How to Bind a Single Quire Codex

A new downloadable tutorial in this ongoing series is now available to purchase and download.

The design and pattern for this book is based on the 'Nag Hammadi' codices. These ancient gnostic texts were discovered in Egypt in 1945 near the small village of that name.

The author has not attempted to make an historically accurate facsimile. Instead Margaret Woods has tried to create a book with the 'flavour' of the originals. Her interest lies in adopting and adapting old binding methods to make artistic and useful contemporary books.

The original books were fairly large, about 29 x 18cm (11.5 x 7ins) and would have taken a whole hide of goat or sheep to make. I decided to use about half a shoulder of vegetable tanned calf skin and make my book about a quarter of the size: around 12 x 10cm (5 x 4ins).

This tutorial is suitable for anyone with general craft skills in measuring, cutting, sewing, etc. The book is sewn with 'direct tacketing' which means you can undo the binding and replace the paper quite easily.

The tutorial is fully illustrated with printable templates, photographs and diagrams.

The instruction book may be printed for personal use - £6.90

These new E-Tutorials may be purchased from our online shop.

(subject to VAT where applicable)

Metallic Foil for Finishing

As well as the 1" - 24" rolls that have been the mainstay of our metallic blocking foil range, we are very pleased to announce that we are now stocking these popular metallic foils in 13mm (1/2") widths.

Shades: Bright Gold, Antique (Matt) Gold and Silver.

Prices for the range are:
13mm (1/2") - £1.22/roll
25mm (1") - £2.44/roll
50mm (2") - £4.88/roll
75mm (3") - £7.32/roll
100mm (4") - £9.76/roll
125mm (5") - £12.20/roll
150mm (6") - £14.64/roll

The full foil range can be viewed and purchased from our online shop.

(subject to VAT where applicable)

19th & 20th Century Decorative End Papers

Six stunning new patterns are now available in this extremely popular selection of Western European reproduction end papers, bringing the number of patterns in the range up to twenty. The sheet size is approx 70 x 50cm (short grain) and the sheets are produced on 100gsm archival quality cream Oxford paper.

TS22	TS23	TS24
TS25	TS26	TS27

Prices for the range are:
single sheets - £3.30 each
for 25 sheets - £3.00 each
for 50 sheets - £2.78 each
for 100 sheets - £2.55 each
for 500 sheets - £2.33 each

The full range of decorative papers can be viewed and purchased from our online shop.

(subject to VAT where applicable)

Stainless Steel Set-Square

 

New for us this September, a set-square that will enable you to cut straight and accurately. This Stainless Steel Set Square has perfect edges to cut against with a knife. 45º x 45º - 15cm x 21cm. Convenient grab-handle. Non-graduated.

Price: £13.60 each

This new tool may be purchased from our online shop.

(subject to VAT where applicable)

'The Society of Bookbinders Competition, 2011

The J. Hewit & Sons Award for Merit

Winner - Ann Tout (Hampshire, UK)

Book - 'The Collected Stories of Nikolai Gogol' by Nikolai Gogol

'The book is bound using goatskin and transparent vellum with painting underneath. It is bound with a French joint, hollow back and silk headbands. The tooled and dyed leather depicts a snowstorm and is designed to create a sense of movement to the painted scene that wraps around the book. The scene incorporates buildings from the illustrations to the stories.'

Bound with a French joint, hollow back and silk endbands. All edges painted with watercolours

J Hewit and Sons Awards for Craftsmanship

Binder - Dominic Riley (Cumbria, UK)

Book - 'The Wizard of Oz' by L. Frank Baum, with illustrations by Barry Moser

Binding - 'Dorothy and Toto are hidden in the forest. The poppy field on the back has giant threatening flowers. The Lion and the Wicked Witch are in their respective forests: the witch lives in her forest in the west and the lion is made king of his forest for his bravery. Their profiles lie hidden in the tree-tops.'

A full leather binding covered in goatskin with back-pared onlays. Acrylic painted edges

The J. Hewit & Sons Award for Design

Binder - Ann Tout (Fareham, Hampshire, UK)

Book - 'Sleeping Beauty' by Ann Tout

Binding - 'The book is a concertina binding consisting of two layers, the upper layer sewn at the foredge is shorter in width to give a three dimensional scene when open. The transparent vellum slipcase lets the tooled and dyed castle show through the thorns.'

Binding covered in hand-dyed goatskin with blind tooling. Pages painted with inks

Ann Tout is presented with the J. Hewit and Sons Prize for 'Design' by David Lanning,
President of the Society of Bookbinders.

Our warmest congratulations go to all the winners