Recollections: A Life in Bookbinding (review)

Recollections: A Life in Bookbinding. By Bernard C. Middleton. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press, and London: British Library, 2000. xii, 126 pp. $39.95. ISBN 1-58456-016-9 (U.S.A.) and 0-7123-4683-X (U.K.).

"[We] don't publish books about warriors and politicians. We publish books about the books arts and the talented people who have mastered them" (iii), writes a publisher at Oak Knoll Press. Recollections: A Life in Bookbinding is one of these books. Within its gold-tooled cover lies an autobiography by Bernard C. Middleton, one of the world's leading experts in bookbinding, restoration, and conservation.

His father being a professional forwarder, Middleton became aware of the craft in "the early years" (1) and bound his first books at the age of twelve. This chapter focuses on family memories and his years at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (London), which are marked by a beginner's biblio-embarrassments: "I proudly took home a book I had bound in quarter-goat, library style, and showed it to a family friend who flipped through it and immediately spotted that a section was upside down. Oh, such mortification" (6).

In the chapter entitled "The War Years," Middleton states that his apprenticeship in the British Museum Bindery was gradually replaced by the preoccupations of wartime: fire watching, participation in Local Defense Volunteers, training and service in the navy. However, neither the frustrations of his first steps in the profession nor the harsh realities of the war make Middleton lose his sense of humor. Here and there appear self-mocking intonations that save the author and the reader from military pathos: "At the end I became an Ordinary Signalman (known colloquially as a 'bunting tosser') and proudly sewed a crossed-flags badge on my right sleeve, and made sure that it was in full view for a photograph" (17).

In the next chapter, "My Education Continues," Middleton tells about beneficial acquaintances with important figures in the craft and his first teaching experience at an art school in Richmond.

Middleton was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1951 and, the following year, appointed manager of Zaehnsdorf's Ltd., a bookbinding firm of international reputation. The chapter entitled "Zaehnsdorf's" deals with the activities of the company under his management and with those of its rival firm, Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Among many outstanding projects, Zaehnsdorf's participated in the binding of the Royal Philatelic Collection in 1952, "the most notable and interesting book-production enterprise of the century up to that time" (30).

In the chapters "A Business of Our Own" and "A Home of Our Own" Middleton offers insight into such spheres of the craft as materials, tools, restoration, old-style binding, and facsimile printing intermingled with the anecdotes of his professional successes and misfortunes. On a more personal note, the author writes about his apprentices, his friends and colleagues, his travels, and his interest in wine making.

In the final chapter, "America and Beyond," Middleton discusses his workshop tours to universities and binderies all over the United States and his professional trips to Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Venezuela, and Brazil.

Besides displaying Middleton's remarkable knowledge, modesty, and sense of humor, Recollections is ornamented with numerous historical illustrations. Moreover, this edition is enriched with photographs (forty-six in color and forty-six in black and white) of Bernard Middleton's finest binding designs accompanied by detailed descriptions. Appendixes contain documents that reflect the stages of bookbinding apprenticeship in the middle of the twentieth century. For further information, the bibliography supplies a complete list of books and articles by Bernard Middleton as well as references for the articles on his work and for the videos in which he has participated.

Recollections will be of interest to those involved in bookbinding and conservation and to booklovers in general.