Peter Verheyen began his involvement in the book arts as a work-study student in the conservation lab at the Johns Hopkins University Library. In 1984 and 1986, Peter interned in the conservation lab of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, Germany, and completed his formal apprenticeship in hand bookbinding at the Kunstbuchbinderei Klein in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, passing examinations in 1987. Peter studied at the Professional School for Book Restoration at the Centro del bel Libro in Ascona, Switzerland in 1987, and was the Mellon intern in book conservation at the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1988.
Peter worked in Chicago as conservator with Heinke Pensky-Adam at Monastery Hill Bindery, and with William Minter. In 1991, he began work as assistant conservator at the Yale University Library. Before establishing the rare book conservation lab at the Syracuse University Library in 1995, he worked as rare book conservator at the Cornell University Library.
Peter is currently Exhibitions Chair for the Guild of Book Workers, and a past Publicity Chair.
Peter’s bindings have been exhibited widely with the Guild, and in invitational and solo exhibitions, most recently winning Harmatan Leather Award for Best Forwarding in the Society of Bookbinders’ 2003 Bookbinding Competition.
In 1994, Peter founded Book_Arts-L and shortly thereafter the Book Arts Web at philobiblon.com. He can be reached at . In 2004 he founded an online e-journal for bookbinding and the book arts entitled, “The Bonefolder,” modelling it after a German apprentice’s journal entitled, “Das Falzbein,” also its namesake.