Unfinished Business: Incomplete bindings made for the book trade from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century
While it was long assumed that most books in the handpress era were sold in unbound sheets, this has been challenged by the suggestion that many, if not most, books were sold bound. However, the survival of significant numbers of books as sewn bookblocks without covers, and with or without boards, offers another possibility: that the booktrade offered books for sale in an incomplete state, ready to be completed whenever that may have been required. This lecture looks at the surviving examples, the evidence for the practice, and its implications for the history of bookbinding.
18:00-19:00
Thursday 21 February, 2013
Lecture Theatre, Chelsea College of Art & Design (Atterbury Street Entrance) London, SW1P 4JW
Booking is advised Please contact k.difranco@arts.ac.uk to make a reservation