The Melbourne Royal.
The bookbinding competition at the Royal has been judged. I am looking forward to seeing the entries and the results. I will be at the Show 22nd and 28th, doing an Inspirational presentation ( least I hope it will be). I will be presenting 4 sessions each of those days, talking about books and bookbinding, promoting the Guild and our new home. The main topic will be "Upcycling the wonderful materials of Encyclopaedia along with an introduction to different binding styles. Hopefully I will be able to interest a few more people to come and try their hand at making and repairing books. Don't hesitate to come over and see me there and say hello. These pics is of a smashed catalogue on chooks, rebound into a hardback full leather, that I just finished. Jim Finger President.
Program for the Rest of 2022.
With the new home and bindery settling in well, but with much yet to do, the Committee are planning a variety of opportunities for the use of the facility. We are pleased that a number of tutors have come forward to be involved in the program. We will release details as soon as they are finalized. However our present schedule is shown below. The booking platform should be open very soon to help manage the use.
Open Bindery afternoons
Held second and fourth Tuesdays from 2pm to 5pm, Open Bindery afternoons are a wonderful chance to bring your own project, discuss options on what to do next and use the Guild’s equipment. As you get familiar with the facilities you may choose to practice blind tooling, get tips on how to use your paring knife, or try to replicate the stab bindings from the Edward Thomas collection. Cost to attend $30 non members, $20.00 members) per afternoon. The extension of the open bindery will depend on demand. At present open bindery and classes will be limited to 6 people and to allow us to plan for monitors and access, please book using the app below.
Evening meetings
Held fourth Tuesdays at 7pm. Visitors are welcome.
Courses
These are usually held on Saturdays and those planned for 2022 include beginning binding and Library Binding. However weekday classes may be held according to demand. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to inform us of your wish list of class topics and preferred days and times.
Location St Faith’s Church, 4 Charles Street, Glen Iris.
Further information https://www.vbg.net.au/courses or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Materials Supply
Bookbinding Victoria will be providing a service in materials supply for those who attend the meetings, open bindery functions, and workshops.
Over time we receive donations of surplus materials and equipment, and we purchase supplies to assist in access to those specialist materials. This provides two things. Firstly one stop location for materials which many not be easy to assess in small quantities, and a recycle location for tools and equipment to assist in start up and development of bookbinding. Secondly a source if income for Bookbinders Victoria to support the rent and costs of running the services.
We are not a business in the formal sense and we rely on the input of time from the members, and funds from the sale of goods and services.
Dates
Tuesday 13 September, 2pm to 5pm Open bindery
Tuesday 27 September 2pm to 5pm Open bindery 7pm Meeting – Books on bookbinding
What’s a good book on bookbinding? Good question. What are you interesting in learning about? Join in the discussion on useful books, method discussed and enjoy browsing the VBG library collection.
Tuesday 11 October 2pm to 5pm Open bindery
Tuesday 25 October 2pm to 5pm Open bindery 7pm Meeting – Exploring bookbinding tools
Demonstration of and tryout of the tools in the VBG collection. A hands on with all material supplied.
Tuesday 8 November 2pm to 5pm Open bindery
Tuesday 22 November 2pm to 5pm Open bindery 7pm Meeting – John Willis Binding Challenge and end of year gathering
And something from the President's bench.
A repair, rebind, recover a smashed book. Not particularly rare, but great book for the complexity of the work.
Lots of careful removal of rusty staples, Japanese tissue repairs, restitching, square back and full leather cover.
Regards Jim.
