"The reasons for binding the leaves of a book are to keep them together in their proper order and to protect them.  That bindings can be made that will adequately protect books can be seen from the large number of fifteenth and sixteenth century bindings now existing on books still in excellent condition.  That bindings are made that fail to protect books may be seen by visiting any large library when it will be found that many binding have their boards loose and the leather is crumbling to dust . . ."

Douglas Cockerell, Bookbinding and the Care of Books, 1901.

Few books in modern libraries are now bound in leather, but Cockerell's distinction between bindings that "work" and bindings that do not "work" is still relevant.  So, too, are the main reasons he cites for failure: "the materials are badly selected or prepared, and the method of binding is faulty."

Hand bookbinding, as advocated by Cockerell and his successors and as practiced at Anonymous Bookbinder, attempts to combine sound historic methods and structures with a contemporary knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques and materials. 

While many of the tools, materials and methods used in the hand bookbinding workshop today would be easily recognized by binders from earlier centuries, today's workshop is less often involved in the production of new bindings than in using these tools and historic methods to stabilize, repair, or replace deteriorated binding structures, both early and modern.

Nevertheless, these same traditional methods can be used to create new bindings that are durable, functional and of great visual appeal. A well-made hand bound book, whether simply or elaborately adorned, is unlike anything that comes off the assembly line. There is a quiet, formal beauty to the structure and materials, and a rightness to its movement and feel, that make it a pleasure to see, to hold and to use.

Anonymous Bookbinder looks to historic models for inspiration and produces new bindings that are sound, functional and appropriate. We can offer unique binding for individual items or work with clients to develop a personalized style for collections or small editions. 

"A work of utility might also be a work of art, if we cared to make it so."
William Morris, Arts and Crafts Essays, 1893