The two-year, comprehensive Bookbinding program teaches students how to make, restore, and preserve books and other printed treasures.
During the first year, you’ll learn the history and development of this traditional craft, as well as develop a host of necessary skills. You'll make a variety of historical and modern binding structures, boxes, and other protective enclosures. The repair of cloth and paper bindings will supplement your understanding of the way books function and break down.
Toward the end of the first year and throughout the second year you will create and repair leather bindings. During your second year, you'll have the opportunity to choose additional projects that reflect your personal career goals in conservation, fine binding, or other areas of the field. Additional learning takes place outside of the classroom — through exhibits, conferences, and field trips to binderies, historic collections, private studios, and conservation labs.
For any questions, contact Rob O'Dwyer, Director of Admissions, at 617-227-0155 x111 or admissions@nbss.edu.
"As far as I know, the U.S. does not have any bookbinding programs like NBSS... a multiple year program, bench-oriented, and focused on craft."
Samuel Feinstein BB ’12
View More Bookbinding Alumni Profiles
The prestigious Harvard Library has a top-notch team of book and document conservators on staff, including NBSS Bookbinding graduates Irina Gorstein BB '98 and Anne McLain BB '10. "Books sometimes come to us all but falling apart," says Anne. "To see the books leave sound and usable for patrons again gives you great satisfaction."
NBSS was a mecca this year for professional bookbinders and collectors of fine and design binding, thanks to not one but two traveling bookbinding exhibits. The New York-based Guild of Book Workers presented Vessel during the summer of 2016 at NBSS, and in the following summer of 2017, the Colorado-based American Academy of Bookbinding (AAB) presented Open • Set.
Bookbinding program alumnus and Continuing Education instructor Samuel Feinstein BB '12 specializes in fine bindings and gold finishing, with a style gracefully balancing modern and classic. Samuel was recently interviewed by a fellow bookbinder and explained how he got into the field and what led him to NBSS.
Heroic Works, an international bookbinding exhibit on the theme of myths, heroes, and legends, is on display from November 3 - December 22, 2017 at NBSS. This is the Third International Bookbinding Exhibition from Designer Bookbinders (DB) in the UK, one of the foremost societies devoted to the craft of fine bookbinding.
Bookbinding student Sarah Kim BB '18 recently started classes at NBSS this past fall. Moving here from Syracuse, NY took some adjusting, but she's loving her new home and all that Boston has to offer. Here Sarah shares a typical day in her life, from morning commute and bench work to a few of her favorite things.
Nine years after he passed away, master bookbinder Joseph Newman is still vividly remembered not only by his many friends and colleagues, but also because of the Joseph Newman Bookbinding Scholarship at NBSS, which honors his legacy by supporting aspiring bookbinders.