The sun., 1910-05-21
FINE ART OF BOOEDINDING
4 LABOR or LOVE FOR WOST or
THOSE VINO PRlCTISE IT.
liOPss That New YOrk Way Vet 10 the
Work ~ We'll ~ Parts IN spite ol
Aandieaps Long and Patient Labor
Required ln Making Pine bindings.

the sixteenth century had much Oi his
| library put into bindings of great rich
ness and beauty there have been indi'
viduals. clubs. societies devoted 10 the
art Of fine bindings. and yet to-day the
masters of the art are few aud the great
masters remain where Grolier found
those OF his day in France
New York booksellers will tell YOU
that there is something unaccountah hle
in this: that every other art or handl-
craft with devoted. wealthy and generous
followers has developed enormously.
especially IN the last half century. while
fine hook binding. takeh the world over.
has not developed much artistically and
very slowly as an industry The author
tiles say that Grolier's books. with their
generous inscription. The Property Of
John Grolier and his Friend had on
their rich covers -interhcing hands,
dark and edged with gold upon a lighter
ground. or scrolls of gold lines only,
which IN a general way is fair descrip-
tion oG the ornamentatiOn Of the covers
Of to-day's fine bindings
However the expert IN fine bindings
in almost any of the big book stores m
New York is an optimist lie will tell
you that even within the last ten years
those who purchase or order fine bind
ings in this city have grown IN number
and discrimination; that the beautiful
work Of Miss Cole. OF Miss PrideauN and
others draws crowds Of admirers like
any other art exhibition and finds buyers
who know what the seemingly hig prices
asked stand for the long application Of
highly trained intelligence and art IN
stinct 20 the most eNnciing handicraft
II has been suggested that the present
revival Of interest in fine bindings dates
hack only ten or q doEen years but II Is
interesting 10 learn from the records that
this country very early developed organ
lied efforts TO produce good hooks we'll
bound Ben Franklin founded hook
club in i7c6 which by the way. i histori-
cally credited with having been the b.
ginning Of the Philadelphia Library and
the University Of Pennsylvania; hut
perhaps the earliest organization m this
country devoted more TO fine bindings
than to what was between the covers wa
The Club it never had another name
founded about lsGO.
Then later there was the Club Rndery
founded largely by the late Robert Hoe
tie had for years sent books from his col
leci,ons to Paris 20 receive fine bindings.
and getting impatient over the lack of
high class workers in the handicraft ~
this country induced a memher of one %
the famous PARIS families of ART binderies
TO come 20 this city and start a bindery,
but even with the workers located here
the costly leatherS and fabrics used by the
binders had 20 be imported. and the cost
Of getting such material through the
Custom House was too much The
Paris binders could still do the work
cheaper. and many ot thoss who wanted
such WORK done still sent 10 Paris In spite
Of the long delays in getting the books
back here
The Club Bndery exists no more hu' -
hest workers. or some ~ them are en-
ploved Ia cleveland alwav-a literal buyer
of rare aud old editions and nov rnthusils-
tic over tine bindings
New Yurks GrolIer Club - admittedly
one of the strongest book lovers organ 10
zations of high standards IA the world
and its exhibitions have done much 90
create aud educate a taste for hns bud
ings. vet ~ far as ~ known. % has not
vet produced a man like tohdeu Sander
son. that disciple of William Morris who
abandoned all other work 10 make him
self master binder n books
Incidentally it NAV be said that that ~
not a triing job OF job for a tri~r Miss
Prideaux when -he was already an al
vanced art student and competent Go
design ornamentation for fine bindings
worked eight hours a dav Tor three vear-
in a foreign shop learning the handicraft
This includes not only tho desi gnIng and
tOohng of the desg gns. the leather inser-
lions and other ornamental parts Of the
work but the forwarding a. 10 ~ called
the actual building up Of the folded sheets
into a soldly constructed book Miss
Cole. whose work IN fine binding has been
described in this paper. ~ also a practical
forWarder. competeut, that -. Ia take her
place al a bench IN a commercial bindery
and compete on even terms with her
bench mates in turning OUT a substantial
book. however il might afterward 10
cazed. covered or bound
What class of books are selected for
Ane bindings'- was asked Of number of
experts
As many classes a. there are varieties
in literary taste with the purse TO please. .
was the effect of all answers.
One collector may want Eugene Field's
Iullabies put into a five hundred dollar
binding. and the next may bring IN a good
edition Oi Montesauisu Spirit of M.
Laws and order his favorite bound ln
the same elegance
The binders first work Is thoroughly
to study the book o. be- bound that the
design for oTnamentation may express
something 0f the printed matter Speak
ing Of this point one expert said that
Robert Hoe tore the covers away from
many a book which had cost hundreds
~ dollars 10 bind. only because the 0rna-
nentation a-wore a. the contents he
believed every book should suggest its own
design of Onanentaii0n and that when lt
did not IL was not properly bound.
Are the amateurs doing murh work.
vas another question asket
The answers revealed that the amateurs
so-cailed. that -. those who first took up
The work ~ a labor II love. are really
the professionals dong the greater part
on the fine binding IN New York to-day
Some are graduates ~ schools ~ applied
design who have alsO served regular
apprenticeship In commercial hInderiss
With this equipment they are producing
work which compares favOrnbly with the