Workshop Fee (includes materials fee): $300

Masks are no longer required for workshops, though anyone is welcome to wear one if they wish.

This is the last word in luxury boxes! The gift box — or jewel box — has been around for hundreds of years and predates book boxes by centuries. It is only in the last two hundred years that they have been made by bookbinders rather than carpenters.

The gift box differs from conventional book boxes in that the lid is fully removed; a slight change in function but a totally different experience in presentation. It is made using traditional box-making techniques that we have become familiar with: it has a sturdy, double-wall construction for robustness, and is further reinforced with jaconet for strength. It is then covered with a handsome, durable, English buckram bookcloth.

The box will be made from pre-cut materials for expediency in the workshop, and also to ensure a very precise fit of the two parts. One of its best features is how the lid drops onto the base very slowly and softly — a feature of very well made boxes. To finish, we will block a gold tooled leather label with a title or name of your choice.

This is a perfect holiday gift for someone special.

>> Prerequisite: None <<

Materials to Bring: None. All tools and materials will be provided. Students are also welcome to bring any of their own favorite bookbinding tools.

Date & Time: Saturday & Sunday, December 21 & 22, 2024 :: 9:30am-5:30pm

Location: 375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103

NOTE: Please read over the SFCB Registration Policies before signing up for a class. Registration will close approximately three days prior to the start date of the workshop to allow the instructor time to prep materials for class. We recommend you not wait to register, as workshops that don't meet our minimum enrollment will be canceled, sometimes as much as a week in advance.
 

About the Instructor | Dominic Riley (he/him)

Dominic Riley Is an internationally renowned bookbinder, artist, lecturer and teacher. He has his bindery in England, from where he travels across the UK teaching and lecturing. He spends part of the year teaching in San Francisco and across the USA. His work is mostly restoration and Design Binding, for which he has won many prizes in the Designer Bookbinders competition. He was elected Fellow of DB in 2008. His bindings are in collections worldwide, including the British Library, the Grolier Club in New York and the San Francisco Public Library. In 2013 he won first prize, the Sir Paul Getty Award, in the International Bookbinding Competition. Dominic is President of the Society of Bookbinders.

He has taught masterclasses in the USA, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, at the Centro del Bel Libro in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Canada.
 

Past Student Reviews:

 “Dominic is a master binder. His skill level is unsurpassed. It is a privilege to learn from him.”

“Dominic is encouraging and really seems to take pleasure in seeing students learning and creating. It's incredible to see someone of his caliber not in the least bit jaded and still enjoying what is really a basic process in the overall scheme of bookbinding.”

“Gifted both in skill and the ability to deliver his knowledge.”