A Short History of America’s Oldest Private Press
The Private Press movement suffered a sharp decline during the 1930s, with many presses closing down due to Depression-era costs. A few, however, managed to keep going. One of those intrepid presses was the Trovillion Private Press at the sign of the Silver Horse, which at one point was the
A Day at the London International Antiquarian Book Fair : Starting a Book Collection on a Budget
A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to be able to attend the London International Antiquarian Book Fair. My friend and fellow library student (Jill, for future reference) managed to secure tickets through her workplace. She and I are both rare books people, and I think it is
From the Librarian’s Desk | All the King’s Horses
Quite a lot of my work day at the moment is consumed with planning and big picture issues regarding setting up the library collections and safeguarding it for the future. One part of that is the cataloging of the library collections. There are two types of library cataloging: copy and
Cleaning and Cataloguing the Pen Ruling Machine
This past Friday was Chronicle Books’ annual volunteer day. While the majority of the company spent the day helping out at the San Francisco Zoo, my two stellar colleagues Neil and Ben joined me here at the Museum to assist archivist Jae Mauthe and Founder Tim James in cleaning, cataloguing
Patron Saints of Bookbinding
Bookbinding is not for the timid of hand or heart. courtesy of Dan Goldberg Risk of stab by needle, loss of fingers by guillotine: these are the few perils that bookbinders face every day in their field of work. There is even one recorded case of death by beating books. courtesy of
Saturday’s Bookbinding Tutorial
This past saturday we held our first bookbinding tutorial here at the museum. 4 of our volunteers came out and learned how to do a simple pamphlet stitch as well as the more complex sewing over tapes with a french fold, then casing into a hard cover. Since one of
Construction Update: An interview with our Executive Director, Stacey Smith
We are so excited about the new space for the museum! Many of you might have been wondering about the progress at 856 Folsom Street. Here are some photos of the space as it is right now: View of the current front window from the second Floor
Ephemera of the Month: An Introduction to Bookbinders’ Tickets
Few things as brazenly flout their etymological origins as the idea of collected ‘ephemera.’ In Greek, ephemera lasts only a day, and the word was often specifically used in reference to short-lived creatures, like mayflies. Printed ephemera, too, was meant to be transient–one-off or single-use items that were expected to
The American Bookbinders Museum: A Brief History of the Museum, Library, and Archive
Founder Tim James has been collecting bookbinding material for twenty years, but the initial hunt wasn’t always for a museum. He began the collection with the thought that upon retiring he could move up to the Gold Country, open a 19th century bookbindery, and become the town curmudgeon. Fortunately for