The Ghostly Tale of Old Book
A young man leaned against an old elm tree and wept for the man whose grave he had just dug. This was his habit upon each interment at the Peoria State Hospital, a mental institution in Bartonville, Illinois. The young man was an inmate at the hospital and its resident
A Stitch in Time: Bookbinding and Repair Under the WPA
“A WPA book repair project working through the summer vacation period has reclaimed 210,438 books from the school junk heap and made them clean and fit for use.” (New York Times, 1938). The New Deal agency Works Progress Administration (later renamed Work Projects Administration) lasted only about eight years, from
Traditional Iranian Hand Binding
A special thank you to Mr. Iraj Navidi for providing the content of this post. A Summary of the History of Iranian Traditional Hand Bookbinding Iranians learned to make paper from the Chinese, and started making paper in the city of Samarkand. Examples of Iranian paper include Samarkand, Khorasan, Tabriz
Happy Holidays from ABM
Wishing you the very best this holiday season, from the American Bookbinders Museum Anita Kristine Madeleine
Bookbinding and the Working Woman
In honor of International Woman’s Day, we’re reposting this blog post from 2016. Enjoy! One of the by-products of the Industrial Revolution was a change in the status of women working outside the home. Working from home–doing piece-work in and around all the other jobs that were part of running
The Journeyman Bookbinder
Just a Journeyman Binder of Books Working from town to town A craftsman old, of an ancient guild With graying hair and wrinkled frown. He binds the books in leather and cloth, Tools them in letters of gold Some printed thoughts that come to naught, Others of priceless mould.
Happy New Year
Just a reminder: ABM will be closed in celebration of the New Year on Tuesday, January 2. We will be open on January 3, and look forward to meeting you then. Our best wishes to the Book community for a safe, healthy, and book-filled 2018.
Celebrating Local Binders
This winter the Museum Shop at the American Bookbinders Museum is pleased to showcase the work of two extraordinary book artisans. Pietro Accardi was born in Turin, in northwestern Italy, where his father, Gaetano, was the founder of Typografia Accardi. After working at his father’s press, Accardi went on to
Litquake at ABM
Saturday, October 7 through Saturday, October 14 This year the American Bookbinders Museum hosts eight days and evenings of Litquake events, from panel discussions for new writers and kid-friendly events to featured authors and readers. See the Litquake site for a full listing of events, both at ABM