The
Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives
Division, University of Washington Libraries
and The Book Arts Guild are pleased to present
BOOK
ARTS SEMINAR #1: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ON PRACTICAL
ISSUES
A
PRESENTATION FOR BOOK ARTISTS BY
SANDRA KROUPA, Book Arts Librarian
THURSDAY,
February 10, 2000, 7:00 PM, Manuscripts, Special Collections,
University Archives,
Allen Library South Wing, Basement, UW CAMPUS
This
is the first of a series of seminars designed to answer
real life questions often asked by book artists. Issues
to be included are locating sources of current information
about the field and accessing examples of work, finding
inspiration, discussing philosophies of purpose, choosing
materials and techniques, identifying work, marketing,
pricing, documenting, exhibiting, archiving and planning
for the future. There will be an opportunity to ask
questions and bring up topics. The session will give
an overview of these topics with special focus on
locating information and accessing work in public
collections. Future seminars will examine topics in
depth. As always when gatherings are held in Manuscripts,
Special Collections, University Archives, there will
be examples from the Book Arts Collection for you
to see and handle.
This meeting will be the ANNUAL BOOK ARTS GUILD business
meeting and will have brief reports from the Membership
Secretary and the Treasurer. Book Arts Guild Board
officers will also be elected.
Mary
Laird / Books, Paintings & Prints
A Glance Through Thirty Three Years of Being Sometimes
& Perishable
Thursday,
March 23, 2000, 7:00 PM ****Art Building, Room 317,
University of Washington
Mary
Laird, visiting artist from Berkeley, California,
will give a slide presentation and bring examples
of books she has helped create/inspire over the past
three decades, as the Quelquefois Press and during
her partnership in the Perishable Press. Equally comfortable
with traditional letterpress and innovative artistic
work, Mary has been an important part of the development
of contemporary book arts nationally. This is great
chance to see her work. There will be plenty of time
for questions and handling books.
Mary
is doing a workshop at Hypatia in the Woods, “Book
in a Weekend”, a collaboratively conceived,
hand set and printed in 2 colors as an exercise to
learn the beginnings of letterpress printing. All
proceeds will go to the Hypatia in the Woods foundation,
a nonprofit retreat foundation for women, established
by Elspeth Pope, Shelton, Washington. Workshop is
10-5 Saturday & Sunday March25 & 26. They
are offered every 4 months or so, limited to class
size of 6 and alchemical in nature. Call Elspeth at
360-427-0760 for more information.
RECOLLECTIONS:
TWENTY-FIVE GOLD-TOOLED BOOKBINDINGS
Created as an international tribute to Bernard C.
Middleton
AN
EXHIBITION at
the Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives
Division
Basement, South Wing, Allen Lobby
February
14-April 7, 2000
In
1995, Bernard Middleton, one of the 20th Century's
most important binders, published Recollections: My
Life In Bookbinding, printed in an edition of 200
copies by Henry Morris at the Bird & Bull Press.
25 copies were left unbound. Internationally known
artists were selected to create bindings which both
paid homage to Middleton and which used gold tooling,
a Middleton specialty. The resulting books were exhibited
1996-97 at the British Library, Rochester Institute
of Technology and San Francisco Public Library. These
books are now in the collection of Frank Buxton and
Cynthia Sears who have loaned them to the University
of Washington Libraries for exhibition. Also on display
are a selected group of historical gold-tooled bindings
from the 16th-19th Centuries, part of the Book Arts
Collection. On Wednesday April 5, 2000 will host a
reception for the exhibition and Frank Buxton will
talk about the collection.
APRIL
5, 2000, Wednesday, 7:00 PM
"The
Joys of Collecting Designer Bindings"
a presentation by Frank Buxton
Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives
Division
Basement, South Wing, Allen Library.
The Book Arts Guild & The University of Washington
School of Art Printmaking Division present
Japanese
Tissue Repairs to Leather Bindings: a workshop with
Dominic Riley
April
29 & 30, 2000, Saturday and Sunday, 10 am-5pm
When
leather bindings break at the joints, the traditional
approach is to reback the binding with leather, re-hanging
the boards and relining the spine. However, there
are times when this is not feasible. First, leather
rebacking is time consuming and costly. Second, many
slim or small volumes are not robust enough to stand
up to invasive restoration. Thirdly, some old leathers,
especially tight-backs, are so fragile, that the act
of lifting the leather can cause irreparable physical
and aesthetic damage. In recent years, conservator
Don Etherington and others have pioneered simple,
non-invasive repairs using Japanese tissue. This workshop
will introduce participants to these techniques. They
include:
· Choosing Japanese tissues
· Dyeing with acrylics
· Use of solvents for cleaning leather
· Use of Klucel-G in consolidating leather
· Reattaching boards on small or slim bindings
· Zigzag tissue board reattachment for larger
bindings
· Headcap build-up
· Corner repair
· Interior hinge repair
· Use of leather fleshings to build up loss
· Touching up scuffed leather
· Use of wax and leather dressing
Participants should have experience in the field of
book repair or conservation, but do not need leather
experience. Each participant should bring a range
of leather bindings to the class that are in need
of repair. A full description of suitable bindings,
plus a tool list, will be sent out to participants
upon registration.
Dominic
Riley first learned bookbinding at age 16 from Benedictine
monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire, England. He apprenticed
to Design Binder Paul Delrue on the Roman Wall in
Chester before his formal training at the London College
of Printing, Elephant and Castle, where he won an
award from the Worshipful Guild of Stationers. After
a stint at the Victoria and Albert Museum Patent Office,
and Shepherds Bindery, Westminster, he took the prize
money from the British Library binding competition
and came to America. He now practices his craft of
Book Conservator, with fellow binder and Paper Conservator
Michael Burke, at their bindery in Oakland, California.
Dominic teaches binding classes at the San Francisco
Center for the Book and across the country. He is
the workshops coordinator for the hand Bookbinders
of California. With Terry Buckley, his teacher from
LCP, he is working to reintroduce the obscure eighteenth
century technique of Tree Calf. He also presents,
with fellow binder John DeMerritt, the hilarious popular
cable TV show Booktalk, the only bookbinding TV show
in the world.
Dominic
will give a slide talk on April 27th titled "Restoration
Drama: the Art and Science of Bibliopegy".
A separate announcement will be sent.
the Book Arts Guild and University of Washington Libraries
present
a
lecture by Martha Jane Zachert
Women
Printers, Inheritors of the Black Art
Monday,
October 30,2000, 7:00 pm
Odegaard Undergraduate Library, Room 220, UW Campus
What
is a "Printer"? How have various jobs called
"Printing" changed from the 15th century
to the present? Why is printing called "The Black
Art?" How did women get into this line of work
and how have they met the challenges? Answers to these
questions will be made specific by a look at the roles
and the accomplishments of four American women printers:
a colonial Public Printer; an early 20C typesetter
and type engraver; a mid- 20C publisher-printer; and
a contemporary woman who is a job printer, a publisher
and a book artist. One hundred and fifty slides illustrate
this historical sketch.
Ms.
Zachert has worked for 20 years in public, school
and special libraries and taught at Florida State
University School of Library and Information Science,
Emory University and University of South Carolina,
College of Library and Information Science. Her teaching
specialties are Special and Medical Librarianship;
Bibliography; History of Books and Printing. Since
retiring, she has done research on printing history
and women printers. Ms. Zachert has written a number
of publications, including Fine Printing in Georgia,
1950s-1990 (Press of the Nightowl, 1995).
