In this 43rd year, the Hand Bookbinders of the California is privileged to be hosted by the American Bookbinders Museum in their first invitational exhibition after the extensive renovation of their new home at 355 Clementina Street, San Francisco.

We thank its founder Tim James, Director Garth Reese, Librarian Amelia Grounds and the rest of the museum’s able staff for their unstinting support and cooperation in making this exhibition possible. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with this new and important addition to the art institutions of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Hand Bookbinders of California (HBC) was created in 1972 to create a supportive forum for book lovers, fine binders, collectors, librarians, conservation experts, and students. Since then, we have expanded our mandate to include book artists, paper makers and decorators, printers, and calligraphers – anyone devoted to the art and craft of the book. We meet each first Tuesday of the month between September and May, and offer a variety of events such as lectures, the exchange of ideas and techniques, equipment exchanges, and workshops.

Any interested persons are welcome to join us – please check out our website www.handbookbinders.org for further information. Over the years, the HBC has grown from a small local organization to one with over 200 members from all over the United States, and many from abroad. From its foundation, the exhibition of members’ work was an important goal for the HBC.

Our first exhibits were displayed in the windows of Warren Howell’s Bookstore on Union Square in San Francisco. For many years the Special Collections at the San Francisco Public Library hosted us annually in the old library building. Early exhibitions were documented by simple typed lists of the works displayed; we then progressed to the production of an exhibition catalog every five years.

Now, we produce an exhibition catalog every year, and it is one of the most valuable benefits of HBC membership – the opportunity for any of our members regardless of their level of expertise and experience, to share their work in a non-juried show, and have it reproduced and disseminated in book form. While the San Francisco Public Library continues to host us every third year, we have also held exhibits at Stanford University, Mills College, the University of San Francisco, the University of California, San Francisco, the Mechanics’ Institute and Library, the Book Club of California, and the San Francisco Center for the Book – to name just a few of the many institutions which have welcomed us. Our members’ work has continued to prove interesting and extremely well done.

This year’s 43rd Annual Members’ Exhibition work spans a range from professional fine binding to beginners’ student work. While the HBC encourages and supports the traditional Western European traditions of Fine Binding, we also welcome artist’s books and other innovative structures. This show includes examples of many kinds of bindings, boxes, letterpress printing, artist’s books, calligraphy, and paper decoration.

We thank those members who submitted their work for display, as well as all other HBC members for supporting the exhibition through a portion of their annual membership fees.

Signa Judy Houghteling,

President