DVC-GBW Fall 2013 Newsletter

7/29/2019 DVC-GBW Fall 2013 Newsletter

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Fall 2013

The Publication of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers

Pressing Matter

Message froM THe presidenT

Collaboration abounds!

H

ello DVC Members - I hope that many of you had a chance to see theABC Collaborative books on exhibit at the Free Library of Philadelphiathis summer. I was so happy with how the exhibit came out! e thing

I like about it best is that it can be enjoyed by people all ages and from all back-grounds. After all, who cant relate to the alphabet at some level? If you haventmade it there yet, the exhibit will be up until September 20th. Many thanks toKaren Lightener for making ithappen! In other exciting newsabout the ABC Collaborative,it will be the cover story for thenext GBW newsletter. Jon Sny-der designed the cover art and Iwrote an article about our col-laborative book projects. Watch

for that newsletter to arrive inthe mail in October.

Secondary Colors will beon display at the Library atthe Philadelphia Museum ofArt October 1, 2013 Febru-ary 2, 2014. We will have agathering at the Museum onOctober 19 at 10:30 am. Thiswill be a joint program with Philadelphia Center for the Book. Evan Towle,

librarian at the PMA, will also show us some books from their collection.Mark your calendars!We are hoping to start another collaborative book project next year. We

will have a call for ideas and then a vote. So, start thinking about a goodidea for a collaborative book. One thing to keep in mind: the past two proj-ects had 26 and 28 people who participated.

Lots of fun things coming up this fall! Read this newsletter thoroughlyfor announcements of workshops and exhibition opportunities.

Jennifer RosnerChapter Chair

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Six Questionsp 2-3

Jim Croft Workshopp 4

Book Highlights fromthe Webp 5

ExhibitionOpportunityp 13

UpcomingWorkshopsp 13

A Week in TheNetherlands andBelgiump 6-12

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ac autSecretary, Treasurer,Exhibitions

d CbPrograms Co-chair

J sNewsletter

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Page 2 Delaware Valley Guild of Bookworkers pressing MaTTers Fall 2013

1How long have you been a member of the GBW?Dont know. Ive been a member on and o for over a decade.2Where are you from originally?Even after 20 years in Philadelphia Im still from Minneapolis.

3When did you realize you wanted to learn bookbinding?When I worked at a letterpress studio in Minneapolis and realized that bookarts can combine myriad interests.

4

What is your favorite book structure these days?Simple 2, 3, 5 etc. pamphlet variations. Ive had it with leather.

5What are you working on right now?A book with Susan Weinz (a grad from e University of the Arts) and abroadside with Rosae Reeder (a classmate of mine, also from e University of theArts).

6Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us.I have worked as a neon sign bender (were called benders in the trade), I havea collection of over 75 Kurt Weill CDs (Ive seen the term Weillaholics in print todescribe his fans) and I try to translate Latin poetry on public transportation so noone will talk to me (and it works well).

6 Questions - James Engelbart

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Delaware Valley Guild of Bookworkers pressing MaTTers Fall 2013 Page 3

1How long have you been a member of the GBW?Just Joined this year and I am so excited!2Where are you from originally?I am originally from New York. I grew up inWhite Plains and later moved to Ossining near Tar-rytown and Ichabod Crane.

3When did you realize you wanted to learn bookbind-ing?I have always been interested in making things. My

Undergraduate Degree is in Traditional Printmaking,Lithography and Etching. By the time I graduatedI had made many editions of prints and had quite a

collection but I felt my work was missing something.I was trying to gure out what that was when I cameto the University ofthe Arts for openhouse, while lookingfor Graduate Schools.I met Mary Phelanand we had the mostamazing, life changingconversation for me.

(not so sure that Marywould think it was solife changing but itwas) It was during thatconversation that Irealized what my workwas missing. From thatmoment on, I was on abookbinding mission!

4

What is your favoritebook structure these

days?is is a hard one.

I have always saidthat my favorite bookstructure is the Copticbinding, however, the Secret Belgian and then the Ex-pandable Album - combination Pamphlet and Accor-dion are a close second and third. Honestly, any bookstructure that I am making at a particular time seemsto be my favorite one!

5What are you working on right now?I am working on a Broadside with James En-gelbart and nalizing a book about Gorree' Island inSenegal West Africa.

6Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us.I used to do Archeological Illustration. For twosummers, I lived in Greece for 6 weeks and drewartifacts from an Early Minoan Habitation site calledChrysokamino. I am able to take a pottery sherd(broken glass is a shard, broken pottery is a sherd) andcreate the vessel that the sherd came from in a draw-ing. I loved every minute of it, it was amazing! AND,

I can order an entire meal and ask for the check all inGreek because of it!

6 Questions - Rosae Reeder

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Longstitch

Iwas lucky enough to have the opportunity to participate in Jim Croft s long-stitch binding workshop, held at the University of the Arts. Jim had preparedthe covers for the course in advancea cloth spine piece glued to two beauti-

ful wooden boards, 100% made from scratch, of coursewhile the participantsbrought in their own text blocks. Jim explained the whole process of creating thecover piece for the book, we were even able to try to split the wooden boards our-selves. But the majority of the workshop was dedicated to the long stitch sewing,and instruction on how to sculpt the exible, rounded spine of this structure. ecourse was a wonderful experience, and I very much enjoyed learning this bind-ing. I was even able to shop for a fantastic new bone folder too!

Kara Devine

Bone tools

This past spring, I had a wonderful opportu-nity to take Jim Crofts bone tool-makingworkshop through the Delaware Valley Chapterof the Guild of Book Workers. In addition tomeeting Jim (a treat in itself) and hearing abouthis Old Ways book arts and toolmaking work-shops at his home in Idaho, we spent the daylearning how to pick the best, most appropriatebones to make the various tools bookbindersreach for at their benches. Jim, in his jovial andrelaxed way, showed us how to use axes to hew

and shape the bones and really utilize their natu-ral contours and ridges to create unique, useful,and beautiful tools. After the bones were hewn,we smoothed them with metal les and ne gritsandpaper. is painstaking task is only com-pleted when all of the tool surfaces are perfectedand polished. e hands-on, tactile quality of thisworkshop was a happy break from stressful thesiswork and now Im the proud owner of the big-gest, baddest bone folder you ever did see.

Katherine Pulido

Jim Croft workshop

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The Page Illuminates: Book Highlightsfrom the Internet

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This adventure through the inter-tubes brings us to e Devils Tale:Dispatches from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & ManuscriptLibrary at Duke University. is blog highlights gems from the RBMLand discusses the challenges many special collections face including movesand large scale digitization projects. Some of the posts have shared newacquisitions, items of historical relevance, holidays past, and recipes.

e great thing about university collection blogs is the accessibility toitems that one might no be able to get to experience in person, or eventhink to ask to see.

Some of my favorite posts are the Mad Men Mondays where the cura-tors nd vintage advertisements that had been discussed on the Mad Menepisode the day before.

You can visit the Rebenstein blog over at http://blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein/
http://blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein/http://blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein/http://blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein/http://blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein/


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The Netherlands is located in a region ofthe world that has so many wonderful

museums, historical collections, archi-tecture and other fascinating venues. Creatingan itinerary for one week was both a wonderfultask, and a dicult challenge. What to includeand what to exclude, balancing that one of us (mypartner, Don) had been once, briey, and one ofus (Nancy) had been there three times, the rsttime being a semester long stay in Amsterdam,while in college. What I worked to plan was aweek balanced with ne art, history, old booksand printing history pursuits, a concert or two,

international cuisine and lots of walking. issummary was written in response to the requestof our Chapters President and others; I appreci-ate their interest!

Amsterdam

We decided to make Amsterdam our homebase for the duration, and taking day trips by train(and by bus, in one instance) to travel through theregion. We stayed in a quiet but central locationon the Singel Canal where we could access many

places in Amsterdam and also walk to the trainstation for day trips.

It was a happy surprise (!) to nd, upon arrival,that we were in the heart of a rare and used bookand print shop neighborhood (near Spui, pro-nounced spou as in spout.) In addition to the shops, there is a book fair everyFriday with booksellers from many regions in the Netherlands. We werent on ashopping trip, but it was certainly nice to peruse the oerings.

Many of the local shops were in 17th and 18th century buildings, but there

One Week in The Netherlands andBelgium; a Taste of Half a Millennium

By Nancy H. Nitzberg

Photos by the author

dt m fH tt Mt Vht, 1639.

Continued on next page


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was no lack of modern technology. Upon responding to questions regardingwhat we were looking for, and usually responding with books on books, wewere shown the shelves that had multi-lingual selections on the subject. Whileperusing, we were handed a freshly printed inventory of what was also avail-able at the shops warehouse. My purchased souvenir was an imprint in a printedpaper wrapper by an early 20th century publisher on laid paper of Michelangelospoetry translated into Dutch. A souvenir of beautiful Netherlands printing andpaper conveying a subject related to my art history studies, for the equivalent of$3 (USD). I was told that the publication was very unusual for the publisher whootherwise specialized in theological text books.

At another bookshop, we found a meaningful souvenir on the subject of papermaking in a bin of posters: A 19th century lithograph by a Netherlands printerillustrating the paper making process during the early machine era. We weretold that the publisher provided images of various subjects for use in schools.is explained why the lithograph wasmounted on a sti board that had grom-

mets through the upper edge and a cordfrom which it could be hung on a wall.e price was modest, this time becausethe print had water damage from a oodin the warehouse. e lithograph waspartially detached and had tidelines; theboard was warped. at was not a deter-rent; the condition of the lithograph hassince been improved.

Haarlem

e inspiration for a day trip to Haar-lem was to see Dirck de Brays originalillustrated 1658 manuscript (A Short In-struction on Bookbinding), housed at theNoord Hollands Archief. is historicalresearch center is located in a former 14thcentury church with a modern wing that houses a state-of-the-art research cen-ter. e exhibition space is in the former nave of the former small church. I madean appointment to see the manuscript in advance, and it was a great thrill to beable to look at the original, located here because the author was from Haarlem.

e contents of this parchment bound manuscript has been most recently re-

printed in 2012, and was the theme of an exhibition at the Noord Hollands Ar-chief in December of 2012, sponsored by the Stichting Handboekbinden (Soci-ety of Hand Bookbinders). As part of the exhibition, a 17th century bookbinderywas re-recreated, based on Dirck de Brays bookbinding manual. Bookbindingdemonstrations were among the events scheduled to bring to life this tiny, butexquisite, little instructional book.

e entire text of the recent reprint is available on a pdf which provides a won-derful opportunity to peruse this 1658 bound and illustrated manuscript: http://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray_les/De%20Bray%20spreads%20lowres.pdf

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http://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray_files/De%20Bray%20spreads%20lowres.pdfhttp://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray_files/De%20Bray%20spreads%20lowres.pdfhttp://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray_files/De%20Bray%20spreads%20lowres.pdfhttp://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray_files/De%20Bray%20spreads%20lowres.pdfhttp://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray_files/De%20Bray%20spreads%20lowres.pdfhttp://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray_files/De%20Bray%20spreads%20lowres.pdf


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(Copies, in sheets, are still available!:http://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray.htmlWith only a few hours left, there were three places we would have like to go:

e Frans Hals Museum, the Corrie ten Boom Museum (a historic site where adevout Christian family hid Jews during the Nazi occupation), and the TeylersMuseum, with important collections of ne art, natural history, and science. Itwas not an easy decision. We opted for the Teylers Museum and upon arrivalunderstood why it was considered such a treasure.

e Teylers museum was established in 1778 and was opened in 1784 adjacentto the residence of the founder, Pieter Teyler. http://www.teylersmuseum.eu/index.php?lang=en It is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. e original por-tion of the museum provides a beautiful historical setting for its rare and variedcollections. e mineral collections are remarkable, and even the mosaic oors areelegant and worthy of notice. ere were exhibition cases outside of the libraryand the current exhibition consisted of illustrated books from the collection, withrepresentations of printed methods through the centuries.

We had originally planned to take this trip in December and spend half theweek in Haarlem. at would not have been a bad decision, although spendinghalf a week in any city in this country would be a wonderful experience for those

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http://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray.htmlhttp://www.teylersmuseum.eu/index.php?lang=enhttp://www.teylersmuseum.eu/index.php?lang=enhttp://www.teylersmuseum.eu/index.php?lang=enhttp://www.teylersmuseum.eu/index.php?lang=enhttp://www.ganzenweide.nl/Home/De_Bray.html


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with an interest in books and history, in myhumble opinion.

Back to Amsterdam

Te Portuguese Synagogue, via RickshawWe took the train back to Amsterdam

but despite our fast walking pace, we werelikely going to miss a portion of a concert bythe Israeli Brass Quintet at the PortugueseSynagogue. e synagogue was built in the17th century by a community of PortugueseJews who were descended by those who edthe Iberian Peninsula during the Inquisition.Amsterdam was a location that was hospi-table to this refugee population. We splurgedon a bicycle driven rickshaw, a vehicle greatfor navigating the narrow streets and alleys ofhistoric Amsterdam, although we felt awkwardat being conveyed by a vehicle that put the driver in an especially subservientrole. However, the energetic young man who had presented us with this optionof transportation (after cheerfully asking us if we needed directions) got us toour destination on time and was quite happy to have had the job. Attending theconcert was a rare opportunity to both hear this wonderful brass quintet performlive, with an international repertoire of Jewish music through the centuries, butalso to experience this historic synagogue asdusk, lit by candles, with the setting sun lter-ing through the windows. (e unexpected

rickshaw ride was also memorable.) Uponleaving the synagogue, the on site library wasvisible through a glass door. A beautiful sight.

Antwerp

Te Plantin-Moretus Museume Plantin-Moretus Museum was incen-

tive enough to travel to Antwerp for the day. Aprinting house, established in the early 1500s,is now a renowned historic site. e City ofAntwerp became the owner in 1876.

Upon entering the printing room, one seestwo historic presses on a raised area of theoor, as though on an altar. e sign says theyare the two oldest know printing presses inexistence. Wonderful daylight falls into theroom along a windowed wall where presses are aligned as though waiting for theday to begin. On the other side of the room is the compositors area, with drawersof type and counters on which the type was set.

Further back in the same large, well-light room is an exhibition case, withexamples of moveable music type, Hebrew type, to name a few, that were used

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at this location. Acabinet in the nextroom containedtype that was neverused, some of itwrapped in printerswaste! ese sheetswould be verybibliographicallyinteresting now. eproofreaders roomhad a table andbenches, built into aniche by a window.In the center of theroom was an exhi-

bition case with anearly printed sheetmarked with sym-bols that designatedthe many correc-tions needed. emarks were made inred ink. e sameediting symbolsused then are stillin use today.

In another areaof the museum,the familys residence is preserved. Included in this area is the family library, abreathtaking sight. A list of books would certainly make for a fascinating study.Another room had an exhibition of bookbinding history, from the collection ofMax Rooses, who began work as the museums rst curator of the museum in1876. Further along, there was another exhibition of selected materials from themuseums collection. Among the many wonderful exhibits were original carvedwoodblocks that were displayed along with examples of their printed images.e thick blocks were very, very deeply carved (perhaps as much as 2 inches) and

achieved the very ne and precise lines that one might think were made by acopper plate engraving.One of the last rooms we saw was the historic bookstore of the printing house,

complete with a balance used to weigh payments by customers. A historic copy ofbooks banned by the Vatican was posted on the wall, but we learned that it wasnot adhered to. e cabinets included books in various bindings: Paper-covered,full leather and more, implying that books were sold, at least during a phase ofthe existence of this printing establishment with a choice of bindings (as well asin sheets). Unfortunately, no detailed information was available and I hope thatfuture reading (or visits) will answer some of these questions.

Th htc bk ht th pt-MtuMuum, atw.



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Back in Amsterdam

Te Rijksmuseume Rijksmuseum reopened in April of this year, after being renovated over

the course of 10 years. It was a very popular destination, but not unpleasantlycrowded. We indulged in seeing the 17th century Netherlands paintings, (theinspirations for my studies in art history). In addition to the humanity and sym-bolic content of many of the images, the beautiful depictions of Dutch homesand their details (carpets, books) captured the material culture of the time period.A historic paint box was displayed in the center of this large gallery. In a smallergallery adjacent to the large hall where the 17th century masterpieces weredisplayed were small exhibition cases with historic artifacts. One case containedabout 7 knit caps that were discovered during an archeological excavation. ecaps belonged to sherman who perished in a storm. e caps were knitted indierent color combinations, perhaps from scraps of yarn and textiles, all in veryne gauges. e information described how, due to the cold weather, the sher-man almost completely covered their faces and how the individuality of their hatsidentied them to each other. It was a very moving remembrance of the individ-uals to whom these hats belonged. I believe they dated from the 1500s.

Te Amsterdam MuseumAlthough generally less renowned for its collections, our visit to e Amster-

dam Museum was very worthwhile in that it conveyed the history of the cityand showed items from archeological digs to more recent objects to illustrate theinformation in a tangible way. Among the items displayed to convey information

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regarding 17th century Amsterdam was the Staatsbibel, a protestant imprint open toa very beautifully hand-colored illustration of Solomons palace. Unfortunately, therewas no information regarding the publisher and date. Another memorable display wasthat of a painting of the Regents of the Workhouse showing them examining lacemade by the inmates. (Some of the women who were imprisoned were taught to makelace, and the Regents are shown examining their work and making notes in a ledgerbook.)

Rembrandthuis (Rembrandts House) by way of the historic Booksellers Stallsat the University of Amsterdam

On our nal afternoon in Amsterdam, we went to the Rembrandthuis. We walkedeast and intentionally made our way through the University of Amsterdams campus,and saw the historic booksellers stalls of past centuries. Only two were opened at thetime, but enough to convey a sense of what it was like when a new term began.

Upon arriving at the Rembrandthuis, we experienced a feeling of awe to be in the

actual building where the artist lived and worked, from 1639 until 1658, when hewent bankrupt and was forced to move. His nancial crisis led to a detailed inven-tory of his belongings, so they could be sold to pay those to whom he owed money.While it is stunning that a productive artist, famous in his own time and since, hadsuch nancial diculties, this inventory has been provided wonderful information inregard to what Rembrandt had in this house. Rembrandts own artwork also informsus on how the house was arranged. e attic where he stored his collection of propsused in his paintings was recreated from the 1658 inventory; if one knows his artwork,he or she will recognize some of the items that have been gathered to represent theoriginal props that appeared in his paintings.

Two demonstrations were provided by multilingual employees which added much

to the appreciation of Rembrandts printing and painting methods. One sta memberdescribed the process of engraving and printed from plates, showing how the inkingamong other factors could inuence the individual qualities of each image. Anothersta member, upstairs in what had been the painting studio, described the sources ofthe pigments used by Rembrandt, and the geographic regions (southern France andTurkey, for example) where they were obtained during his time. e employee groundthe pigments and mixed them with linseed oil. She explained that turpentine wouldhave been added, but skipped that step due to the smell. Possibly health and safetyregulations were a factor, too. Visitors were given an opportunity to participate.

e building next door houses a modern exhibition space. ere is a vast display

of original matted and framed Rembrandt prints, each with scholarly descriptions.In some instances, various states of the same print are exhibited and the informationdiscussions the reasoning that may have been behind the alterations that Rembrandtmade.

As at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, it was only because the Rembrandthuis wasclosing that we could get ourselves to leave that informative and extraordinary place,with the hope of returning someday.

We arrived at Schiphol Airport the next morning, and while on a moving sidewalkwith not much time left until our departure, we saw a satellite branch of the Rijkmu-seum (complete with gift shop, of course) and the Schiphol Airport Library.

Next time.n


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Gold Tooling with Jamie Kamph

nvmb 2-3, 2013(stu su)10 m t 5 .m.Th lb Cm phh1314 lcut stt$200 dVC mmb$250 -mmbMt t t xc $30

In this gold tooling workshop Jamie Kamph will provide step-

by-step instructions in the process of gold tooling and reviewprinciples of blind tooling and designing for gold work. If timepermits, she will demonstrate some techniques for repairing andrestoring old gold tooling.

Participants should bring 4" x 6" sections of book board, cov-ered in leather appropriate for tooling (goatskin is easier to workthan calfinstructions to follow) and gold tooling implements,if you have them. We will provide gold in both book and ribbonform, nishing stoves, Fixor, and a selection of tools.

Jamie Kamph is a bookbinder/conservator who lives and worksat her farm in Lambertville, NJ. Her design bindings are inmajor public and private collections. She has taught bookbindingworkshops at Princeton University, University of Texas at Aus-

tin, Mt. Holyoke College, Anderson Ranch, and SMU. She haspublished A Collector's Guide to Bookbinding and is workingon another book, Tricks of the Trade.

Fast, Friendly, Free

WorkshopJennifer Rosner will teach how toturn the ugly composition book into abeautiful hand-bound paper-coveredjournal.

stu stmb 21, 1-4 .m.Th lb Cm phh1314 lcut stta mt v.p rsVp: [email protected]

UpcomingExhibitionOpportunity!sm W: Bk m thdw V Cht th gu Bk Wk

We are excited to announce that theClarence Ward Art Library at OberlinCollege has oered to host an exhibi-tion of miniature books by the DVCchapter March 2014. Current members

are invited to submit one miniaturebook. (Miniature books are dened inthe U.S. as no more than three inchesin height, width, or thickness.) Ad-ditionally, there will be a purchase prizeand the selected book will become partof the Clarence Ward Art Libraryscollection.

Look for an intent-to-enter form inyour email in the coming weeks.

Workshops and Exhibitions
mailto:dvcgbw%40verizon.net?subject=FFF%20workshopmailto:dvcgbw%40verizon.net?subject=FFF%20workshopmailto:dvcgbw%40verizon.net?subject=FFF%20workshop

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DVC-GBW Fall 2013 Newsletter