Book binding at UDP - Review by Alison Cuthbertson

It was quite a trek getting out to The Ugly Duckling Presse that day. Taking the 6, to the S, to the R, which never showed up and instead taking the N, and then the R again, was all just so unnecessary. It took two hours to get there and a rat hit my shoe almost running up my leg when I get out of the subway. Though insane, the journey was well worth it to bind some books at one of the coolest publishing houses in Brooklyn. I had never known that publishing houses had volunteer days. This was so exciting to me! I could show up and help bind books for hours. There is no better way to spend a Saturday! Being someone that is personally very interested in book binding and the “ART of the book”, this was great practice, and I also learned some new techniques to use on my own.  



When I finally got there, up the stairs, and into the room, Tallulah Pomeroy immediately showed me the way they wanted the books sewn together and left me to continue on. It was nice to see some classmates that also participated, such as Phil Taylor, Tomm McCarthy, and Rachel Carlson. All the chapbooks were so beautiful and perfect. Creating a book is such a delicate and wonderful process and at the end you feel so accomplished. Ruby Kapka showed us all the steps that go into making books. The paper needs to be neatly folded and pressed down with a bone piece. These folded papers are “the guts” which are placed in the cover and are center for the holes to be made in the spine. We used a sharp tool with a handle and a guide for where the holes should be made so that they are uniform. When binding, we used small lovely threads, some of which were waxed. Depending on the string the wax coating makes it easier to work with and can make tighter knots to better keep books together. It is pretty easy to do but there are much more complicated ways to make books, but we stuck with the beginner stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed myself there creating all day, so much so I probably could have stayed longer but by 5 everyone was ready to close up shop. Not if, but when I return to New York I will most definitely go back to Ugly Duckling Presse to volunteer or maybe even intern there. A truly wonderful experience indeed!