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Research, Study, Labs, & Community

Research, study, labs, and community are crucial areas that need to be a part of any book arts career path. After years in the academic environment, post-graduate study and practice can take some getting used to. In my practice, with my academic background in history and public history, I have some training in preservation and conservation, but little academic lab work, and it’s been decades since I spent any quality time bookbinding; filling the lab gap is a big concern. For me, the best path forward is to develop a graduate-level book history program with labs focused on a traditional bookbinder’s apprenticeship path with contemporary best practices. This should provide a portfolio of examples to demonstrate skill as well as a collection of essays on the history of bookbinding forms.

The lab work has already begun with a print and binding project centered on the book “The Art of Bookbinding” (1890) by Joseph W. Zaehnsdorf. The text was printed in quarto on quality matte 13 in. x 19 in. (A3+) and works out to a traditional octavo 6 in. x 9 in. book in size. The block has been printed and sewn. Endpapers were designed and printed, and the boards were glued to the fabric cover. The binding will be a cased flat back. A post about this project will be forthcoming. Progress photos have been taken for the project post.

It will take some time to develop and document the curriculum, as it is being put together on the fly and there is already a pile of rebinding and conservation projects to incorporate into the course workflow. I would prefer not to slow too much in the service of academic program development and kill the momentum. The initial reading list is as follows, in order:

Abbott, Kathy. Bookbinding: A Step By Step Guide. The Crowood Press, 2010.
Cockerell, Douglas. Bookbinding and the Care of Books. Lyons & Burford, 1991.
Hollander, Tom and Cindy. Introduction to Bookbinding and Custom Cases. Schiffer Publishing, 2019.
Johnson, Arthur W. The Thames and Hudson Manual of Bookbinding. Thames & Huson, 1981.
Towne, Laurence. Bookbinding By Hand For Students and Craftsmen. Faber and Faber, 1963.
Masson, John. The Art and Practice of Printing: Bookbinding and Ruling. Vol. 5. New Era Publishing, 1940.
Diehl, Edith. Bookbinding. Dover Publications, 1980.
~~Cockerell, Douglas. Bookbinding and the Care of Books. Lyons & Burford, 1991.~~
Middleton, Bernard C. The Restoration of Leather Bindings. American Library Association, 1972.
Szirmai, J.A. The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding. Routledge, 2017.
Keile, Headdy. The Art of the Fold: How to Make Innovative Books and Paper Structures. Laurence King Publishing, 2018.
Lindsay, Jen. Fine Binding: A Technical Guide. Oak Knoll Books, 2024.
Burdett, Eric. The Craft of Bookbinding: A Practical Handbook. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1978.

As reading and lab work progress through the first few textbooks, a project list should develop. Along with the skill development projects, rebinding projects on the bench will also be incorporated into the lab work. Research paper topics should also present themselves and be incorporated into the program. Along with research and lab work, I will be engaging more with the book community through social media on BlueSky (@jwwanzer.bsky.social) and here. As article possibilities present, I will also submit to field journals. In all honesty, the community aspect is the most difficult for me. My graduate programs were in the online environment, and my academic/social circles are small. More to come as things progress.

The Impecunious Bibliophile

My earliest memories contain books; if not central to the memories, they are adjacent to or on the periphery of them. My grandmother was an avid and studious reader, a librarian, and a teacher by trade. There were always piles of books on her desk at home, most from one library or another. On rare occasions, she would bring a special book home from work that needed extra care in its repair and return to service. She was not, to speak, a collector of books, nor did she keep many at home. Her preservation techniques were distinctly focused on returning books to library service, not the fastidious preservation of a curator or collector. Books did not become a key element of my memories of my mother until later in her life, when she began to accumulate books of interest. At this time in her life, she was wheelchair-bound, and library trips could be difficult. This was likely a factor in her choice to buy rather than borrow. Though she was not as curious in a broad sense as my grandmother, she did find herself going down rabbit holes on occasion. One could say, I come by my afflictions honestly.

Books can bring many things to those who appreciate them. For most, they provide a sense of escapism in one form or another. For many, it is to inform or educate. For others, it is to reinforce their worldview. Others seek wisdom and inspiration in the writings of great thinkers. It is likely, dear reader, that you find some comfort in each of these from time to time. A rather small and obsessed group finds the medium itself to be the most fascinating collection of trades and practices. It is in this small group that I find my people. Though I am at the earliest stages of my serious, dare I say professional, bibliographic journey, I find myself counting gatherings and looking for chains, formulating how the text block was constructed, and how it was cased. Who published this volume? Who printed it? What edition and pressing? What are its points?

The making of books has always been of great interest. From the laying of paper and sizing, pressing it to wood and metal, transferring pigment, folding and stitching the gatherings into a text block. Treatment of the text block, cut or not, opened or not, gilded or painted edges, how will it be cased, and with what materials? All decisions that will affect the owner’s relationship with the volume, on their shelf, in their hand, and in their hearts. That I would collect and deal in these jewels of humanity was a foregone conclusion, as is the need to have a closer, more intimate relationship with the form; to bring new volumes to life, yes, but also to preserve and protect those already formed.

Books and history, history and books. The path is broad and open. Where it leads is over the horizon, yet down the path I go, books in hand.

Stepping Back

It is a few days into April, which was intentional, so there would be no confusion about this post and subsequent site changes as a prank. It is time to step away from doctoral studies, at least for now. Having many areas of interest has turned out to be a net negative in the doctoral process. With so many options, the necessary passion and focus to complete a dissertation has been too diluted. After spending several weeks attempting to clarify and distill a research question with little success, it has become clear that now is not the time to be attempting to produce a dissertation. The possibility of returning to a doctoral program is still on the table at some future date. Moving forward, research will continue in a broader form while seeking rabbit holes to dive into and write about. If one of these rabbit holes becomes an all consuming passion the doctorate may be reconsidered. Bibliography building in subject areas of interest will continue along with the research. The reading log will also continue with a broader material base of research material and general interest reading. Other activities may also find their way into this space as things progress. For now, it’s time to clean up the office and research stacks, take some time off, and get back to reading and woodworking.

Intentionality

by Jonathan Wanzer

This site and blog were planned to be strictly professional, with little to no personal material that wasn’t directly related to historical pursuits. This has, however, changed slightly. The blog will instead be a moderated personal reflection, which will enhance the overall site as a portfolio by providing personal context. Efforts will be made to keep the content relevant to the academe, history, genealogy, cultural heritage, and museum studies, and to avoid posts on hobby interests in aviation, maritime, and communications unless they are directly relevant to the former. Discussions in the realm of politics and religion will likewise be moderated to their relevance in the historical and cultural spaces.

One of the key elements of the previous post was the submission of an application to another educational institution. That institution was Johns Hopkins University, and the application was for entry into their M.A. Cultural Heritage Management program in the fall, which was accepted. Classes start August 15th. This promises to be an exciting program with some interesting classes, including Issues in Intangible Cultural Heritage and Culture as Catalyst for Sustainable Development, both of which will be taken in the fall term.

With teaching at the university level off the table for now, the focus will be on expanding skillsets and networking. Time will also be set aside for site work with the local, local history museum. The intention is to develop a broad range of skills centered around museology and cultural heritage. Graduate certificates in fields like cultural anthropology, archaeology, political science, African American studies, Native American studies, and other similar subjects that can be worked on while employed in the field are a good option. JHU has a good Museum Studies program that may be an option after completing the current program. Doing history, public or otherwise, requires a continuous broadening of context. Continuing education and community engagement are the best ways to do this.

My last class for the M.A. in public history starts next week and runs for the 8-week D subterm. The course is HIST 706 Digital History which as you will see is somewhat ironic. I have been working with the topic for some time doing digitization projects, digital archiving, database development, and working with metadata structures to make digital objects findable, and accessible. I have burned more than a few cycles on the elements of digital archives like accessioning, cataloging, and preservation of the digital media as well as the metadata to keep it useful and locatable. This was much of what I did for my independent research over the summer preparing for this term.

HIST 706 became available to access yesterday. My usual ritual the week before a term is to prep my OneNote file for the class with all of the readings and assignments with as much of the course info available as possible and start getting resources ready. I usually have all of the textbooks well before this period, and after reading the syllabus and assignments I usually have a list of additional textbooks to order. Yesterday was no exception, OneNote was prepped and the five books specifically mentioned in the syllabus that were not on the book list were ordered. Surprisingly, all of the books ordered should arrive before the end of the first week. The day after the course posts I start watching course videos, synthesizing assignment instructions, and reviewing rubrics. The week four video caught me off guard.

The video for week four is a lecture by Matthew G. Kirschenbaum The Transformissions of the Archive. The lecture is interesting in and of itself, but it impacted me in a personal and unexpected way. I have been struggling with narrowing my field for my doctorate. Not surprising considering how broad my interests usually are and my proclivity for diving head first down deep rabbit holes. This video managed to focus my attention on synthesizing a concept I am well aware of with a genre of research interests. The concept of metadata, and my interests in books and documents, paper, ink, graphology, paleography, codicology, printmaking, bookbinding, and paper conservation. In a word… bibliography.

A couple of hours online have revealed very little on the practice of bibliography, lots on the writing of bibliographies, but sparse on the former. I located several books that look like they may be useful on Amazon and saved them in a list, 15 to be precise, and ordered 3 others. It will take some research on the field to determine what studies I will need to look further into. As for education, the closest I can find are MLA programs with an available focus on special collections and preservation. While I would like to add an MLA to my education profile, I don’t have the time right now but it could be added at some point in the future along with a master’s in conservation. For now, I’ll take on the research on the practice of bibliography and see where it takes me.

Until next time,
~Jon Wanzer