Andrew Huot
Photos by Jaye Barlous
I walked into Andrew Huot's "Introduction to Bookbinding" class feeling tense and intimidated, sure that after two hours of bloodshed and clumsiness I would have failed to produce anything worthy of the name of "book". I emerged from Studio A reluctantly more than two hours later, elatedly holding my four "books" close, all skin intact. I was hooked!
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Andrew Huot |
Andrew Huot has been working temporarily in the Beach Lab, but he has years of experience creating and repairing books, and teaches through DIVA. His experience as a teacher showed, as he calmed our fears and made the arcane seem easy. He first introduced himself and told us the names of all the tools we'd be using in the class and what they were used for. We stood close around the demonstration table, while he showed us that paper has a grain, told us why that is important, and demonstrated how to tell which way the grain goes. Then he showed us slowly and clearly how to construct our first project, a small pamphlet made of a single sheet of paper folded four times, sewn into a paper cover. A thick, tense silence enveloped the group as we watched him intently. He told us exactly what materials to take to our tables with us: paper, bone folder, awl, fettling knife, etc., and we gathered them up and returned to begin our creations. The silence gave way to a soft hum of voices. Some of the group had some experience either with book construction or repair, while others, like me, were complete novices. Andrew walked about observing us and helping us when we couldn't remember which step came next. Soon we had all completed a small book! OK, a tiny pamphlet—but we were thrilled with the result.
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Students gather their materials |
Our next project was a do-si-do book, a book where there is one cover but two sets of pages, each set opening on a different side of the cover. Again we watched intently as Andrew demonstrated, then returned to our tables with materials in hand. Soon we had all completed this odd little book, and were ready to be instructed in the art of making a "2-on-1" or "butterfly stitch" book, where a part of the cover is folded up in the middle and the two sets of sheets sewn through it.
By this time even we novices were gaining confidence, but we were a little intimidated by the last project, an accordion book. This was definitely the most complex of the four projects. Andrew showed us how to fold two lengths of paper to make one long accordion-folded sheet, gluing the sheets together. Then we covered some scrap mat board with paper covers, slipped the ends of the accordion sheet into each, and, voilà! Beautiful.
A few weeks later, I ran into Dennis Hyatt, who you may remember was head of the Law Library for many years. Dennis was in Andrew's class that evening, and he was so inspired that he signed up for a number of his DIVA classes. Looks like a new career is in the offing: he had that fanatical book-arts-devotee fire in his eyes.
The "Introduction to Bookbinding Workshop" was sponsored by the Library Staff Association Program Committee.