The Guild of Book Workers Library is housed in the Special Collections Department of the University of Iowa's Main Library and holds over 700 volumes which concentrate on the arts of the book. Focusing on hand bookbinding techniques, the collection also contains volumes on the history of bookbinding and bookbinders, papermaking, paper decoration techniques, calligraphy, printing, and book conservation. For a catalog of the Library, click here.

Videotapes, which document the annual Guild Standards Seminars, are another important component of the collection, and these tapes are listed below, on this page. The Standards Seminars--professionally-taught technical programs--are part of an effort to raise the standards of bookbinding craftsmanship in the U.S. The tapes are perhaps the most frequently borrowed items because they demonstrate techniques that cannot be adequately described in printed sources.

For a more complete history of the Library see "The Guild of Book Workers Collection at Iowa," by Pam Spitzmueller which appeared in the February, 1996 issue of the Friends Newsletter, published by the Friends of the University of Iowa Libraries (http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/news/archives/newsletter/24-2.pdf).

The current agreement between the Guild and the University Libraries stipulates that Guild members may borrow items from the collection by mail. Other researchers are allowed to use the materials in the Special Collections Department Reading Room.

For further information about the Guild Library please contact:

Jane Meggers, Conservator
State Historical Society of Iowa
402 Iowa Avenue
Iowa City IA 52240
jane-meggers@uiowa.edu
319-335-3921 (call 9-4:30 M-F or leave voice mail anytime)

1983, BOSTON: No tapes produced

1984, PITSBURGH:

Gold Tooling Using Gold Leaf. Michael Wilcox & Don Glaister

Edge Gilding and Gauffering. Hugo Peller

Covering Techniques Using Vellum Over Stiff Boards. Heinke Pensky-Adam

1985, SAN FRANCISCO:

Half Vellum Over Stiff Boards. Silvia Rennie

Paper Cover, Case Construction, Conservation Rebinding. Gary Frost

Gold Tooling: Gerard Charriere and Michael Wilcox

Tool Sharpening. David Brock

Rebacking Cloth Bindings. Jerilyn Davis

Expanded Piano Hinge Album. Hedi Kyle

Covering Fine Bindings in Full Leather. William Anthony

Doublures, Endpapers and Leather Hinges. William Anthony

Turkish Marbling. Paula Gourley

1987, AUSTIN:

Endbands. Jenny Hille

Rebacking Leather Bound Books. Bruce Levy

Tools and Techniques of Paper Repair. Barbara Meierhusby

Collaboration Between Binder and Printer. Craig Jensen & Richard-Gabriel Rummonds

1988, CHICAGO:

Gougless Onlays. Sylvia Rennie

Japanese Side-sewn Bindings. Catherine Atwood

Letterspacing. Kay Amert

1989, PORTLAND:

Paper Repair for Bookbinders. Betsy Palmer Eldridge

1990, WASHINGTON, DC:

Edge to Edge Doublures. Monique Lallier

French Onlays. Tini Miura

Techniques and Logic in German Bookbinding. Frank Mowery

1991, BLOOMINGTON, IN:

Case Binding. David Bourbeau

Design Bindings. Don Glaister

Special Enclosures. Hedi Kyle

1992, SAN FRANCISCO:

Box Making. Daniel Kelm

Rebacking a Leather Tight-Back. Bernard Middleton

The Making of a Book - Bone Songs. Clair Van Vliet

Box and Sculptural Bindings. Jan Sobota

1993, BOSTON:

Sewing Variations. Betsy Eldridge

Simplified Binding Structure. Sun Evrard

Pastepaper - Traditional & Contemporary

Using the Hot Stamping Press. William Minter

Techniques of Vellum Repair. Frank Mowery

Board Edges Redefined. Eleanor Ramsey

Modified Limp Vellum Bindings. Robert Espinoza

From the Leather Book to the Extra Terestrial Book. Timothy Ely

1995, TUSCALOOSA:

Rx for Sick Books from NYAM. Elaine Schlefer

Edge Gilding. John Mitchell

Danish Millimeter Binding. John Hyltoft

Contemporary Edition Binding. Mindell Dubansky and Priscilla Spitler

1996, PASADENA:

Cuir Cisele or Leather Schnitt. Jan Sabota

Opening up Photo Album Possiblities. Richard Horton

Exposed Spine Binding. Louise Genest

Dying and Staining Leather. Terry Buckley

1997, ANN ARBOR:

Long and Link Stitch Sewing. Pamela Spitzmueller

How to Treat Wooden Boards. Dag-Ernst Petersen

Gold Tooling. Don Glaister

Japanese Papers: Identifying and Using. Nancy Jacobi and Don Etherington

1998, GREENSBORO:

On the Ellesmere Manuscript. Anthony Cains

Paper Engineering and Pop-Ups. Carol Barton

Decorated Papers. Linda Hohneke

English & German Style Leather Paring. Linda Blaser and Franklin Mowery

1999, CHICAGO:

Action on the Case. Maureen Duke

Rounded Leather Drop-spine Boxes. Scott Kellar

Wire-Edge Binding. Daniel Kelm

Know Your Endpapers. Terry Boone, Jesse Munn, and Mary Wootton

2000, SALT LAKE CITY:

Medieval Bookbinding. Terry Buckley

Examination of the Jacques Board Shear. William Minter

Adhesives. Karen Zukor

Girdle Bindings. Pamela Spitzmueller

Miniature Binding. Gabrielle Fox

2001, ALEXANDRIA:

Romanesque Bindings. Jiri Vnoucek

Traditional Foundations Of Non-Traditional Artwork. Suzanne Moore

Vellum Binding. Peter Verheyen

Paper Repair. Christine Smith

Leather Decoration. S.A. Neff, Jr.

2002, MINNEAPOLIS:

Slipcase and Chemise. Monique Lallier

Illumination. Dennis Ruud

Papermaking: Before and After: Pulp, Paper and Beyond. Bridget O'Malley

Historical and Contemporary Album Structure. Olivia Priminas

2003, DENVER:

Spring Back Ledger Binding. Richard Baker

Incorporating 3-Dimensional Objects Into Cover Design. Tini Miura

Covering in Leather. Mark Esser

Presentation Considerations in the Design and Creation of Artists' Books. Julie Chen

2004, PROVIDENCE:

Half-leather Trade Binding. Mark Andersson

Edge Decoration Techniques. Peter Geraty

Japanese Pouch/Four Hole Binding. Kiyoshi Imai.

Medieval Limp Vellum/Leather Structure Conservation of Historic Bindings Using Adhesive and Non-adhesive Methods. Nancy Southworth.

Photographing Your Artwork. P. J. Saine

2005, PORTLAND

Wunderkabinette: Architectural Book Environments. Hedi Kyle

Edelpappband. Renate Mesmer

Lacunose (An Artistic Invention). Paul Delrue

Drum Leaf Binding. Timothy Ely

Traditional Marbling on Paper, Cloth and Leather. Peggy Skycraft

Letterpress Printing (Foundations Session). Inge Bruggeman

Johanna Drucker  Extensions of the Codex: Virtual, Electronics, and Esthetic Dimensions. HISTORY OF THE BOOK,  April 25, 2003. Syracuse (VCR)

The Anatomy of a Book, Part I: Format in the Hand-Press Period, Terry Belanger, 1991.  The Making of a Renaissance Book, Plantin-Moretus Museum Antwerp, 1969. Book Arts Press. (DVD)

Binder Vision Program 1 - Elizabeth Greenhill: Bookbinder Talks to Marianne Tidcombe. With Comments on Her Work in His Collection from the Lord Wardington

Binder Vision Program 2 - Rebacking an Antiquarian Book with Bernard Middleton: A binders' Exhibition with Jan Ascoli: A Visit to Cockerell Marbled Papers

Binder Vision Program 3 - Angela James: Sewing on Tape and Cords; Maurice Parkinson: The "Master Pulp" Leaf Casting Machine; Bernard Middleton: Ageing New Work; Conservation for Romania

Binder Vision Program 4 - Edgar Mansfield and James Brockman Talk to Rodney Crouch; Making Books with Concave Spines

MARCHETTI - NY Edge Gilding, Shop Tour and Demonstration; Tools and Techniques of Japanese Paper Conservation

HOME STUDY PROGRAMS FROM THE CANADIAN BOOKBINDERS AND BOOK ARTISTS GUILD. Supporting workbooks and materials with each program.
Program 1: Setting up shop, tools and materials, framing, sewing, making the case, hanging in the text block. 6 VHS tapes.
Program 2: Making paper cloth, rounding and backing, trimming and edge treatments, headbands, spine lining, German case, and special endpapers section. 6 VHS tapes.
Program 3: Joint construction, sewing variations, more rounding and backing, hanging on boards, leather spine and corners, finishing, and special leather section. 6 VHS tapes.
Program 4: Restoration and Repair. 5 VHS tapes.

Susan Joy Share Performances. 2006. DVD.