Bookbinding 3 - Guided Stream

Bookbinding 3 introduces the advanced techniques used for traditional leather-covered, fine binding structures, such as leather paring, lacing-in of boards, back cornering and covering-in on the book. Participants will make two models, both with sewn headbands, attached boards, and at least one covered in half leather. The first model will be sewn on recessed cords with a hollow tube construction; the second model will be sewn on raised cords with a tight back construction.

Enrichment Workshop: Introduction to Leather is designed as an adjunct to Bookbinding 3. The workshop is a comprehensive introduction to the different types of leather and explores a variety of paring tools and techniques used in bookbinding.

Bookbinding 3 consists of approximately 8 hours of videos in MP4 format on a USB drive and a pdf manual. Introduction to Leather consists of 3 hours of video in MP4 format and a pdf manual.

New topics in Bookbinding 3 include:

- Hollow back and tight shoulder 90-degree pivot construction
- Tight back and tight shoulder 90-degree pivot construction
- Spine preparation for a tight back
- Loop stitch, raised cord sewing
- Review of rounding and backing
- Lacing in boards
- Leather paring for the joint, spine & corners
- Covering in leather
- Forming headcaps
- More variations on primary sewn endbands including the Chris Clarkson/Italian Vellum endband
- Endpapers including the German Zigzag

This workshop is based on an in-person workshop with limits on time for the participants, so the projects are worked on in tandem – parts of Book 1 can dry while Book 2 can be worked on, so the manual is presented in this manner to parallel the videos as much as possible.

Note: Bookbinding 2 (in-studio or Guided Stream) is required for Bookbinding 3 Guided Stream

POLICY

Guided Stream participants must maintain their membership for the entire period of their enrollment in the stream.

CBBAG Home Study materials are copyrighted. In purchasing any Home Study workshop participants must agree to the CBBAG the Home Study Programme Policy and may not duplicate the manuals or videos except for their personal educational use.

Click here for the Home Study policy.

COSTS

Fees: Click here for the Home Study Courses Price List.

Postage and handling charges are in addition to the fees shown.

CBBAG Membership:

Home Study is sold as a CBBAG member benefit. If the purchaser is not a current member, the cost of an annual membership will be charged in tandem with the workshop fee. As of 2021, the annual membership fee is $60. Guided Stream participants must maintain their membership for the entire period of their enrolment in the stream. 

WORKSHOP PROJECT OUTLINE

BOOK 1

Book 1 has a hollow back, and hollow tube, but is tight shoulder. This is a tight-jointed version of Book 2 in Bookbinding 2. A variety of options are available on how the book is completed depending on the participant’s interest in exploring various techniques.

- Sewing: lap stitched, sewn on recessed cords, sewn on flattened cords or tape sewn
- Spine: smooth with a hollow (optional to make false raised bands, if planning a leather covering)
- Covering: half cloth and paper or half leather and cloth/paper
- Endpaper: cloth hinge, Visible hooked (leather allowed if a leather covering planned)
- Trimming the textblock: trim either the head only or all three sides
- Edge treatments: ivory edge or coloured edge
- Endbands: handsewn Chris Clarkson endband
- Round and back to a 90-degree shoulder
- Boards are hung on the textblock

Book 2

Book 2 is the new construction- a tight back, tight joint and a tight shoulder and is the classic pre-1850 construction. It has the following specifications for how the book should be made.

- Sewing: loop stitched, sewn on raised cords
- Spine: tight back with raised bands
- Covering: half leather and paper/cloth
- Endpaper: leather hinge, German zigzag
- Trimming the textblock: trim either the head only or all three sides
- Edge treatment: coloured edge
- Endbands: handsewn done in two colours: either a single core or double core
- Round and back to a 90-degree shoulder
- Boards are laced in

TOOLS 

Bookbinding 3 requires some specialized tools. Click here for a PDF with suggestions. A more comprehensive list can be found in the suppliers list under resources.

MATERIALS

Materials are not provided, and participants are expected to source required items to complete the projects. Part of the critique will be the appropriateness of the materials used.

MENTORING PROCESS, TIMING, & PROJECT SUBMISSIONS

After registration, participants will be informed of the name and e-mail address of their mentor after one is assigned by the Home Study registrar. Communication with mentors will be by email primarily. Participants are typically allotted a year with their mentor and will be expected to submit their work for critique and feedback during that year.

Due dates for submissions are January 31, May 31, and October 31 in the 12 months following commencement of the programme. Participants may commence the programme at any time and should inform their Mentor of which of these dates will be used for their first critique.

Submissions are returned to the participant within six weeks, with suggestions of any models to be repeated or what to correct in the next submission. Some of the submissions are completed projects, but some are models to show a particular technique. The list of units that are required for submission is below.

Mailing the Guided Stream Projects

The completed projects are to be mailed directly to the mentor. Shipping with tracking is required. Note that all packages mailed in Canada come with tracking. Each project must have the participant’s name and a clear return address. Participants will need to cover the return postage for the package. Method of payment for return postage will be worked out between participant and mentor.

Participants from outside Canada

Shipping the projects for critique will require a customs declaration. Canada has a very low exemption value to allow items to enter the country duty-free. Books are typically duty-free for import, so indicate on the declaration that you are shipping a book. A package of declared value of $20.00 CDN or less is exempt. It is suggested that you mark on the parcel "no commercial value.”

Many courier services (such as Fedex or UPS) will charge a brokerage fee for assessing if a package requires any payment of duty or taxes, so even if a package is duty-free and tax-free, there could be a charge to the mentor to collect the package. The best option is regular postal mail as Canada Post does not charge any brokerage fee if the item is deemed duty and tax-free.

If the participant choses to buy insurance on the package that insurance value will be used as the declared value of the goods.

If for some reason your package is not duty and tax exempt, then any duty or taxes would be charged back to you by CBBAG. Projects will not be returned if there are any postage, duty, or taxes owing to the mentor or CBBAG.

CHART OF UNITS FOR GUIDED STREAM SUBMISSION

Due dates for submissions are January 31, May 31, and October 31 in the 12 months following commencement of the programme. Participants may commence the programme at any time and should inform their Mentor of which of these dates will be used for their first critique.

Plan for submissions
Submission 1 includes the following units:

UNIT 1:

- Textblock 1 recessed cord or tape sewn
- Textblock 2 with at least one of the following three types of sewing - raised single cord sewing (recommended for leather paring novices), raised double cord sewing, packed raised cord sewing
- Both textblocks with endpapers – one with a German zigzag and one with an exposed visible hinge, one using leather as the hinge.

UNIT 2:

- Second model of German zigzag endpaper separate from the sewn textblocks

UNIT 3:

- Textblock 3 recessed cord or tape sewn, pasted up but unlined spine, , top edge or 3 edges trimmed and with an ivory edge decoration, rounded and backed to a 90-degree angle, Chris Clarkson endband
- Matching laminated/lined boards of the correct thickness for the shoulders of Textblock 3
- Textblock 4 with at least one of the following three types of sewing with raised single cord sewing, top edge or 3 edges trimmed and with a coloured edge decoration, rounded and backed to a 90-degree angle, at least 2-colour sewn single core endband
- Matching laminated/lined boards of the correct thickness for the shoulders of Textblock 4

Submission 2 includes the following units:

UNIT 4:

- Using Textblock 3 from UNIT 3, spine pasted up and lined, sanded, with hollow on; Bradel attachment of boards; may include false raised bands if leather spine covering is planned on book 1.

UNIT 5:

- Using Textblock 4 from UNIT 3, spine pasted, linings on and sanded, boards laced-on, boards infilled and stabilized
- Model of leather pieces for a half leather covering including corners, edge pared and pared for headcaps

Submission 3 includes the following units:

UNIT 6:

- Both books completed
- Book 1- Cloth and cover paper on, endpaper hinges attached, board sheets pasted down, book correctly opened
- Book 2- Leather and cover cloth/paper on, endpaper hinges attached, board sheets pasted down, book correctly opened