Cambridge Bookbinding 1450-1770
Cambridge has been a centre of book-making for as long as it has maintained a university. Over one hundred named bookbinders are known to have worked there between the 15th and 18th centuries, and, although examples of their work have travelled far and wide, many others have never left the city’s boundaries.
In 2023 Dr David Pearson took Cambridge bookbinding as the subject of his Sandars Lectures, and of his latest monograph, entitled Cambridge Bookbinding 1450-1770. The book is naturally heavily illustrated but is further supported by a collection of images and information on 45 bindings from Cambridge University Library’s collections, hosted on its digital library platform.
Freely downloadable high-resolution images of boards (accompanied – where relevant – by pastedowns and endleaves) are given alongside concise descriptions by Dr Pearson. Alongside some of the more high-end work (including Nicholas Spierinck’s famous rolled decoration of the early 16th century) are plainer examples, including pasteboards made from printed waste (from Bury School Library, illustrated above) and plain blind-tooled bindings executed for the University Library in the 17th and 18th centuries.
As Dr Pearson points out in his introductory notes, it is not just presentation bindings and gilt centrepieces that should grab our attention: learning more about the plainer work allows us to expand our understanding of how books were made, used and regarded in all periods. His book and this accompanying web resource should allow anyone interested in Cambridge bookbinding to learn more and to identify Cambridge work when they find it sitting in front of them in a reading room.
Liam Sims, Member of Council
