Lifelong Learning

Stephanie Wolff, Assistant Conservator, leaves Dartmouth as of July 31.  We will miss our colleague and friend but before she left she gifted us all with a final (and as always with Stephanie) educational blog post.

Farewell Stephanie! Don't be a stranger!

As I’ve worked in the fields of bookbinding and conservation colleagues have been generous in sharing knowledge and techniques. Not only in person, through conferences, workshops, and conversations, but by way of handouts, journal articles, blog posts, and videos. Over the years I have collected these kinds of resources (books included) to further my skills and knowledge. They range from websites to photocopies to simple drawn diagrams and sketches I’ve made while at an exhibition. These collected resources help expand my knowledge and allow me to try new techniques on my own.

While working here in the conservation lab at Dartmouth I gathered a notebook full of helpful techniques and other book and conservation resources. Here I’ve listed some of the ones that are available online in hopes they may prove useful to others as well. Included is a link to Peter Verheyen’s wonderful bookbinding bibliography for even more resources.

To all those who have shares their knowledge so generously, thank you.


The Guild of Book Workers - Go to Resources, then Handouts to find a variety of wonderful material, including the ones listed here.

Anderson, Jennifer. “Cloth Covered Book Cradles.” Abbey Newsletter. Volume 17, Number 7, December 1993.

Baird, Brian and Mick Letourneaux. “Treatment 305: A Collections Conservation Approach to Rebinding.” The Book and Paper Group Annual. AIC. Volume Thirteen, 1994.

Barrios, Pamela. “A Method for Reblocking Modern Books.” The Bonefolder. Volume 4, Number 1, Fall 2007. p. 35.

Cullhed, Per. “The 5-Minute Phase Box.” The Abbey Newsletter. Volume 24, Number 2, October 2000.

Eldridge, Betsy Palmer. Stitches and Sewings for Bookbinding Structures. GBW and CBBAG, 2008.

Espinosa, Robert and Pamela Barrios. “Joint Tacketing: A Method of Board Reattachment.” The Book and Paper Group Annual. AIC. Volume Ten, 1991.

Etherington, Don. “Japanese Paper Hinge Repair for Loose Boards on Leather Books.” Abbey Newsletter. Volume 19, Number 3, August 1995.

Kellar, Scott. “The Inserted Flange Case Binding Structure for Rebinding Heavy Folios Without Leather.” The Abbey Newsletter. Volume 7, Number 6, Dec 1983.

Kellar, Scott. “The Laced Limp Paper Binding.” The Abbey Newsletter. Volume 6, Number 1, Feb 1982.

Krupp, Andrea. “The Library Company’s Corrugated Clamshell Box.” The Abbey Newsletter. Volume 15, Number 6, October 1991.

Kyle, Hedi. Handout from the presentation: Wunderkabinette: Architectural Book Environments (includes Preservation Enclosures: Wrappers, Boxes, Slipcases, Folders, as well as other inventive structures), 2005.

Minter, William. “Spiral Bindings in Hardcover: An Alternative to Rebinding.” The Abbey Newsletter. Volume 21, Number 5, 1997.

Rebsamen, Werner. “Gebrochener Ruecken (Shaped Spine Case-Binding Techniques).” The Abbey Newsletter. Volume 11 Number 3, April 1987.

Smith, Wendy. “The Ferguson Slipcase.” The Abbey Newsletter. Volume 13, Number 5, September 1989.

Syracuse University Libraries: Department of Special Collections, Conservation Lab Treatment Manual Series. Information on Conservation Recase, Molded Paper Spine Binding, Paper Spine for Thin Volumes, Phase Boxes, Corrugated Board Clamshell Box 

Verheyen, Peter D. German Case (Bradel) Binding, Originally published 2002, re-written with new illustrations 2006. Published in Skin Deep, Volume 22 - Fall 2006.

Verheyen, Peter D. Bookbinding Bibliography.

Written by Stephanie Wolff