Eric Alstrom
July 29–30, Thursday–Friday
Tuition: $250   Materials: $35
Enrollment limited to twelve.

Example of a damaged leather bound book in the hollowback style.
Before and after pictures of a set of hollowback books.
Detail of the repaired book in the above set.
Example of a hollowback repair on a full leather volume. The japanese paper has not been tinted so you can see the repair.
Example of a hollowback repair on a half leather.
Example of a repair on a tightback volume.

raditional methods of reattaching loose covers on leather-bound volumes are problematic, time-consuming, and expensive. Paring down even a high-quality piece of leather weakens the material—dooming the repair from the beginning to fail again in the future.

An alternative method of repair uses dyed Japanese papers in place of leather. These papers are very thin, yet quite strong, and they come in a variety of colors.

Both tightback and hollowback volumes can be treated using just pennies' worth of paper in a fraction of the time it would take to lift the old leather, pare the new, and reattach the covers. These repairs are perfect for smaller volumes, but can be adapted for larger books, too.

This workshop will cover techniques developed by both Don Etherington and Eric for treating tightback and hollowbacks. Coloring the Japanese paper, and adaptations for all sizes of books will be also be covered.

Eric will share tips and tricks for working with the materials and methods.

Please bring both a tightback leather binding and a hollowback leather binding to this workshop. You will practice on these books so they should have no particular value. (Eric has provided more information describing the books you should bring to this workshop. Please follow this link.)

No experience in Japanese paper repair required. Eric recommends some background in binding constructions of this period, however you needn’t be experienced in binding your own leather volumes. If you have doubts, please contact us to discuss your qualifications.

About one month before the workshop, registrants will receive a tool list, directions to the studio, and any other pertinent logistical information via email. Workshop hours are usually from 9:30 until about 5:00. Please do not buy an airplane ticket or make any other non-refundable payment before checking with us to be sure the workshop for which you have registered has sufficient enrollment.

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