Monday-Friday, June 18-22
9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

The millimeter binding is an elegant leather structure useful for thin books. Developed in Denmark during WWII when materials were scarce, it takes its name from the minimal amount of leather used on the spine. It is sewn on frayed cords, and has a special Scandinavian “hooked” endpaper and a “lapped’” paper hollow. The thin boards are attached with adhesive to the hollow and cords, making the structure solid but flexible. The book has a narrow leather spine and decorative paper covers.

Three methods of edge decoration will be covered: the simple solid color wash, the painted edge, and the graphite edge. Three kinds of headband will be made: the simple cloth, the leather-wrapped, and the two-color silk-sewn.

There are several variations on the traditional millimeter binding, depending on where the leather is applied. We will make the main three styles: the first has leather on the spine and corners, the second at the head and tail edge, and the third at the spine and fore-edge.
Finally, we will tool our bindings using three different techniques: traditional blind tooling; tooling with real gold foil through a template; and tooling using carbon paper, an easy yet creative way to achieve elegant black tooling with little experience. This workshop is open to students at all levels, although experience with leather and hand tooling will be helpful.

Materials to bring:Scalpel and blades; metal ruler; dividers; bone folder; artist’s brushes; cobblers knife. Please bring (if you have): paring machine; paring knife and strop; paring stone; hand letters; finishing stove.

Materials Fee: $90