18 February 2008: Simple to Sumptuous: Bookbindings 1400-2000,from the Special Printed Collections, Alexander Turnbull Library
"Bookbindings are more than an adjunct, an afterthought, a later addition to a book; they are more than a convenient way of holding a written or printed text together and protecting it from excessive wear and tear. Bindings are an essential part of book production, if we consider its full cycle from writer to reader" - Mirjam Foot, Bookbinders at Work, 2006.
A new exhibition, designed to highlight the variety of binding styles held in the Special Printed Collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library, will include examples from the 15th to the 21st century, emanating from a triangle as wide as Europe, Japan, and the Antarctic. Many of these bindings have never been on display before.
Coverings include leather, vellum, textiles, paper, and wood. Some highlights are a 15th-century monastic binding, a pre-Restoration English embroidered binding, a sumptuously gold tooled mid 17th-century fine binding, rare early temporary bindings of vellum and of Dutch gilt embossed paper, and a binding from Antarctica, the last made in 1908 from expedition packing cases during the Shackleton expedition.
Media organisations can download high-resoution images from the exhibition on this website.
Download 'Simple to Sumptuous' images
The exhibition will run from 5 April to 19 July 2008.
