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.
After studying Illustration at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Yi Bin Liang BB '19 joined the NBSS Bookbinding program. Her artistic background is apparent in distinctively graphic and painterly bindings, pen & ink illustrations, and even the equipment she uses to ply her trade. We caught up with Yi Bin at her home studio for a laughter-filled conversation about her technique, plans for the fall, and where craft and artistry meet.
Learn how to make a petal fold book with NBSS middle school and Continuing Education instructors Colin Urbina BB '11 and Erin Fletcher BB '12. This fun shape has "petals" which are folded and glued together, and unfolds looking like a flower or an accordion. Give yours as many or as few petals as you like!
Learn how to make a Turkish map fold, a fun and unique book form using a single piece of paper! NBSS middle school book arts instructors and Bookbinding graduates Erin Fletcher BB '12 and Colin Urbina BB '11 break down how to fold this intricate shape into a couple of easy-to-follow steps.
On Tuesday, May 19, 2020, NBSS hosted an online conversation with bookbinder and NBSS alumna Erin Fletcher BB '12, discussing her process for creating a unique, embroidered design binding of La Prose du Transsiberien, on view at the School during the "Drop Dead Gorgeous" exhibition. Watch a recording of the full event here.
As part of a new series of video interviews with members of our community we talk with Rebekah Lord Gardiner BB '93, a Bookbinding graduate, member of the School's Board of Advisors, and co-owner of Shepard & Maudsleigh Studios. Learn how Rebekah's creating community online, and how, when things seem grey, she thinks about a particular children's book and moments of creative possibility.
Bookbinding alumna Rebekah Lord Gardiner BB '93 gave a virtual tour of her home studio in Weston, Massachusetts. A printmaker, bookbinder, and textile artist, and she shares the space with her son, who's a watch and object product photographer.
"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