Bookbinding for Beginners and Improvers - 30/05/2023

Covering both restoration of existing books and the creation of new bindings, this course is equally suitable for beginners and those with previous experience, since tuition is given according to individual needs.

The course emphasises the traditional skills and techniques of hand binding and helps you develop a deeper insight into this rewarding craft. Of all man’s enduring artefacts the bound book is surely one of the most enlightening, useful and pleasing. Its present accepted form and structure results from 2,000 years of evolution, which has imposed craft disciplines unknown to the reader but a source of fascination to the enquiring booklover.
This workshop will introduce you to the foundations of good hand binding and repair, dwelling on the important ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’. Although essentially a practical course, the exploration of underlying objectives in fine work will be covered in our discussions.

Tutor: Mark Cockram

Mark Cockram is a full time bookbinder with over 40 years experience working with the book. Mark was elected Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2001, Brother of the Art Workers Guild in 2008 and more recently, in 2017, was the Faculty Fellow for the New York Centre for Book Arts. Marks diverse work can be found in National and International collections, both public and private around the world. He has recently been made a Special Research Fellow for the University of Shanghai Science and Technology College of Communication and Art Design.