The Bookbinding Competition 2015

The set book for the Competition in 2015 is Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. The Folio edition is 234 x 156mm, 304 pages, including 10 full-page colour illustrations by Jonathan Burton.

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength

George Orwell's masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four, is perhaps the most pervasively influential book of the twentieth century, making famous Big Brother, newspeak, doublespeak and Room 101. Winston Smith, drudge editor of historical records for the Ministry of Truth, writes a diary, and in that act lies his catastrophic rebellion. In many ways a grown-up Brave New World, Nineteen Eighty-Four was published in 1949 on the eve of the Cold War, and feels unbearably prescient in its portrayal of totalitarian systems of power.

To obtain a copy of the 2015 set book and entry details, send your cheque for £20 (to DB members) and £25 for non-members to include packing, postage and entrance fee. Cheques should be made payable to Designer Bookbinders and sent to Lester Bath, 25 Ffordd Ffrydlas, Bethesda, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 3BL. Each entrant must bind the set book and we welcome open choice books and artist's books.

The annual Bookbinding Competition is sponsored by Designer Bookbinders and The Folio Society and is open to anyone resident in the UK except Fellows of Designer Bookbinders. Charity Registration No. 282018.

*The Society of Bookbinders Education & Training Conference 2015, Keele University, Staffordshire
20th-23rd August 2015

There will be lectures and demonstrations on: gold tooling; book arts; paper marbling; techniques; boxes and much more.

Keele University is in Staffordshire, in central England, just twenty minutes' drive from junctions 15 & 16 of the M6 motorway. There are direct rail links to Stoke-on-Trent from London, Manchester and Birmingham with a direct bus link to the campus.

Programme

Thursday Afternoon - please note that at this stage these are provisional and we cannot guarantee arrangements until nearer the time. However, we are planning to offer the following:

- A tour of historic Keele Hall. This lasts about an hour and will take place twice during the afternoon.
- A visit to a display in the University Library, which holds some rare and interesting books; items include De Fidei Sacramento by Hugh St Victor, a vellum-bound 13th century manuscript, and three volumes of finishing designs by G T Bagguley, a binder from Newcastle-under-Lyme.
- A coach trip to the William Salt Library in Stafford where we hope that Richard Nichols, who was a speaker at our last Conference, will be able to show us round. (However, please note that a major reorganisation of the Staffordshire records is about to take place, and this may not be possible.)
- Showing of a DVD.
- Demonstrations of techniques.

For those who would like to make their own arrangements, there is a regular bus service from the campus to the centre of Stoke-on-Trent. The Museum (free entry) holds interesting collections of costumes and textiles, jade and ivory, a good collection of fine art and prints, and the best collection of Staffordshire ceramics in the world. The Museum also holds part of the Staffordshire Hoard, a find of beautiful Anglo-Saxon gold inlaid artefacts whose workmanship disproves the common belief that pre-Norman times were the Dark Ages, and a Spitfire aircraft.

Many of the historic potteries - Wedgwood, Moorcroft, Spode - are in or near the city centre and are open to visitors; some allow hands-on experience of the manufacturing process for a small charge. Brochures will be available at reception. There is more information at www.visitstoke.co.uk

Thursday Evening - The Society's Annual General Meeting will take place at 6.00 pm on the Thursday. This will be followed immediately by the International Competition awards at approximately 7.00 pm and drinks and dinner will be from 7.30 onwards.

Friday / Saturday - Lectures and demonstrations will take place on the Friday and Saturday, and will all last one and a quarter hours. Morning sessions will be from 9.15-10.30 am and from 11.15 am to 12.30 pm; the afternoon sessions 2.00-3.15 pm and 4.00-5.15 pm. There will be three lectures / demonstrations taking place at any one time except on the Friday evening when there will be one lecture at 8.30pm.

Accommodation will be in one of the halls of residence a few minutes' walk from the Chancellor's Building. All rooms are single occupancy with en suite bathrooms, tea and coffee-making facilities, telephone and free internet access.

For the less mobile there are some rooms with full disabled access and suitable bathrooms; if you would like one of these please request it on the application form. For anyone who finds the walk to the Chancellor's Building too far we hope to be able to run a shuttle bus from the accommodation to the Chancellor's Building at busy times. However, there is car parking by the accommodation so it will be possible to drive there and back.

Further details, pricing and booking information are available from
www.societyofbookbinders.com/events/conference/index.html

*The Guild of Book Workers - Standards of Excellence Seminar in Hand Bookbinding 2015
14th-17th October 2015, Cleveland, Ohio

Held annually at a different location around the country, participants attend presentations by leading experts in the fields related to the book and paper arts. Tours of binderies, conservation facilities, rare book libraries and papermaking establishments are regularly arranged in conjunction with the event.

Presentations and Presenters - To be Announced

A supplier's trade fair will also be held throughout this event.

Further details and booking information are available from the Guild of Book Workers web site at www.guildofbookworkers.org

J. Hewit & Sons will have a stand at the event(s) marked '*'. If you would like us to bring specific items for you to purchase, please let us know at least 4 weeks in advance of the event.