
flyleaf, and guard/waste sheet that the cover
will be built up on. 

This construction was also depicted in the post here.

Starting the sewing. Note the position of
the endsheet relative to the first signature.

The diagram depicts the "gebrochene Rücken",
referred to here as the Hülse (hollow). Per the text,
it is made from two pieces, one the width of the spine, the 
other wider to attach it to the guard/waste sheet
of the textblock. It is made of card stock, and rather
than creasing and folding, it is scored, then folded.

Do you know the difference between creasing and scoring?

The Hülse attached to the guard/waste sheet.

Next, the boards get attached.

Several presses are depicted in the booklet...

After trimming the boards to size, Buchbinden ends
by telling students that there is no need to describe 
covering as that was all described in the previous
pamphlet Papparbeit. After covering it continues
with paste out the paste down, close the cover onto the
textblock and put in the press.

Final tips: When starting out, sew on tapes, so you don't need a sewing frame, make sure you have lots of CLEAN wastepaper ready BEFORE starting each step, so you don't have to scurry to find a piece, also avoiding glue stains on the book... Then, make sure to have fun.

Although this pamphlet is written for school children, the basic instructions are consistent with what was described in trade manuals published 100 years earlier.

The back cover.

Book Crafts As A School Subject

Just received two more "manuals" introducing bookbinding subjects to school children. These two are both parts of the Technische Jugend Bücherei  (Technical Library for Youths) edited by L.M.K. Capeller, instructor for art education at the teacher training institute in Munich. The first pamphlet Papparbeit (No. 17) covers the subject of paper crafts such as desk accessories, calendars, boxes, ... The second Buchbinden (No. 18) introduces bookbinding. Both were published in 1926. In this post, I'll share from Papparbeit.

In the post Book and Paper Arts for School Students, a tale of two Pralles H. Pralle wrote in Die staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule zu Hamburg "The pupil's workshops should not train craftsmen, they should educate in the children of all professions in the right understanding, sharp vision, and aptitude. Manual dexterity is valuable if mind and body are to be cultivated." So it was with these two texts.

The English bookbinding literature also features numerous publications of this sort, e.g. The Cockerells' Bookbinding as a School Subject series, Lismer's Bookbinding Constructions for Senior Schools, Matthew's Simple Bookbinding for Junior Schools and similar. While aimed at school children, the type and complexity of many of the techniques and projects introduced are on, and in some cases beyond what we would now consider basic or even intermediate book arts workshops. 

The covers on these pamphlets are rather attractive,
with the central decorative element representing a box.

Title page.

Covering the edges of a portfolio, calendar or similar.
A decorated paper will be used to cover the rest.

Covering the sides of a box.
The boxes are assembled by cutting, scoring,
and folding the cardboard.

And, the box is covered.

Back cover of the pamphlet.

In my next post I will share from Buchbinden.

Account Book Advertising Stamp

This stamp would have been used like tape for wrapping paper, in this case for the products purchased there. The stamp was produced by Hochlehnert & Co., Ulm a. D. Hochlehnert & Co. were also an account/ledger book "factory", printer, and paper wholesaler. 

Account/Ledger Books
Bookbindery and Stationers
Richard Emmerich
Bautzen, Seminarstraße 2
7.5 x 5 cm

Below, the location in Bautzen (Saxony) now. Sadly no street view.

You can see a similar stamp from an earlier post here.

Perhaps it looked like this, the Buchbinderei Franz Dreeger,  (ca. 1910)
9 Singrienergasse, Vienna

German Kaiser Gifts W. Collin Bindings

Ten days ago, I got the kind of email that made may day in a wonderful way. A colleague shared some images of a very large multi-volume set that had come into the conservation lab for some work before being returned to its rightful place in the collections. The set had come to attention because it had decorated a retiring library Dean's office... What made the set special to me was that the set had been bound by W. Collin, Court bookbinders in Berlin, and came with some important provenance.

Œuvres de Frédéric le Grand, Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786 
Berlin, Imprimerie royale, 1846-57.
31 volume(s). in 33. 3 front. (incl. 2 portrait) 2 facsimile 36 cm. and atlas. 53 cm.

Following the link to HathiTrust in the record above, I was able to see that the set is represented by holdings in several libraries, but none bound like this!

That's A LOT of big books...

Overall view with the monogram of Prussian King Frederick the Great.

Sadly, the call number and other labels are a common problem in libraries.
In many cases, the books were long part of the circulating collections
before being move to special collections. An example of that is Syracuse
University's von Ranke collection that also features many W. Collin bindings.

Gilt edges on three sides, leather inner joints, and marbled endpapers.
All pretty standard for the day.

Well, that's some provenance, Gift of Kaiser Wilhelm II!

W. Collin Court Bookbinders, Berlin
A new-to-me location for the stamp. If not stamped on the binding,
they were usually at the bottom left of the flyleaf verso.

Detail view of stamp.
I've added it to my page with all stamps and tickets I've found.

A special thanks to J. Michael Keeling, Preservation & Conservation Specialist in Conservation & Preservation at the Sheridan Libraries and Museums at Johns Hopkins University. Michael handled the books and found more information about W. Collin... on this blog. He also took and shared these wonderful images. Thank you.

Conservation & Preservation at JHU is also where I was first exposed to this wonderful profession as a work-study student in the same department.

Meisterhafte Unikate - 100th Anniversary of Meister der Einbandkunst

Received a fantastic gift today from a friend in the Pirckheimer Gesellschaft, the catalog to Meister der Einbandkunst's 100th anniversary exhibition Meisterhafte Unikate (Unique Masterly Bindings).

Meister der Einbandkunst
Meisterhafte Unikate: 100 Jahre Einbandkunst
2022

VERY pleased to see numerous Ernst Collin citations, and very pleasantly surprised to see my binding of the first (1927) Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst illustrated. It was bound at E.A. Enders in Leipzig. I acquired the binding 1988ish when a dealer brought it to Bill Minter's studio where I was working for deacidification. Yes, I paid Bill for the deacidification.

Based on one citation of an article by Otto Pfaff, I also got the sense that my article "Ernst Collin und sein Pressbengel: Eine Spurensuche zum Buchbinder, Schriftsteller, Antiquar und Bibliophilen" that was published in the Pirckheimer Gesellschaft's Marginalien, Zeitschrift für Buchkunst und Bibliophilie was "helpful".

Heute ein wunderbares Geschenk bekommen, den Katalog Meisterhafte Unikate: 100 Jahre Einbandkunst. Ich habe mich sehr über die vielen Ernst Collin Zitate gefreut, aber auch besonders für die Abbildung von meinem Exemplar des Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst, 1927ish gebunden bei E.A. Enders. Ich bekam auch den Eindruck, daß mein Artikel "Ernst Collin und sein Pressbengel: Eine Spurensuche zum Buchbinder, Schriftsteller, Antiquar und Bibliophilen," der in den Marginalien, Zeitschrift für Buchkunst und Bibliophilie der Pirckheimer Gesellschaft erschien, zu dem Zitat von Otto Pfaffs Artikel "verholfen" hat.

Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst, 1927
Bound at E.A. Enders
Image from Meisterhafte Unikate

Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst, 1927
Bound at E.A. Enders
Collection of Peter D. Verheyen

More decorated papers from Deutsche Einbandkunst, 1921

I recently acquired 2 more copies of the catalog to Deutsche Einbandkunst edited by, and also with an article by, Ernst Collin. Why more copies, well the catalog was produced in two versions, a deluxe of twenty unbound copies on handmade wove rag (I-XX), with the remaining copies (21-2,000) on a machine-made wove rag paper. My copy of the deluxe edition (Nr. XX) was bound in an unsigned ¼ leather binding with cloth sides and gilt top edge. It is the regular edition copies in their decorated  paper wrappers made or provided by ten different decorated papermakers.

I shared the first batch of three here. Below, the next two:

Copy # 852, paper made by Theo Paul Hermann, Leipzig.
This is a printed paste paper (Kleisterdruck)

Copy # 921, paper made by Anne-Marie Irmler, Berlin.
An expressionistic stenciled paper, "schabloniertes Papier."
She is mentioned in an article that appeared in the Papier-Fabrikant,
a paper trades publication. (749-750)

Not going to make a habit of aquiring more copies unless the papers really grab me... 😂

Colliniana 2021-22 - Ernst Collin Updates

Today, on Ernst Collin's birthday, I once again share an overview of findings from the past year. For a variety of reasons, things have slowed down around this blog and my ongoing research around Ernst and his family of W. Collin. Reasons include the copyright "wall" that is moving forward a year at a time, but also less time and energy on my part. We'll call it burn out that affects much more than this work. That said, there were some exciting moments. That said, almost none of what I have found and learned would have been possible without digitized collections such as HathiTrust and the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek.

My article 'Ernst Collin und sein Pressbengel: Eine Spurensuche zum Buchbinder, Schriftsteller, Antiquar und Bibliophilen' appeared in the Marginalien of the Pirckheimer Gesellschaft, a German bibliophilic organization originally based in Berlin. With this article, I formally reintroduced Ernst Collin and his family to those they bound for, and he wrote for. The article also shared some findings "discovered" since Die Collins / The Collins appeared in 2016.

Opening spread of the article. On the right Ernst Collin's exlibris
by  Walter Kampmann. The exlibris was included in the first
volume of Die Heftlade.

We know that Ernst Collin wrote for a very wide range of publications, so I was not surprised by the advertising leaflet for Dornemann I found bound in with several Paul Kersten texts on finishing and tooling that someone had compiled. Also bound in were several more leaflets for Dornemann by Kersten. These kinds of things are rather ephemeral, and I was not able to find the ones I have in the catalog of the German National Library, that has a large collection. Dornemann was one of the largest manufacturers of brass finishing tools and type in Germany, and the pallets and gouges I have were made by them.

Brass type for the hand-finisher. [n.d.] 

However, most of all, I was absolutely surprised to have discovered a copy of the deluxe edition of Ernst's Pressbengel bound in parchment when I really wasn't looking. Ordered and now in my collection of the editions of this work. There were a total of 30 copies of the deluxe that could be ordered in parchment or leather, bindings by Hübel & Denck, Leipzig.

Printed in Didot-Antiqua onto VERY heavy/stiff Zanders ragpaper.
This is number 7. Sadly, they weren't signed.

We'll see if a copy of the deluxe in leather ever appears on my screen...

I also continue to find reference to the Pressbengel, Die Heftlade, and Paul Kersten by Ernst Collin in book trade publications. Below a listing from September 23, 1922 for the Pressbengel in the Wöchentliches Verzeichnis der erschienenen und der vorbereiteten Neuigkeiten des deutschen Buchhandels published by the Deutsche Bücherei. The Wöchentliches Verzeichnis indicated new publications. There was also a review in the Börsenblatt für den deutschen Buchhandel, 30 October, 1922.

Note the prices. This was still relatively early in the period
of hyperinflation. These prices would have reflected the values in
the paper money of the time...

The Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde published a continuation of the "discussion" around the Pressbengel, as well as a brief "review" of Collin's three publications mentioned above. More about the "discussion" here.

Then, under "this makes me happy", mention on Facebook of my downloadable sheets for binding my translation of the Pressbengel (The Bone Folder). This was shared by a bindery in Whitley Bay, UK:

Just recently I came across a website with a free download of "The Bone Folder" by Ernst Collin. A very readable little book, it was first published in 1922 and takes the form of a conversation between a book lover and a bookbinder. The imposition has already been done, and it folds into five sections. It would make a nice little project for members who have completed our basic course. I have run off some extra labels if anyone would like to bind up their own copy. The website where it can be found is https://pressbengel.blogspot.com/.

That's what the sheets are there for, and I'm very glad to see them being shared. Download link in the left panel or here.

In the Berliner Börsen-Zeitung of April 10, 1924 (a kind of Wall Street Journal) I found a reference to the "hiatus" during 1923 of the Heftlade, the journal Ernst Collin published for the Jakob-Krause-Bund. 1923 was the worst of the period of hyperinflation... The brief article mentions that the Heftlade was back with 2 issues and was looking forward to the future... Sadly, that was it, except for a seemingly random issue in 1925.

Downloading another article from HathiTrust, I was very pleased to discover that a W. Collin binding I have was depicted in Deutsche Einbandkunst im ersten Jahrzehnt des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts by the great German bibliophile and author of the time G.A.E. Bogeng.

W. Collin binding on Adolf von Menzel.

My work around Ernst Collin and W. Collin was also an integral part of my talk, Down the Rabbit Hole: Embracing experience and serendipity in a life of research, binding practice, and publishing, given to the William Anthony Conservation Lecture series at the University of Iowa on September 30th, 2021. The Collins were one of the three rabbit holes I discussed, one I am still glad to be lost in.

Finally, while not technically citing Die Collins / The Collins or this blog, I was glad to see both included with paraphrasing, images, and in the references of the Tagebuch der Buchbinderei und Druckweiterverarbeitung (Band 4, 19. Jahrhundert) that was compiled by Hans Joachim Laue. The self-published volume presents events in the history of bookbinding and the book trades with an entry per day. I look forward to Band 5, the 20th century. 

My to-do list includes entering many of these references into my database of Ernst Collin's writings...