Michael Burke

Patron

Presentation Topic: Historical Pastepapers

The Moravian sisters of Herrnhut in Saxony invented quite unique decorated papers in the eighteenth century. They later brought them to England, to their community at Fulneck in Yorkshire. Many of their historical papers survive today in archives held at the Lancashire Records Office, where account books for example, are covered with their papers. Michael will give a brief talk about the history and patterns of the papers, before demonstrating how to make traditional pastepapers using natural pigments, cooked paste, handmade paper and a few simple tools.

Presenter Profile

Michael Burke lives in the Lake District, England. He teaches bookbinding there and at events across the United Kingdom. He is a past chair of the North West and North Wales region of Society of Bookbinders. He has taught for diverse book arts groups in the USA, including Los Angeles, Seattle and Salt Lake City. In recent years he has taught at the Paper and Book Intensive, travelled to São Paulo to teach for the Brazilian group ABER, and in 2011 presented Byzantine binding at the Seminar of the Guild of Bookworkers. Michael researches the structures of ancient and medieval bindings. He holds a Masters degree in the History of the Book from the University of London.

Dominic Riley

Patron

Presentation Topic: Guarding Signatures for Resewing

Sometimes a book can be resewn without having to treat the folds of the signatures.

Often, however, the outer folds of the signatures are broken or weakened, and must be strengthened before resewing.

Dominic will show the various steps involved in this process. He will begin by demonstrating how to make an ingenious jig, the Guard-O-Matic, which was developed at the Library of Congress in the 1980s. Made from readily available materials — Plexiglas, Mylar and polyester fabric — it is essentially a non-stick hinge that helps wrap pasted strips of repair paper around a signature.

Dominic will then talk about Japanese paper — how it is made, a brief history of its use in conservation, where to source it, and how to select the right one for the repair. Then he will show how to score, wet and tear the strips used to repair the signatures. He will talk briefly about the preparation of paste, before demonstrating how to paste out the strips and attach them to signatures using the Guard-o-Matic.

Finally, Dominic will explain how to dry the signatures, trim excess repair paper and press them before resewing.

Glenn Malkin

Presentation Topic:  Adapted K118 Binding

Glenn has built upon previous book structures and binding methods to champion the Adapted K118 binding. He proposes to demonstrate each step of this binding approach with examples in this practical session.  The Adapted K118 book structure is ideal for thinner books or where it is not possible or appropriate to back the book before binding. The key element is the board attachment which is achieved through alternating cloth tabs in conjunction with gently shaped boards. The end result is a smooth rounded leather spine and boards that open freely. The original K118 style was discovered on a late 15th century book from Nuremberg during a survey of European binding styles. It used split vellum tabs as well as cords to attach wooden boards. Glenn's adapted and simplified version is suitable for all binders and requires no specialist equipment. It is one of my favourite styles which I have used for design bindings as well as more routine bindings. 

Presenter Profile

Glenn Malkin established Signature Bindings in 2008. Based in his bindery on the East Yorkshire coast in the UK, Glenn repairs and re-binds books, albums and Bibles, makes new contemporary or traditional style bindings as well as bespoke boxes and slipcases and special commissions. 

In addition, Glenn creates design bindings - unique and collectable bindings which sit on the cusp between art and books – and has won numerous awards in national and international competitions. He was elected a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2022.

Glenn teaches one-to-one tuition as well as group workshops and is a frequent tutor and presenter for Society of Bookbinders and Designer Bookbinders events.

Glenn's work is in collections in the UK and Europe as well as the USA, the Middle East and Australia.

More about Glenn