Introduction to Bookbinding & Custom Cases: A Project Approach for Learning Traditional Methods

A hands-on guide for learning the foundations of bookbinding and details about the materials, tools, and supplies involved. 

The high quality of traditional bookbinding is renowned, and while apprenticeships are difficult to come by today, this step-by-step guide by expert hand-binders is the next best thing. Teaching you valuable beginner-through-intermediate level skills, and using their trademark hands-on approach, authors and bookbinding instructors Tom and Cindy Hollander explain the basics of the craft, then guide you through five projects.

Detailed instructions and photos help you to success. You’ll master the pamphlet book style, the flat-back book, the round-back book, and the construction of slipcases and clamshell boxes for decorative book protection. Along with formulas to help you navigate making your own custom-size books, an extensive glossary of bookbinding terms and a list of resources offer ongoing support. A gallery of the authors’ handmade books and boxes provides inspiration.

Tom Hollander and Cindy Hollander are the owners of Hollander’s School of Book & Paper Arts in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They have taught book arts and supplied high-quality bookbinding supplies for more than twenty-five years.