San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB) is pleased to host the “Open” portion of the exhibition OPEN SET in our gallery. Sponsored by the American Academy of Bookbinding (Telluride, CO), OPEN SET celebrates the art of finely crafted design bookbindings.

Magic of Marbling | Unique by Design - an exhibit celebrating the art, techniques and designs of marbling. The marbling samples in this exhibit were made by marbling artist Pietro Accardi.

Join HBC’s past President, Rhiannon Alpers, for a two-day workshop sponsored by the Guild of Book Workers' California Chapter.

SFCB showcases contemporary publishers and artists utilizing Risograph technology to create experimental and thought-provoking bookworks.

Roman Holiday is the 40th International Calligraphy and Lettering Arts Conference. After a five year hiatus, our international calligraphic community will gather IN-PERSON to celebrate our collective journey from formal, traditional rules of historical form to personal, creative expression. 

Ever wonder what materials are used to make the book you are reading?

Come see American Bookbinders Museum latest exhibit and explore the different categories of materials and their various uses.

Workshop: Pianel Binding at SFCB

Pianel binding is a modern twist on binding structures that use metal rods at the joint, more commonly known as piano hinges.

Remember Me: American Carved Stone Books from the Ian Berke Collection, curated by Mindell Dubansky, is a fascinating exploration of the realm where book-like objects and folk art intersect. San Francisco collector Ian Berke has amassed a collection of over 500 of these unique pieces over seventeen years. 

Registration opens Mar 4, 2024

DATE: Focus on Book Arts Conference June 26-30, 2024 

NEW LOCATION: Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon

The 15th Focus on Book Arts conference offers five full days of workshops that appeal to beginning as well as advanced book artists. You can come for just one workshop or for the entire conference; a range of class lengths let you tailor an experience just for you. 

The California International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to San Francisco in 2024! This three-day event features fine and rare materials from around the globe, including manuscripts, first editions, illustrated books, ephemera, maps, and autographs, as well as antiquarian books on a vast array of topics.

The CODEX Foundation announces the 9th International Biennial Book Art Fair & Symposium.

The fair & symposium endeavors to bring to the attention of the public the importance and value of the book arts and their essential role in transmitting cultural history. This event supports and facilitates collaboration across the globe between artists, scholars, curators, and collectors in the production and preservation of meaningful scholarly and artistic contributions to the book arts field. 

An exhibition of rarely seen work explores the iconic Bay Area printer’s playful and improvisational process. Using a mismatched set of 19th-century wood block letters, Stauffacher reimagined type as abstract form. 

A Radical Alteration: Women's Studio Workshop as a Sustainable Model for Art Marking looks at the organization's rich history as a proponent of book arts for marginalized communities in the U.S.  Through artists' books, printed materials, ephemera, and archival materials, the exhibition looks at how the organization's policies, programming, and operations have evolved over the last fifty years, creating a space where the conditions of art making and institutional support are in service to a sustainable and more equitable art ecosystem.

Bound to Be Different, Hand Bindings from Private Presses, showcases a range of fine bindings crafted by eleven private presses.  Each press has a unique approach to the aesthetics of printing and binding from William Morris's Kelmscott Press, founded in 1891, to the present.

All the books in this exhibit were made entirely by hand, employing letterpress printing and hand-binding.  Private presses have the freedom to publish classics or original works, and to use hand made materials and binding techniques that commercial publishers cannot replicate.