Buchstadt | City of the Book, Leipzig, 1913

1913 war Leipzig das Zentrum des deutschen Buchhandels und Verlagswesens. Zu den prominenten Unternehmen der Stadt gehörten Verlage wie F. A. Brockhaus, Reclam oder Breitkopf & Härtel. Hier wurden der Duden, Meyers Konversationslexikon und 90 Prozent der weltweiten Notenproduktion gedruckt. Nun zeigt eine digitale Karte, wie flächendeckend das Gesicht der Stadt damals vom Buchgewerbe geprägt war.

 Für die digitale Buchgewerbekarte wurden insgesamt 2.200 Firmenstandorte in einer Datenbank erfasst und nach Gewerbetypen sortiert. Dazu kamen die heutigen Entsprechungen der historischen Adressen und die Geokoordinaten. Alles zusammen wurde in eine digitale Karte mit historischem Overlay überführt.

 Die digitale Buchgewerbekarte ist ein Kooperationsprojekt zwischen dem Deutschen Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek in Leipzig und dem Amt für Geoinformation und Bodenordnung der Stadt Leipzig.

In 1913 Leipzig was the center of publishing, book production, and publishing. Among the most prominent business were publishers like F.A. Brockhaus, Reclam, or  Breitkopf & Härtel. The Duden, Meyers Konversationslexikon, and 90% of sheetmusic and scores worldwide were printed here. Now, an interactive digital map shows how widely distributed the book trade was in Leipzig.

2,200 businesses were captured and coded by type, historic addresses overlaid onto a map from 1913 using GIS to create the map.

The map is the result of a cooperative project between the German Books and Writing of the German National Library and the Office for Geoinformation and Planning of the City of Leipzig. 
[Unfortunately for non-German speakers, the map and navigational elements are only in German]

Hier klicken um die Buchstadt Leipzig zu entdecken.
Click here to explore the City of the Book, Leipzig.

Auf Karte klicken für Großansicht
Click on map to enlarge

Leipzig war auch Heimatstadt der BUGRA, der damals weltweit größten Buchmesse die ein Höhepunkt von 1914 war. Ernst Collin schrieb mehrere Aufsätze und Artikel zum Thema. Siehe auch 100 Jahre Bugra.

Leipzig was also home to the BUGRA, then the largest tradeshow for the book trades that was the highpoint of 1914. Ernst Collin wrote numerous articles about the BUGRA.

Ernst Collin über Rehabilitation | Ernst Collin on Rehabilitation

Ich habe hier schon einige Aufsätze zum Thema von Buchbinderei als Rehabilitation geteilt, unter anderem einen langen von Paul Adam.

Neulich fand ich beim Googlen einen zum Thema (auch wenn nicht spezifisch zur Buchbinderei) von Ernst Collin, "Zukunft unserer Kriegsbeschädigten" (Hamburgische Lazarett-Zeitung, Nr 14, 1  Juli, 1916). In dem Aufsatz schreibt Collin über die Notwendigkeit der vollen Wiedereingliederung in das produktive Berufsleben, wenn möglich das Alte, der "Kriegsbeschädigten." Alle vier Jahrgänge der digitalisierten Sammlungen der Staatsbibliothek Berlin sind hier aufrufbar.

I've already posted several articles on the subject of bookbinding for rehabilitation, among those a longer article from Paul Adam.

While googling recent, I found one related to the subject (not specific to bookbinding) by Ernst Collin, "Zukunft unserer Kriegsbeschädigten" (Hamburgische Lazarett-Zeitung, Nr 14, 1  Juli, 1916). In the article, Collin addresses the need to fully reintegrate severely wounded veterans into the workforce, and if possible their original jobs. All four volumes are in the digital collections of the Staatsbibliothek Berlin and can be viewed here.

Obwohl Collin die Buchbinderei in seinem Aufsatz nicht erwähnt, konnte ich dieses Bild auf Seite 4 von Nr. 11 finden. Auf der nächsten Seite stand "In Bild 3-6 kommt schon der Ernst des Lebens zu seinem Recht. Neben Papparbeiten werden tadellose Bucheinbände gefertigt..."

Although Collin did not speak to bookbinding in his article, I found this image on page 4 of Nr. 11. On the next page it said, "In pictures 3-6 the seriousness of life must be addressed. Along with paper products [such as boxes, calendars, portfolios, ...] impeccable bindings are created..."

Papparbeiten und Bucheinbände
Paper products and bookbindings

Advertising | Werbung 1929

I love this old advertising and its visual flair. In this installment we go from board shears to animals ending with a glue on the basis of fish. All images from the 1929 volume of the Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbindereien.

Looking for an affordable board shear? Only RM 370 from Krause in Leipzig.

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"Mutt Brothers'" sewing tape weavers.
For hand- and machine-sewing of books.

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Syndetikon "sticks, glues, fixes everything." It was invented by Otto Ring in 1880 and was made on the basis of fish glue... The ads below were created by Friedrich Wilhelm Kleukens. Its time ended with the death of Ring and the advent of synthetic / solvent based adhesives in the 1930s. These also had the advantage of not smelling like fish...

There's more about Syndetikon and its inventor Otto Ring in this German article from the Spiegel that has many more images, most in color.

The Complex of All of These (Bradel/German-case Binding)

The Complex of All of These by Abigail Bainbridge is a wonderful book that I am very happy to call my own. The book is out-of-print, a good thing in the world of fine print and small editions, but a PDF is available here.

In her own words, the author "contemplates the world around her. Images and words become parallel languages, where the distinction between ground and sky, past and present collapses. One conceit after another feels its way over the tiny words before sinking deep into the dark of the etching ink to linger, trembling."

I was attracted to the book when I discovered the video the other made of the entire process from making the etchings to paper, to binding during her residency at the Women's Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY. Ever since, I have used it in the presentations I gave on book arts at Syracuse University Libraries. The video composed from over 3000 still images used have a really snappy musical soundtrack, but DRM took that away. I'm glad Abigail put it back up even if now silent. Just imagine a metronome at about 110~115 beats per minute.

What I feel the video does VERY well is show the binding process from the sewing, to rounding and backing, trimming, endbanding, making the case, and casing in as a batch. It does that via the rapid-fire sequencing of the still images.

The creator is now in the UK, working in private practice as a book and paper conservator and teaching at West Dean College.

Bookbinding for the Blind

Recent acquisition of a postcard depicting a bookbinding workshop at the Red Cross Institute for the Blind in Baltimore, MD. The postcard is ca. 1920.

The image depicts a basic, well-equipped workshop with a boardshear, sewing
frame, heated glue pot, and an unidentified device at the far end of the bench.

Bookbinding offers a splendid form of finger training for the men, and while
not many are likely to enter the profession, the handling of small objects in the
making of boxes, index files, as well as the binding of books, has proved to be
an excellent industrial activity.

While the postcard describes this as an activity for men, it seems that half the individuals in the image are women, at least judging by the clothing.

Binding Designs By Paul Kersten and Paul Klein

German binding manuals and related books of the first third of the 20th century often featured ideas and designs for bindings to instruct and to serve as a source of inspiration. For examples see Designing Spines and Paul Kersten's Decorative Leather Work.

Paul Kersten's (1865-1943) and Paul Klein's (1894-1968) Vierzig neuzeitliche Entwürfe für künstlerische Bucheinbände (Halle: Verlag Wilhelm Knapp, 1928) featured 20 designs each by two masters of the craft, noted teachers, and fine binders who both helped define design in the field. The "book" was issued in the form of plates printed on heavier newsprint-like paper in a wrapper. The table of contents indicated the finishing technique, e.g. blind or gold. The binding designs were printed on very thin glossy paper. The wrapper and layout were designed by Paul Klein. My copy of the text had been bound by attaching the (now rather brittle) plates to stubs and over-trimming the textblock. I'll blame the apprentice. A copy as issued (below) is/was available from my favorite dealer in Germany via eBay It is also available in facsimile.

Kersten who studied with Georg Collin (at W. Collin) was the teacher of  notable students including Otto Dorfner and Otto Pfaff, both of whom Ernst Collin wrote about in articles. Kersten followed Maria Lühr as teacher at Lette Verein, was recognized as one of the greatest finishers of his generation, and was the subject of a Festschrift written by Ernst Collin. In 1904, Kersten published Moderne Entwürfe künstlerischer Bucheinbände, The book was serialized in 6 installments of loose plates, much like the book depicted below.

Paul Klein began his studies and apprenticeship at the Bauhaus (1921-22) under Dorfner where he led the binding workshop, and continued on with Dorfner as a journeyman after Dorfner left the Bauhaus. He later led the hand-binding division of Th. Knaur in Leipzig (a large firm) and subsequently went to work as a binder and designer at Hübel & Denck, also in Leipzig. According to Otto Dorfner: Zwischen van de Velde und Bauhaus (Halle/Weimar, 1989), edited by Mechtild Lobisch, Klein's trail ends in the mid-thirties in Munich where he is said to have worked for a publisher.

As issued, image from Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas

Wrapper by Paul Klein

Design in gold Paul Kersten

Design in blind by Paul Kersten

Design in blind by Paul Kersten

Design in blind by Paul Kersten

Design in gold by Paul Klein

Design in blind by Paul Klein

Design in gold by Paul Klein

Design in gold by Paul Klein

More images from the book can be found via Europeana, here and here.

Below some actual bindings by Kersten and Klein from the Archiv für Buchbinderei, 1928.

Bindings by Paul Kersten, member of the Jakob-Krause-Bund (J.K.B.)

Bindings by Paul Klein, member of the Jakob-Krause-Bund (J.K.B.)

A Bookbinder's Journey

Was very honored to have been asked to give a presentation on my career as a bookbinder with a focus on my creative (rather than conservation/preservation) work. Among the facets discussed were how my experiences and the mentorship I received as a work-study student guided me to apprentice in me “native” Germany; the materials and techniques used to craft my bindings, many of which have been exhibited throughout the US and abroad; and a recent project that ties together many of the threads of my career. In addition to slides, I brought a selection of bindings, and some of the tools and materials I use in my work for attendees to explore.

See my 4-part interview with Sarah Kim, The Ponderings of a Bookbinding Student for more about my experiences.  Slides for the presentation can be found here. Sample slides below.

A Bookbinder's Journey
Title slide
https://youtu.be/4aj-mR8XkOg

First internship

Apprenticeship and earning my chops...

The Book of Origins

Parchment from fish

Additional images from the Syracuse University Libraries' Instagram feed:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl3kwcVl27A/

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This afternoon, our Emerging Issues Analyst Peter Verheyen shared his experiences as a bookbinder with our staff. As part of his presentation we also got a chance to view and handle a sampling of some of the beautiful books he’s crafted over the years. #BirdLibrary

A post shared by Syracuse University Libraries (@syracuseulib) on Jul 30, 2018 at 12:57pm PDT