Residential students stay in internationally important buildings such as Willy Lotts’ House, (built in the 1500’s and made famous by John Constable’s ‘Haywain’ painting), Valley Farm (a medieval great hall built in the 1450’s) and of course the Mill itself that was owned and renovated by the Constable family in the 1700’s.
As usual, a mixture of complete beginners and those with experience. When I say complete beginners... never picked up a bone folder etc.
Our first book is a Multi sectional flat back case binding, section folding, sewing, cutting and binding all by hand. Quarter Cloth with Flottage papers that the students made in the morning of the first day... A great loosener - clears the cobwebs. Though there is control with the colours used and one can manipulate the pattern to a degree, the technique is, by and large, serendipitous..... There is no 'wrong' Flottage!....
We learn so much, the nature of paper, making our own adhesives, thread and wax, folding sections and so forth. And, if I may, I would like to answer a question that I am often asked... That is why do I start with a multisectional case bound book... My thoughts are that so much is learnt with the Multisectional Case Bound book that when the student looks at simpler binding styles such as the single single section, the student is able to look at the single section (for example) understand how it is made by being able to reverse engineer, as it were. The concertina book and the other structures that beginners are often subject to become childs play.....
In addition, nothing is in kit form, I feel that all kits do is to teach the student how to assemble kits. My students learn how to measure, cut board by hand (how many beginners have a board chopper?), manipulate and manage the various materials to maximise use. We learn not just how but why, we follow, where we can, the Arts and Crafts ethos. Examples of the period back up the practical experience. For example.. To wean the student of the machine cut edge (if you want a book to look machine made, buy a machine made book) to appreciate the beauty of the uncut- untrimmed text block... To embrace the allure of the handmade.
The teaching/learning is immersive, full on, and, as so many of the students have said in the past..... intensive (by intensive they mean that they are tired at the end of the day, indeed as I am after some 9 hours of tuition a day).
Along with the quarter cloth we make a full buckram flat back and slip case. The 2nd flat back reinforces what we have learnt with the addition of new aspects... A variation in sewing for example.
The slip case, again we use the students Flottage papers, with emphasis given to the fact that the book must be able to both enter and leave the slip case with ease but no wobble!
Having a mixed class of both beginners and those with experience is wonderful. The beginner is exposed to further aspects of bookbinding such as restoration, advanced structures, different materials - leather bindings etc etc. For those with experience, well, it never hurts have have the basics reinforced or re-remembered and, of course, there is always more than one way of doing things... even the humble slip case as a number of those with experience commented on!
