"Spring" Binding Hath Sprung - Zum Frühling

The ground in Syracuse (NY) still has snow and the temperatures are still unseasonably cold from time to time, BUT the Sun crosses the Equator tomorrow and the first day of spring is here. The days are getting longer, our clocks "sprung" forward in the US on the 8th, so why not "celebrate" one of my favorite binding structures, the springback.

Hier in Syracuse, NY, liegt noch Schnee, die Temperaturen sind noch gelegentlich niedriger als normal, ABER die Sonne überquert den Equator morgen und der Frühling ist hier! Die Tage werden länger und wir haben in den USA am 8. auf Sommerzeit umgestellt. Also, warum nicht den Frühling mit dem Sprungrücken feiern? (im Englischen ein "gutes" Wortspiel...)

Above the logo for the first Bonefolder Bind-O-Rama (2004) that was featured on the cover of the Bonefolder. While published in the fall, the Bonefolder was announced early in the spring.

Oben, das Logo für das erste  Bind-O-Rama des Bonefolder von 2004. Das Heft kam im Herbst des Jahres zum ersten Mal heraus, wurde aber im Frühling angekündigt.

The Bonefolder, Vol 1, no. 1, Fall 2004

And from the Bind-O-Rama, this miniature springback by Roberta Lavadour.

“A Counting” – English-style springback, leather cover with double straight bands laced with deer vellum. 600 pages of 9 lb. Canary paper with painted edges. Inscription notes the multiplier for each of the 300 page spreads needed to equal the number of dead and wounded American soldiers and Iraqi civilians since March 2003. 7.5 x 7 x 2.5 cm. Bound 2004.

The mechanics of this springback reflect Richard Bakers demonstration at the Guild of Book Workers Seminar on Standards of Excellence in Hand Bookbinding in Denver CO, with a few references to Vaughans 1929 classic, Modern Bookbinding. The new purpose of this springback is to pop up the pop-up. The book measures 5.5 inches by 6.5 inches by 1.5 inches. Bound 2004.

Historical ledger bindings in an archive...

The structure is most common to the German and English binding traditions and has seen increased interest in the US since the early 2000s with articles and presentations largely by Peter D. Verheyen, Donia Conn, Richard Baker, and Karen Hanmer.

Sprungrücken gibt es am Häufigsten in der deutschen und englischen Buchbindertradition, und hat in den USA aber Anfang der 2000er neue Aufmerksamkeit gesehen in Aufsätzen, Vorführungen, und Kursen, hauptsächlich durch  Peter D. Verheyen, Donia Conn, Richard Baker, und Karen Hanmer.

Poster for the German tradition by Verheyen and Conn based on materials for our article in The New Bookbinder.
Guild of Book Workers Standards Friday Forum poster session, Minneapolis, MN, 2002

Richard Baker "hammering over" the headcap for the English-style.
Guild of Book Workers' Standards, Denver, CO 2003.

Cut-away model of German springback
Schnittmodell vom deutschen Sprungrücken

Interactive cut-away diagram (auf Englisch) here

These tutorials, with bibliographies can be found at | Anleitungen auf Englisch gibts hier:

• The Springback: Instructions in the German tradition for a binding designed for account, ledger, and guest books. By Peter D. Verheyen and Donia Conn.
• The Springback: Instructions in the English tradition for a binding designed for account, ledger, and guest books. By Peter D. Verheyen.

The structure is also described in all the leading bookbinding manuals published in German and in England.

Die Einbandart ist in allen gängigen Fachbüchern zu finden, also Henningsen, Lüers, Moessner,Wiese, Zahn...

[Edit 28 April, 2015: Nice article from West Dean Conservation in the UK on a student's first time making an English style springback | Schöner Aufsatz von einem West Dean Conservation Studentin in der UK: Springback Binding with Richard Nichols by Lucy Cokes]

Donia Conn cutting the spine on the German style
Rücken Ende absägen beim deutschen Sprungrücken

What's the attraction to this arcane structure that has long since been replaced by Microsoft Excel and now mostly sees use for guest books? It's the energetic springing flat of the pages as the book is opened that seem to give it wings.

Warum die Aufmerksamkeit für diese ausgestorbene Einbandart die vielleicht noch für Gästebücher anwendung sieht? Es ist das kraftvolle Öffnen und die flach-liegenden Seiten die dem Einband Flügel verleihen...

At left, "Not possible...," at right, "whoa! Wow!"
"As seen at the 1948 journeyman's exam in Cologne"
Sprungrücken, Das Falzbein, 1948, pg 96

So, let's spring into spring with renewed energy!
Also, ab in den Frühling mit erneuter Energie... !

Ernst Collin's Pressbengel Appears in Japanese (Pressbengel jetzt auf Japanisch)

Very delighted today to see Ernst Collin's Pressbengel translated into Japanese and appear on the web pages of the "Laboratory for Preservation, Conservation, and Restoration." I had been contacted by Ms Satoko Noro last May about translating the work into Japanese based on my English translation as The Bone Folder, and was very pleased to say yes, because I feel the text has much to offer bookbinders and bibliophiles everywhere, and that it still as relevant as when first published in 1922. Their interest, the upcoming Boss Dog Press fine press edition with John (Hans) Schiff photographs taken at the Bremer Press, and my bibliography of Ernst Collin's writings, gave me the big push I needed to rewrite the introduction to my translation to that incorporates much of my research into the Collins.

Ich war höchst erfreut heute zu sehen das Ernst Collins Pressbengel jetzt auf Japanisch auf den Webseiten der "Laboratory for Preservation, Conservation, and Restoration" erschienen ist. Im letzten Mai wurde ich from Frau Satoko Noro angeschrieben mit der Bitte um Erlaubnis meine englische Übersetzung des Bone Folder ins Japanische zu übersetzen. Natürlich stimmte ich zu, insbesonders weil ich der Meinung bin das Collins Text Buchbinder und Bibliophilen viel zu bieten hat und noch so relevant ist wie zur Ersterscheinung in 1922. Diese Anfrage hat mir auch viel Ansporn gegeben mich intensiv an die neue Einleitung zur Pressendruckausgabe der Boss Dog Press mit photos von Hans Schiff, aufgenommen bei der Bremer Presse, sowie meiner Bibliographie von Collins Schriften zu begeben. Diese neue Einleitung beinhaltet viele der Findungen zu den Collins und einen korrigierten Lebenslauf von Ernst Collin...

The Japanese translation appears in serialized form on their website, with the first monthly installment appearing just days ago. The translation is illustrated with photographs of bookbinding tools and bindings. Below a screen-grab of the first installment. Translation via Google.

Die japanische Übersetzung wird in monatlichen Folgen auf NPOs Webseiten veröffentlicht, und ist mit Abbildungen von buchbinderischen Werkzeugen und Einbänden illustriert. Unten ein Bild von der ersten Folge auf deren Webseite. Übersetzung von Google.

There is also discussion of a more permanent (downloadable for reading or binding/Print-on-Demand), something I would love to see. Regardless, it is wonderful to see this level of interest in Ernst Collin's text, other writings, and family, this based on referring URL statistics from Japan and elsewhere.

Es ist auch die Rede davon das ganze als dauerhafteres PDF zum Einbinden oder zum Lesen oder als Print-on-Demand zu veröffentlichen. Würde dies sehr gerne sehen, aber bin auf jeden Fall sehr froh über die Interesse an Ernst Collins Text, seine anderen Schriften, und an der Familie zu sehen wenn man aus Japan kommenden Webseitenanalytics betrachtet.

Heinrich Lüers und sein Doppelgänger

Sowie Ernst Collin, so hatte Heinrich Lüers auch einen Doppelgänger zu Lebzeiten. Obwohl in verschiedenen Berufen, waren beide als Fachschriftsteller bekannt.

Just as Ernst Collin had a Doppelgänger, so did Heinrich Lüers, both authors in their professions...

Hier der Doppelgänger, bekannt als Bierbrauer:

Here the Doppelgänger, known as a beer brewer:

W. Kleber - Heinrich Lüers zum 75. Geburtstag, Zeitschrift für
Lebensmittel-Untersuchung und Forschung, 9. DEZEMBER 1965, 129, 1,(48)
Auf Link Klicken für PDF

Und hier der Buchbindene Lüers, Fachlehrer und Herausgeber von Das Fachwissen des Buchbinders, Das Fachrechnen für Buchbinder und Die Buchbinder-Fibel:

And here the binding Lüers, bookbinding instructor and author of several seminal manuals and trade related books including Das Fachwissen des Buchbinders, Das Fachrechnen für Buchbinder, and Die Buchbinder-Fibel:

In Memorium Heinrich Lüers, Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbinderein, Vol 60, Nr 2, 1947
Auf Link Klicken für PDF

Da könnte die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek auch eine Revision vornehmen...

Looks like the German National Library could fix another authority record...

The Other Ernst and Esperanto

Been spending a great deal time working on editing the text for the new introduction to my translation of Ernst Collin's Pressbengel, aka The Bone Folder that will be published late this year by Don Rash's Boss Dog Press with images by John (Hans) Schiff. This introduction also forms the core for my bibliography of the writings of Ernst Collin as I am also including what I have been able to gather about Ernst's father Georg and his grandfather Wilhelm, both Court Bookbinders...

At the onset of this project 2 years ago now, one goal was to disambiguate this Ernst Collin from "the other" Ernst Collin. This was described in The Story of Two Ernsts on this blog. There I mentioned that:

To become more independent he moved to Great Britain to teach at the Berlitz School, spent some time teaching for Berlitz in Constantinople, and returned to Germany to fight in WWI.

Digital collections have been an amazing resource for this project, one of the newer useful ones being European Library and ZEFYS: Zeitungsinformationssystem of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Both are useful because the search results of the European Library provide for full-text searching and link to the paper with search results highlighted. ZEFYS, the actual home for these papers is harder to use, but allows for PDF download of the that page or the whole issue which the European Library does not. Among recent newspapers added were the Berliner Tageblatt and Berliner Börsenzeitung, two daily newspapers. Searching for Ernst Collin, Georg Collin, Wilhelm Collin, what appeared but this in the on page 48 of the 31.01.1909 edition of the Berliner Tageblatt.

From ZEFYS: Zeitungsinformationssystem of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

Here we have "the other" Ernst giving a keynote lecture on the differences between the old and new Esperanto in Berlin for a 12 hour workshop.

Paper Sizes

Love the DIN formats. Just keep folding the sheet in half...There are also B and C series for envelopes and other things. See also here and here.

From Brandbook @ Flicker

The Bonefolder (no, not that one)

Recently acquired volumes 1-9 (of 12) of the Falzbein (the Bone Folder), the successor publication to the Buchbinderlehrling. The first volume appeared in 1948, the last in this form in 1960. A journal like this was a bridge to trade school that continued the overall education of the young apprentices because at that time they were dropped from the university-bound track. 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... Unlike the Buchbinderlehrling, this one also included numerous cartoons in each volume by Jopf. Can't find anything about him online, so he will remain a mystery, for now...

Below a cartoon from that first volume. I'll share more with translated captions.
 

My daddy isn't here. How would you like to have your prayerbook bound,
as a springback, perforated, or like a calendar with tear-off pages?

But all good things have to end as indicated by this note in the parent periodical, the Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbindereien (AAfB), Vol. 73, 1960, pg 120:

The Falzbein will cease publication and the editorial board will say farewell in it to its readers with the March issue. That the decision to cease publication was not premature was  demonstrated by the apathy of the whole [bookbinding] trade that found no words of regret regarding the decision. So, we will publish our last articles with this issue. As of April, the Masters who subscribe to the AAfB will have 2 pages in that publication that they can refer their apprentices to.

The colleague in Germany who shared that notice reports that the new "minimal" format comprised 2 ~ 3 articles and ca 1/2 page for the serialized version of Moessner's Buchbinder ABC, a bookbinding dictionary in German. Schmedt, a large bookbinding supply company provides it online. Publication in any form ceased in 1966.

My next post will hopefully contain photos of my 9 volumes and a bit more background information. If not, I'll share another caricature or two. As in the case of the Buchbinderlehrling, the volumes were all bound by apprentices in various styles.

J. A. Szirmai - In Memoriam

I learned today via post on Nicholas Pickwoad's blog that J.A. Szirmai passed on December 2nd. Most of us know him as the author of the iconic Archeology of Medieval Bookbinding. What I would like to do here is show a selection of his design binding, with images taken from Boek Band Kunst, catalog to an exhibit held a the University Library of Amsterdam (NL) in 1984. Copies of the richly illustrated (in b/w) catalog can still be found online. Text is in Nederlands. Captions in the original here.

Here the link to Nicholas Pickwoad's remembrance of him.

At the Koninklijke Bibliotheek/ Royal Dutch Library

• Janos A. Szirmai 1925-2014 (Nederlands)
• Janos A. Szirmai 1925-2014 ( English via Google)

Here from his publisher, Ashgate.

ALBIUS TIBULLUS: LIED DES FRIEDENS - ELEGIE I/X
Illustriert mit Original-Zinkzeichnungen von Hans Erni
Basel, Petri-Presse, 1942
Full veiney calf vellum binding with relief on both boards; dark green Fabriano endpapers; graphite top edge; dark green endbands. Bound1971. 300 x 212 x 11 mm.

HENRI MICHAUX: WIND UND STAUB
Olten, Walter Verlag, 1965
Millimeter binding with gray oasis goat trim at top and bottom edges; marbled with oil paints in gray and orange; top edge in orange; orange leather endbands; gray gold-stamped leather label. Bound 1978. 236 x 150 x 15 mm.

JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE: DREI MÄRCHEN
Ill. von K. -G. Hirsch, R. Munzner und R . Herold
Bound in calf leather, stained in brown tones with acrylic covers; signatures guarded with leather prior to sewing; sewn in beige thread on seven leather straps that are secured in the acrylic with gold screws; endbands sewn using late-medieval style; flexible goat leather inner "boards"/fly leaves backed with brownish Roma paper; title engraved on inside of front acrylic board. Bound 1981. 436 x 338 x 29mm.

HENRI MICHAUX: SAISIR
Avec une lithographie originate signee par l'auteur
Montpellier, Fata Morgana, 1979 (nr. 30 van de 75 speciale exx.)
Extra binding in gray dyed calfskin; dark gray Roma endpapers; gray sprinkled top edge; hand-sewn endbands; decor in cut leather (Lederschnitt) with added punching; title tooled in gold. Bound 1983. 255 x 180 x 28 mm.

As Pickwoad concluded... we "'will find it in Szirmai' will be heard for many years to come."