Crossed-Structure Binding Workshop

Are you curious about the art of book-making? Join us for an immersive workshop exploring the hands-on technical processes of bookbinding! In this session, you'll learn to make Carmencho Arregui's Crossed-Structure binding, from which you will gain experience in some of the fundamentals in bookbinding. You’ll have the chance to make your own personal copy to take home as a keepsake!

All materials will be provided, though attendees are encouraged to bring any decorative papers they would like to include in their personal projects. Whether you’re interested in experiential research with historical binding technologies or simply curious about the craft, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to explore the equipment available at the MakerSpace at the School of Advanced Study.

The workshop will be led by Sophie Weinberg and Sarah Williams.

Sophie Weinberg is an MRes student in the History of the Book at the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study researching early modern women's print production. The recipient of the SAS Masters Studentship, she earned her BA from Smith College with a double major in English and the Study of Women and Gender, with a concentration in Book Studies. Sophie has been bookbinding for four years, and is also an experienced letterpress printer, paper-maker, and paper-marbler.

Sarah Williams is an MA student in Classics at UCL (Intercollegiate with King’s and the ICS), returning as a mature student to a first love of studying the ancient world. Sarah has studied bookbinding for over fifteen years as a mindful practice away from the stresses of work or study. Latterly Sarah studied Advanced Fine Binding under Kathy Abbott and in 2020 was thrilled to win the Designer Bookbinders Ash Rare Books Lettering Prize for her binding of the Poems of Sappho.