The American Bookbinders Museum is pleased to present: “Bound to Be Different, Hand Bindings from Private Presses“, showcasing a range of fine bindings crafted by eleven private presses. Each press has a unique approach to the aesthetics of printing and binding. Included are books from William Morris’s Kelmscott Press, founded in 1891, to  contemporary presses.

Commercial books have a publisher (responsible for its content) and a bookmaker (responsible for its manufacture), but a private press is a publisher who is also a bookmaker. They publish limited editions in the hundreds of copies and rarely publish more than a few editions per year. In producing small, limited batches of books, great care is taken in crafting each volume.

All books in the exhibit were made entirely by hand, employing letterpress printing and hand-binding. Private presses have the freedom to publish classics or original works, and to use hand made materials and binding techniques that commercial publishers cannot replicate. As such, the books they produce are not only vessels for the conveyance of literature, they are works of art in their own right.

Come see some of the finest bindings by North American Private Presses currently in production.

January 13 to April 27

Tuesday through Saturday: 10:00am – 4:oopm

Exhibit Admission: Free

Opening Reception February 3, 4:30pm