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Po Box 410963
San Francisco, CA 94141
USA

A close-knit group of hand bookbinders, with shared interests in creating and collecting fine bindings, joined together to promote hand bookbinding and related book arts and to exchange information and ideas. 

HBC39 - 2011

The Hand Bookbinders of California Annual Member Exhibition is a wonderful showcase of our members’ creations from the past year and an opportunity for new binders to gain experience exhibiting. The exhibition has a dual purpose.

Our primary aim is to exhibit members’ bindings in a non-juried environment to attract the general public and bibliophiles alike. Secondly, it is a window into the world of hand book binding that requires the active support of book lovers and specialized collectors.

We are pleased to have the exhibition open at the Book Club of California. The new rooms provide an intimate atmosphere for the show. From there, the exhibit will travel to the Doyle Library in Santa Rosa and then on to the Mechanics’ Institute. Coincidently, this 39th exhibition features 39 entries! Congratulations to all the binders. On display are a wonderful assortment of styles, sizes and structures. There are collections of fine design bindings utilizing luxurious leathers, exotic inlays and onlays, as well as gold tooling.

Perhaps this year more than in the past, we see many interesting structures including drum leaf, accordion folds, new oriental bindings, dos-a-dos, and tete-beches, including a few unique pieces. I encourage visitors to take time to observe each binding to uncover the message the binders are attempting to communicate through their work.

My grateful thanks go to Vanessa Hardy, Exhibitions Chair, for her detail and enthusiasm in organizing the exhibition. Thanks also to Rhiannon Alpers and Juliayn Coleman for their creativity and energy in producing the catalog. Additionally, our appreciation is extended to Georgie Devereux and Lucy Cohen from the Book Club of California, as well as Sharon Miller, Library Director at the Mechanics’ Institute and Karen Petersen, Librarian at the Doyle for facilitating the exhibition.

Enjoy the show.

Coleen Curry President,

Hand Bookbinders of California