The Way Books Were Bound: Exploring the Craft of Bookbinding through History at Historic Sugartown

The Way Books Were Bound: Exploring the Craft of Bookbinding through History

Thursday, March 31st at 7 PM at Historic Sugartown’s Carriage Museum

Tours of the Book Bindery from 5:45 – 6:45 PM

(Malvern, PA) Explore the history of the art and trade of bookbinding at the upcoming program “The Way Books Were Bound,” on Thursday, March 31st at 7 PM at Historic Sugartown’s Carriage Museum. Historic Sugartown’s Master Bookbinder Ramon Townsend will share his knowledge and insight on 18th and 19th-century bookbinding, based on his experience at Colonial Williamsburg apprenticeship program. He will highlight tools of the trade and historic bindings from Historic Sugartown’s collection. Prior to the program, there will be tours of Historic Sugartown’s Book Bindery, which houses the world-class collection of bookbinding tools and equipment once owned by the well-known book conservators, Fred and Elke Shihadeh.

About the Lecturer

Ramon Townsend studied hand bookbinding in the 1970’s and 80’s under the Master and Journeymen bookbinders at Colonial Williamsburg. Colonial Williamsburg has an apprenticeship program where it passes on traditional handcrafts. Part of his training was to demonstrate and teach the crafts to visitors. In addition to bookbinding, Ramon also learned other book related arts such as paper marbling, papermaking, and hand set printing. Ramon now brings his four decades of experience to Historic Sugartown as our instructor in the Book Bindery, offering workshops in bookbinding, paper marbling and book restoration. Visit HistoricSugartown.org for upcoming workshop dates. Ramon also offers his book repair and rebinding services through his business, the Colonial Bindery (colonialbindery.com.)

Admission: $8/ Person. Registration is not required, but we would be glad to know you are coming! Sign up at HistoricSugartown.org, or contact Faith McCarrick at 610-640-2667 or famccarrick@historicsugartown.org.

Directions: The event will take place in Historic Sugartown’s Carriage Museum. Locate it by GPS by entering 273 Boot Road, Malvern, PA 19355.

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Historic Sugartown, Inc. inspires the community to engage with the past through authentic 19th-century experiences, participate in the village’s present life and protect it for the future. Historic Sugartown stewards 9.2 acres of land and nine historic structures, including 4.2 acres of open space under conservation easement with Willistown Conservation Trust. Historic Sugartown’s Carriage Museum interprets Chester County’s rich transportation heritage through a rare collection of historic carriages and sleighs in partnership with Chester County Historical Society. Historic Sugartown is open for guided tours on Saturdays, 11 am – 4 pm and Sundays, 1 – 4 pm from May through the 1st weekend in December. Tour admission: $5 Adults, $4 Seniors (60+ yrs), $3 Children (3 – 17 yrs). Children ages 2 and younger admitted free. For weekend tours, enter 273 Boot Road, Malvern, PA, into your GPS to bring you directly to Historic Sugartown’s visitor parking. School and group tours are also available. For more information, visit HistoricSugartown.org, or like us on FaceBook.