When you think of beautiful books, what comes to mind? Leather-bound, embroidered with silver or gold thread, pages sewn together with a steady hand? What you are likely imagining belongs to the Victorian Era of bookmaking, a period spanning the late 1800s into the turn of the century. This was a fascinating time across all industries, as the rapid increase of industrialization was paired with a greater appreciation for hand-made items.
The world of books was no exception, increased literacy throughout the 19th century led to unprecedented levels of readership. The book industry responded to the growing demand by seeking more efficient methods of printing books, cloth replaced leather or vellum, and the hand-made method of bookbinding became a niche arena for the affluent and artistically-inclined.
Among the steam, smoke, and churning change of the late 19th century, emerged The Guild of Women Binders, a group as traditional as it was unprecedented. The work of The Guild is some of the most imaginative and skillful of the era.
But first, a brief description of traditional bookmaking for the uninitiated. The process is twofold: printing, and binding. At a printer’s, metal letters are arranged into the words and sentences that make up a page of text. Pages of type are prepared for printing, covered with ink, and pressed into paper.
At the binder, the printed sheets are folded and cut, the folds are then hammered flat, and sewn together into the bands along the spine of the book. The bands are meant to support the book and can sometimes be visible under the leather of classically made books. Cover boards are attached to the bands. Leather is then glued to the cover boards, and decoration is added. Bookmaking was a markedly male-dominated industry. While some women were allowed to partake in the perceived feminine task of sewing together the bands, they were rarely given formal training, and forwarding--the process of shaping the book and fitting it with leather–was considered too masculine for female hands
In 1897, a London bookseller and owner of the Hempstead Bindery, Francis Karslake, attended the Diamond Jubilee, honoring 60 years of Queen Victoria on the throne. As part of the festivities, he encountered an exhibition on bookbinding, including the work of one of the premier female bookbinders, Annie MacDonald, along with some of her pupils.
