A History of English Arts & Crafts Bookbinding, 1880-1930

This paper provides a background of early book and bookbinding history, followed by a survey of English bookbinders and bookbinding of the Arts & Crafts period, 1880-1930. The role of the Industrial Revolution and William Morris in stimulating this period of a return to fine bookbinding, during the growth of the mass production of books, is elucidated. An in-depth examination of binders of the period is presented, including T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, the leader of this movement in bookbinding, as well as three leading women fine bookbinders, Sarah Treverbian Prideaux, Katharine Adams, and Sybil Pye