Workshops - School for Book Binding Arts

2020 Workshops

The School for Bookbinding Arts began in 2002 offering a bookbinding curriculum around mostly two-day classes that when taken as a whole, represented a solid foundation of bookbinding study dedicated to learning proper techniques, nomenclature, and application. From there we have expanded the scope and quantity of our school’s guest instructors into what we call bookbinding’s Kindred Arts, where the curriculum includes topics that help bring into focus all aspects of the entity that we call “book.” We like to think our classes will have something for everyone.

Download Our 2020 Class Schedule

Bookbinding Workshops

Advanced Leather Binding Restoration: The Leather Reback
April 23 – 24 (Thurs – Fri) 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295

New Cloth Binding Construction
May 14 – 15 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295

Introduction to Book Restoration
June 11 – 12 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $265
OR
July 23 – 24 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $265

OR
August 6 – 7 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $265

Book Repairs for General Library Collections
June 26 (Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $205
OR
July 17 (Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $205

Book Sewing Intensive
July 8 – 9 (Wed – Thurs) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295

Endbanding Intensive
July 10 (Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $195

Advanced Cloth Binding Restoration: The Cloth Reback
September 17 – 18 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295

Clamshell Box Making
October 8 – 9 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295

Introduction to Paper Repair
October 22 – 23 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295

Upcoming Bookbinding Workshops

Advanced Leather Binding Restoration:
The Leather Reback

April 23 – 24 (Thurs – Fri)
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

The “Leather Reback” is the professional technique that restores broken joints on leather bindings. For this repair, thinly-pared leather is placed underneath the original leather in the hinge and spine areas of the binding as a way to provide reinforcement. Prepare to challenge your mind and hands in this class that is at once demanding and exhilarating—or there is nothing quite like a beautifully restored leather-bound tome. Prerequisite: SBBA’s Introduction to Book Restoration.

Instructors: Jill Deiss and Anna Barnes

New Cloth Binding Construction

May 14 – 15 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

Crafting new covers is an essential component of hand bookbinding. In this class you will make a rounded-spine cloth hardcover binding plus learn to set type and gold-stamp your own titling layout for the spine of your book. Students will be taught two additional book structures: the flat-spine hardcover and the flexible cover. Emphasis will be placed on introducing the necessary bookbinding tools and their appropriate use. No prerequisite.

Instructors: Jill Deiss, Anna Barnes, and Reilly Cundiff

Jill Deiss established Cat Tail Run Hand Bookbinding, host of the School for Bookbinding Arts, in 1991. She studied bookbinding and restoration first in Northampton, Massachusetts, then at Cornell University’s Department of Library Conservation and in the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation Laboratories. She holds a B.S. in chemistry and received a Master of Library Science degree from Syracuse University, where she specialized in the study of archives and rare book collections.
Anna Barnes is a Cat Tail Run bookbinder who restores the covers of leather- and cloth-bound books while employing her particular talent for color matching and in-painting. Her undergraduate studies in studio art well prepared her for work in the bookbinding field, and has studied edge gilding with Peter Geraty of Praxis Bindery in Easthampton, Massachusetts, papermaking with Jacques Brejoux of Moulin du Verger in Puymoyen, France, and medieval pigment preparation with Cheryl Porter of Montefiascone Conservation Project in Montefiascone, Italy. She thrives in the solitude that bookbinding affords and is especially fond of misquoting literature.
Reilly Cundiff is one of the Cat Tail Run bookbinders who applies her talents to typesetting, paper repair, clamshell box making, and creating new bindings. She studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Mary Washington and went on to get her MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University. For five years prior to joining Cat Tail Run, Reilly managed a used and antiquarian bookstore in Fredericksburg, Virginia, during which time she regularly took workshops at The School for Bookbinding Arts (and, when the day’s work was done, ate fantastic Indian food in downtown Winchester).

Introduction to Book Restoration

June 11 – 12 (Thurs – Fri) $265
OR
July 23 – 24 (Thurs – Fri) $265
OR
August 6 – 7 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $265

Shabby books need not be relegated to the dustbin! In this class, learn to repair damaged corners and tattered endcaps and to stabilize splitting joints on both cloth and leather books. The toning-in of your repair work will be taught by our in-house color expert, Anna Barnes, who has extensive training and experience in the art of color matching. Anna is a master of reducing the effect of stains and discoloration on a book’s cover, and she is also very experienced in the polishing of leather bindings. Students will benefit from the breadth of her lesson on these topics. The class also includes tutorials on how to reattach texts that have come loose from otherwise sound covers. This course is designed for those who are interested in learning how to refurbish antiquarian books and for anyone who wants to move on to our more challenging Advanced Restoration courses. For book dealers in particular, this class introduces many simple techniques that they or their staff can easily perform on ailing books, greatly increasing the shelf presence of treated volumes. No prerequisite.

Instructors: Jill Deiss, Anna Barnes, and Reilly Cundiff

Book Repairs for General Library Collections

June 26 (Fri) . 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $205
OR
July 17th (Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $205

Librarians take pride in the care they have traditionally offered the books within their libraries. This workshop is intended for librarians and library staff although is open to all interested students. The course will allow you to expand your expertise in the area of library book repair, teaching you to mend damaged joints and spines and to repair texts that have become loose or detached at the inner hinges. Tips for repairing damaged pages will also be included. The emphasis on these refurbishing techniques is structural so that the repaired books can hold their own while receiving heavy use. Even so, these practical and economical repairs are designed to deliver a neat, professional result. No prerequisite.

Instructors: Jill Deiss and Jamie Thurman

Jill Deiss established Cat Tail Run Hand Bookbinding, host of the School for Bookbinding Arts, in 1991. She studied bookbinding and restoration first in Northampton, Massachusetts, then at Cornell University’s Department of Library Conservation and in the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation Laboratories. She holds a B.S. in chemistry and received a Master of Library Science degree from Syracuse University, where she specialized in the study of archives and rare book collections.
Jamie Thurman began her studies in book repair while in Richmond, Virginia, and has expanded her repertoire in Frederick, Maryland. She has studied book repair both on her own and through courses offered by The School for Bookbinding Arts. Over five years ago, she began volunteering in her county’s middle school library, offering her services as a book refurbisher. Jamie now works in book repair in multiple libraries in her county’s school system and also teaches repair techniques to other librarians. Librarians have been pleased by how Jamie’s work has noticeably helped stretch their library book budgets, and Jamie calculates that repairing books instead of replacing them saves a library between $10 and $25 per book.

Book Sewing Intensive

July 8 – 9 (Wed – Thurs)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

Knowing how to sew pages together to make a text is essential information for bookbinders. Susan is an expert at sewing texts, and her high standards and carefully designed course will allow you to learn numerous sewing methods over the two-day course: sewing on tapes, sunken cords, raised bands, and split thongs. Students will also learn how to determine when damaged sewing can be repaired and how to make those repairs. Students will learn how to string up a sewing frame and will receive instruction on single-sheet sewing, whip-stitching, and overcasting. Prerequisite: SBBA’s Introduction to Book Restoration OR New Cloth Binding Construction.

Instructor: Susan McCabe

Susan McCabe Susan McCabe is a bookbinder at Cat Tail Run where she prepares texts for rebinding or restoration. Traditionally this position is called a “Forwarder” because the processes leading up to the point a book receives its cover are known as “forwarding.” In addition to text sewing, the working of endbanding, paper repair, and the application of various linings and hingings that books require. Susan also marbles some of the decorative papers that are used in our bookbindery.

Endbanding Intensive

July 10 (Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$195

Endbanding is at once an elegant and purpose-filled element of a bound book. These lovely accents are not mere accessories, but perform an important role in strengthening book structures for their life of use (and sometimes abuse). In this class, Susan will teach you to make a variety of styles of wrapped-core endbands and sewn (or “worked”) endbanding as well as to repair damaged endbands. The course culminates with her interactive demo on the très elegante French Double Endband (the endbanding equivalent of ice skating’s Double Lutz). Prerequisite: SBBA’s Introduction to Book Restoration OR New Cloth Binding Construction.

Instructor: Susan McCabe

Advanced Cloth Binding Restoration:
The Cloth Reback

September 17 – 18 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

This course teaches the “Cloth Reback” —the technique most often used in our bindery to restore cloth-bound volumes when the boards are detaching or have completely detached from the text. In a cloth reback, new matching material is brought in under the original in order to make the binding usable again and to improve its presentation. Being able to reback cloth-bound books smoothly and with confidence is one of the most important skills needed by a bookbinder. Prerequisite: SBBA’s Introduction to Book Restoration.

Instructors: Jill Deiss and Anna Barnes

Clamshell Box Making

October 8 – 9 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

Clamshell boxes—so named because the action of their structur resembles a sea clam opening and closing its shell—are ideal for storing books and various kinds of loose materials. We place emphasis on the use of acid-free/pH-neutral materials and on the selection of box-making tools for the home-based studio. In class you will make a clamshell box of your own and be introduced to the techniques and materials you will need to go forth and create custom boxes for holding all your treasured tomes. No prerequisite.

Instructors: Jill Deiss and Reilly Cundiff

Introduction to Paper Repair

October 22 – 23 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

Book repair work by necessity has to include repairing damaged pages, as it is difficult if not impossible to restore the cover of a book if the pages—the very foundation of the book—are tattered and torn. This course teaches non-invasive surface cleaning techniques, tear repair using wet and dry techniques, and removal of pressure-sensitive tape or how to accommodate it when it cannot be removed. No prerequisite.

Instructors: Jill Deiss and Reilly Cundiff

Kindred Arts Workshops

Pop-Up Structures
June 18 – 19 (Thurs – Fri) 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. $295

The Basics of Letterpress Printing
August 13 – 14 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295 + $25 materials

Beginning Paper Marbling
August 20 – 21 (Thurs – Fri) 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295 + $45 materials

Enhanced Paper Decoration: Paste Papers,
Under-Painting, & Stamping
August 24 – 27 (Mon – Thurs) 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. $590 + $105 materials

The Art of Miniature Bookbinding
August 28 – 29 (Fri – Sat) 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295 + $45 materials

Get Stoned: Intensive on the Stone Marbled Pattern
September 1 – 2 (Tue – Wed) 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295 + $45 materials

Calligraphy: Foundational Hand
September 24 – 25 (Thurs – Fri) 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
$295 + $30 materials

Hand Papermaking
October 1 – 2 (Thurs – Fri) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $295

Upcoming Kindred Arts Workshops

Pop-Up Structures

June 18 – 19 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

Students will learn a variety of pop-up structures—beginning with non-adhesive cut-and-fold pop-ups and progressing through a series of more complex, glued constructions. Students will receive instruction in folding and positioning techniques as well as suggestions for incorporating graphics into their pop-up designs. A slideshow of historical and artist-made pop-ups will be presented in order to provide models and departure points for the student’s own innovative new work. Students will be encouraged to explore new applications and to experiment with integrating visual content and text with their pop-ups. This is an ideal session for book artists, paper artists, art teachers, and graphic designers.

Instructor: Carol Barton

Carol Barton is a book artist, curator, and teacher who has published several editions of artists’ books and has organized both local and national shows of artists’ books. Her work is exhibited internationally and has been acquired by numerous institutions including the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She served as curator for the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibition Science and the Artist’s Book. She has taught at elementary, high school, and university levels as well as conducted adult workshops at art centers across the United States. She is on the faculty at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C., where she teaches courses in bookbinding and book structures. She has had residencies at the Bogliasco Foundation in Italy and the Sacatar Foundation in Brazil. Her pop-ups were featured in National Geographic Magazine’s July 2005 article Zip Code 20812: It’s Only A Paper Moon. Her instructional books, The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volumes 1, 2, and 3, are how-to guides on paper engineering.

The Basics of Letterpress Printing

August 13 – 14 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295 + $25 materials fee

Delve into the craft of letterpress printing and create your own hands-on projects. After learning the finer points of typography, students will practice the various stages of the printing process, including selecting paper suitable for their work and hand-setting movable type. The work will progress through using a composing stick, locking up a form, mixing and applying ink, adjusting the press, printing, troubleshooting, and cleanup. We’ll explore the carving and printing of linoleum blocks to add imagery to our work. Students will leave with examples of their work and the faint smell of ink on their fingers.

Instructor: Pete Morelewicz

Pete Morelewicz is an artist and graphic designer living in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He works with a wide range of technologies, from 15th-century-style letterpress printing to 21st– century media. (He himself dates to the 20th century.) His letterpress prints have been featured in national juried exhibits, and his work can be found in the permanent collection of the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Beginning Paper Marbling

August 20 – 21 (Thurs – Fri)
9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295 + $45 materials fee

You will begin by learning the components of a marbling setup and embark on your marbling journey by creating large, sweeping patterns. From there you will learn many traditional combed patterns and how to use the marbling inks to bring forth your own decorative vision from the marbling tank. This course includes numerous extras such as instruction in marbling the edges of book pages and onto leather. The course culminates with students creating their own marbled-leather, edge-marbled journal. In addition to the journal, students may reasonably expect to produce 20 to 30 papers during the class. No prerequisite.

Instructors: Regina and Dan St. John

Regina and Dan St. John In the world of decorative paper, the St. Johns hardly need introduction. Their work and teaching is known throughout the country and the world. Regina began studying marbling in the 1990s in Massachusetts with Faith Harrison and to this day continually seeks out new methods of paper decoration from across the globe that she incorporates into her own marbling practices and her courses. Dan’s specialty as a marbler is in the recreation of historical 18th-century patterns, especially the elusive Tiger’s Eye Pattern, which he hunts down with precision. Dan is also a professional bookbinder, having trained in the studio of William W. Streeter of Northampton, Massachusetts. By our estimate, Dan is nothing short of an alchemist and magician. Surrounded by honey, walnut oil, beeswax, and minerals, Dan concocts the compounds and potions that become his marbling pigments. It is from this deep pool of knowledge and experience that the St. Johns bring forth the practice and art of marbling to their students.

Enhanced Paper Decoration: Paste Papers, Under-Painting, Over-Marbling, and Stamping

August 24 – 27 (Mon – Thurs)
9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$590 + $105 materials fee

This course builds steadily over four days as students learn how to combine a variety of decorative methods to the greatest effect as they create truly unique papers. The essence of the course taps into the ancient roots of paper decoration and explores a wealth of time-honored techniques.

The art of paper marbling itself dates back over a millennium in Asia. Likewise, stamping or block printing as a decorative technique is seen several thousand years ago in that same region. Paste papers were first developed over 400 years ago and used in Germany, France, and Italy. They were originally made using colored rice paste as the medium—most commonly with burnt sienna and indigo blue.

In the early 1980s, renewed interest in all these practices emerged as part of a renaissance in the arts of decorative paper patterning. These decorative papers are most commonly used for traditional crafts such as bookbinding as well as in calligraphy, printmaking, scrapbooking, collage, rubber-stamping, and origami. Join us for a class that will open new doors in your creative journey. No prerequisite.

Instructors: Regina and Dan St. John

The Art of Miniature Bookbinding

August 28 – 29 (Fri – Sat)
9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295 + $45 materials fee

Miniature books represent a centuries-old tradition in western bookbinding. Don’t be tempted to think a book’s diminutive size is indicative of a scaled-down binding experience. To the contrary, miniature books offer an unparalleled perspective and avenue of craftsmanship for the beginning and experienced binder alike. Join us in learning a variety of small book styles plus a host of tips and techniques for crafting miniature bindings that you’ll find useful for working with bindings of any proportion. In the course students will create a number of small books and gain the skills necessary to continue developing the craft independently.

Instructors: Regina and Dan St. John

Get Stoned: Intensive on the Stone Marbled Pattern

September 1 – 2 (Tue – Wed)
9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295 + $45 materials fee

The stone pattern, named for its resemblance to smooth stones, is the first pattern seen in the marbled papers of Western Europe—likely emerging by the mid-15^th century. This pattern is created when one or more colors are spattered onto the surface of the marbling bath from the bristles of a brush. The pattern further develops as additional colors are added that form delicate veins of color around and between the “stones.” The stone pattern is known many other names, but perhaps the most fitting being the “Turkish” pattern, for it is indeed a Turkish Delight.

Instructors: Regina and Dan St. John

Calligraphy: Bookhand for Bookmakers

September 24 – 25 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295 + $30 materials fee

No printing press or computer screen has been able to replicate the magic found in the hand-built lettering that flows from a calligrapher’s pen. Come learn from a gifted teacher who will have you scribing like a monk in no time. This course is designed for all those who want to learn calligraphy or improve upon their current skill set. We also highly recommend this workshop for book people, because calligraphy has historically been inseparable from bookbinding and to this day remains in the forefront of the book arts.

The class will introduce students to the Foundational Hand, which was developed by Edward Johnston, the father of modern calligraphy, in the early 20th century as a beginner’s alphabet and a foundation for calligraphic education. Edward Johnston based this ideal model on the tenth-century English Carolingian hand as seen in The Ramsey Psalter (British Library, Harley MS 2904).

Enjoy the feeling of moving the nib across the page as you embark on what could be your next passion!

Instructor: Chris Tischer

Chris Tischer has been working as a calligrapher for over two decades and began her studies of the calligraphic arts with renowned calligrapher and author Sheila Waters. Chris has over her career continued to learn from her colleagues in the field who are based in the U.S. as well as around the world. For twenty years, Chris orchestrated the workshops for the Washington Calligraphers Guild, bringing the best calligraphers to the Washington area to instruct and mingle with those seeking to learn and perfect their art. Chris’ work has appeared in LAR (Letter Arts Review) and Scripsit and is held in many private collections. She is in constant demand as a calligrapher, being commissioned to letter such items as poems, commemorative certificates, and text for books and similar publications.

Hand Papermaking

October 1 – 2 (Thurs – Fri)
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
$295

Without paper there would be no books, and without books whatever would we do!? Take the plunge into the pulp vat and learn the rudiments of papermaking. Day One introduces traditional western papermaking. Day Two takes students beyond the basics into multi-layer sheets and decorative treatments such as inclusion and pulp painting. The course also includes a brief introduction to Japanese papermaking. You will spend your time with us pulling and couching (pronounced “kooching”) and posting. Be prepared to wow your friends, relatives, and complete strangers with your new papermaking vocabulary! No prerequisite.

Instructors: Rowland Kirks, Anna Barnes, and Jill Deiss

Rowland Kirks studied studio art as an undergraduate and serves at Cat Tail Run as a papermaker, inventor, and bouncer. He studied papermaking with Jacques Brejoux of Moulin du Verger in Puymoyen, France.
Anna Barnes is a Cat Tail Run bookbinder who restores the covers of leather- and cloth-bound books while employing her particular talent for color matching and in-painting. Her undergraduate studies in studio art well prepared her for work in the bookbinding field, and has studied edge gilding with Peter Geraty of Praxis Bindery in Easthampton, Massachusetts, papermaking with Jacques Brejoux of Moulin du Verger in Puymoyen, France, and medieval pigment preparation with Cheryl Porter of Montefiascone Conservation Project in Montefiascone, Italy. She thrives in the solitude that bookbinding affords and is especially fond of misquoting literature.
Jill Deiss established Cat Tail Run Hand Bookbinding, host of the School for Bookbinding Arts, in 1991. She studied bookbinding and restoration first in Northampton, Massachusetts, then at Cornell University’s Department of Library Conservation and in the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation Laboratories. She holds a B.S. in chemistry and received a Master of Library Science degree from Syracuse University, where she specialized in the study of archives and rare book collections.