East Anglia

Society of Bookbinders > Regions > East Anglia

East Anglia - Vast and Flat

The Wash to the Thames, Shoe and Leather centre to the Seaside. Wide open skies over flat fenland to busy conurbations. From high tech to pretty ‘wool’ villages, our Region draws members from seven counties. We are fortunate to include amongst them both skilled traditional book binders and clever designer book artists. Our workshops are held in the rough epicentre of the Region at Linton, just east of Cambridge, with several small groups meeting to work together at binderies all over the area. At various locations across the Region courses are on offer, which cater for both the beginner and improver led by talented teachers of all types of our craft.

Officers

Paul Garcia

Chairman

Liz Budek

Secretary

John Mellerio

Treasurer

Maureen Tovey

Meeting Secretary

Events

The East Anglia meetings base is Linton Village Hall in Coles Lane, Linton, Cambridgeshire, CB21 4JS. See individual event entries for start times. Meetings usually finish between 3:30pm and 4:00pm.

A fee is charged for those attending workshops, either as participants or observers. In addition, there is usually a charge for materials provided for workshop activities. Non-members are always welcome if places permit but the fee is higher.

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Today

Noticeboard

PDF versions of Single Fold, the East Anglian region’s newsletter are now available in the Members’ Login – see the link in the footer.

TURN THE PAGE was postponed in 2021 until further notice, but we hope things will start up again.

Although TURN THE PAGE had to be cancelled there are regular postings on the TTP Facebook page with pictures from previous years. It is hoped that TTP will return in 2022. Paul and Peter will be there to represent the Society, demonstrate aspects of bookbinding, and show a variety of handmade books. As soon as the dates are settled we will let you know.”

The photo, left, is from the Societies stall in 2020.

 

The E&T Seminar binding challenge 2020
** See a new challenge lower down the page….

Regular attendees at the Education & Training Seminars will know about the non-competitive bookbinding challenge initiated by the late John Jameson.  It is an opportunity for binders at all levels, from beginner to Designer Bookbinder Fellow, to show their work in a friendly environment.  There are no judges, no prizes, and no rules.

Until 2018, the challenge was organised by members in the Western region.   East Anglia took up the task of arranging the competition in time for the 2020 Seminar, and we decided to give it a new twist.  Traditionally, the books have been works of a literary nature: Cider with Rosie, Tarka the Otter, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Sweet Thames Run Softly (you can read a blog about this particular project at https://sweetthames.wordpress.com), and most recently, Two Points East by Judith Ellis (herself an Eastern region member).

For 2020, we chose AMUSEMENTS IN MATHEMATICS by Henry Ernest Dudeney. This is a famous and popular book of recreational mathematical puzzles, problems and curiosities.  It was first published in 1917 by Thomas Nelson, and has been reprinted many times. With the cancellation of the seminar due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, we are putting pictures, below, of completed bindings here in this online gallery. We hope we will be able to show the actual bindings at the 2021 conference.”

Pat Foster

The first ‘exhibitor’ is Pat  from the West Midlands region. Here are her words to accompany the photos:

Near us, there is a rather posh business park (Microsoft, Peat Marwick etc) and the signage is good. In particular I have always liked their numbering. So I took photos of everything and created a collage of photos which I used as the endpapers for the book and, at a slightly larger scale, printed on photographer`s canvas which I bound the book in.

Alan Fitch

1958 edition bound in Black and White Goat skin in a Double Boards style. Made endpapers, sewn endbands, graphite edges. The spine is titled using die cut letters as onlays. The boards are decorate using channeled inlays to give a sense of fun bearing in mind that with Mathematics it is either right or wrong and very precise unlike the design. Presented in a drop back box lined with velvet suede.

Paul Garcia

This is a 1921 edition of the book, rebound in silk and leather, with the title around the head, fore-edge and tail of the text block. The box contains pieces and tokens to assist with solving the puzzles.  There’s a short video and more text about the binding on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QROXniFmAaQ.

Wessex Guild A

Here is shown an entry by a binder who is known simply as Wessex Guild A.

Wessex Guild B

These images are of an entry from the binder known intriguingly as Wessex Guild B.

Toben Lewis

From the Isle of Iona, Scotland, Toben has submitted his entry for the competition.

I’ve used an origata binding structure, which felt appropriate as it’s a bit of a mathematical puzzle in itself. I pushed the math aspect further by using the golden ratio to calculate the placement and size of all the different pieces. I liked the vintage design and years of muck on the original dust cover too much to let it go, so I’ve incorporated it into the new cover here. This structure can be used as a conservation binding for the contents, but this cover is very definitely not conservation friendly as it’s been sliced and diced a far amount.

Sue Feather

I designed the book cover in Photoshop, partly using a photo from a lightshow art exhibition, on in London last autumn. I then printed it on some light bookcloth, using my home printer, adding a finish to make it more durable. I added an insert with magnetic letters (cut on a little CAD cutter) which you move around (similar to those sliding number  puzzles you used to see) which will make the word ‘ PUZZLES!’ if you slide them in the right order!!

I made the cover for the clamshell box with similar techniques. It’s the first time I have ever tried one of these, so there are a few things that were not great about it, but I was relieved that it actually shuts!

Alan Fitch

Some pictures of the War of the Worlds
I bound during the lockdown(s).

**New Challenge For Any SoB Member

You may recall the 2018 Seminar Challenge, to bind a copy of Judith Ellis’s book Two Points East; indeed you may have taken part.  Many of the entries went on a travelling exhibition to Jarrolds in Norwich and The Maltings in Wells-next-the Sea, as well as being on show at Turn the Page in 2019.
Judith has now written another book, described fully in this link, which has gone to a second printing. As a result, she has about 180 unbound copies which she is offering to SoB members for the cost of postage, and possibly a small donation to The Trussell Trust (a NGO and charity that works to end the need for food banks in the UK). It is a small book about A5 size, with four octavo sections. If sufficient members are interested, it might possible to arrange to exhibit the bound books at Jarrolds, the Maltings, and Turn the Page again, sometime in 2021.
 
If you would like to have a go at this, please contact Judith directly at judith290@btinternet.com so that she can send you a copy (or copies!)
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