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Fishing in Canada. Montreal: Canadian National Railways, ca 1930.
Aspects of exposed structure are part of the aesthetic of this Even More Simplified binding. Boards covered in coho salmon parchment processed by the binder and dyed in indigo, pomegranate and cochineal. Parchment backed with Roma handmade paper, some visible on the rear board. Goatskin spine wrapper laced on with linen sewing cords made by the binder. Attachment of parchment to the boards is reinforced with salmon parchment tackets, these and the endcaps are painted with shell gold. Hahnemühle Ingres endpapers with Roma flexi flyleaves and pastedowns. Rolled leather endbands. Hand titled in 22 kt gold foil. Bound 2025.
8 3/16 x 5 x 7/8”
20.7 x 12.7 x 2.3 cm
The book, missing the original cover, which was scanned and printed from a similar edition, was a garage sale find, a gift from a colleague. A 1923 edition of the missing map was located online, printed on handmade Akbar paper, and sewn in on a guard. Map courtesy of the University of British Columbia Library Digitization Centre and its generous donors. <http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0343188>
Private workshop INVITATION ONLY
March 26-30, 2026 | Five all-day, in-person sessions.
9:30 am-5:30 pm instruction, with open studio until 7:30 pm
Pare leather for and cover the two book blocks made in the fall 2025 Binding Fundamentals workshop
A partial list of required tools: Scharfix, spokeshave, paring knife + strop.
Workshop fee includes includes goatskin for covering, and materials for drawsheets and compensation cards.
This workshop requires a paring knife, spokeshave, and a Scharfix or Brockman paring machine.
This is an in-person workshop. Details on travel, lodging, and working in the studio in FAQs
Registration available through San Francisco Center for the Book
The German three-piece Bradel Binding has an elegant, streamlined look. Unlike the Simplified Binding, the spine is both rounded and backed, and the boards are not shaped at the spine. Our workshop model will feature a spine of thinned leather over a stiffened paper “bonnet,” rolled leather endbands, and boards that are attached to the text block after being covered with decorative paper.
In this workshop students will reinforce their forwarding skills including constructing appropriate endsheets for both attractiveness and secure board attachment, rounding, backing, lining the spine for support vs. aesthetics, paring leather, and how to finesse joins between different materials and layers into invisibility.