Don’t Cross a Bookbinder – A Bookbinder’s Curse

In honor of National Poetry Month, a bookbinder’s curse in 10 stanzas. One wonders what “Particular Occasion” caused Mr. “Burnisher” to vent such spleen. Solemn Curse Pronounced by Ben Burnisher upon a Master Bookbinder upon a Particular Occasion May rats and mice devour your paste, Your paper, and your leather.

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ABM on SOMA-FM

The Bookbinders Museum is pleased to note that SOMA-FM, San Francisco’s digital radio station, will be producing podcasts of the monthly SF in SF readings hosted by the museum. Can’t make a reading? Check out the SF inSF podcast! 

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S. T. Prideaux on Design

One of the notable individuals featured in our current exhibit, “The Woman Bookbinder,” is Sarah Treverbian Prideaux (1853-1933). Born in London, S.T. Prideaux ended up as one of the most distinguished female bookbinders and binding designers of her time, even though she began at age 35. She was lucky enough to

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Stacking the Deck: A Playing Card Press

For centuries people have employed “presses” of various types to protect and preserve precious possessions. Victorian women pressed flowers given them by admirers. Linen presses and clothes presses, generally now synonymous with cupboards, originally were devices to flatten fine fabrics via a platen and large screw, not unlike printing presses.

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We are saddened by the news…

A longtime San Francisco bookstore loses its lease: Castro Books Inc. We are glad Books Inc. remains alive and thriving in other locations but they will be sorely missed by their Castro community.

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ABM Closing Early on Tuesday, March 15

The Bookbinders Museum will be closing at 3:30 on Tuesday, 3/15, for a private event. The last tour will be at 1pm. We’ll be back to our usual schedule on Wednesday, and hope to see you soon.

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Join Us for Third Thursday at the Bookbinders Museum

On March 17 between 5:30 – 8pm, the Bookbinders Museum will be open late for Third Thursday, honoring St. Patrick’s Day, Women’s History Month, and our new exhibit on Women Bookbinders. Come take a tour, cruise the bookstore, or check out a selection of material from the Museum’s collection about women

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Bookbinding and the Working Woman

One of the by-products of the Industrial Revolution was a change in the status of women working outside the home. Working from home–doing piece work in and around all the other jobs that were part of running a home, or being part of the “seasonal work force” for her husband’s business–had been

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Women in Bookbinding

Opening Today: The Woman Bookbinder looks at women in both trade and artisanal bookbinderies through the lens of material from the museum’s own collection of books and ephemera. Curated by ABM Librarian Elspeth Olson, the exhibition runs through May.

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SF in SF with Daryl Gregory and Hannu Rajaniemi

March 6, doors open at 5:30, program begins at 6pm; $10 donation at the door Please join us for SF in SF at the American Bookbinders Museum, with readings and conversation from Daryl Gregory and Hannu Rajaniemi, moderated by author Terry Bisson.

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