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John F. Grabau Selected formulas for book-binding
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Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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John Frederick Grabau was born in Wisconsin in 1878. He trained as an artistic bookbinder, apprenticing in the printing shop of Gies & Co. and at Peter Paul’s bookbindery. In 1902, Grabau became the protégé of Louis H. Kinder at the Roycroft community bindery. Kinder founded the Roycroft Bindery in 1896 and attracted many talented young artists, including Grabau, Harry Avery, and Charles Youngers. The Roycroft community produced some of the finest hand-crafted books, furniture, lamps and metalwork of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Grabau left Roycroft in 1905 to found the Derome Bindery in Buffalo, New York. He named the bindery after Nicolas Derome, who was noted for his dentelle borders. Grabau died in Aurora, New York, in 1948.
This manuscript may have been compiled by Grabau as a reference to use in his new bindery, as the first section contains selected formulas from his mentor’s book, while the latter part is mainly concerned with the various processes involved in binding.
Via, Marie and Marjorie B. Searl. Head, Heart and Hand: Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1994.American Bookbinders Museum “Grabau, John F. (Buffalo, NY) (accessed July 28, 2017) http://directory.bookbindersmuseum.org/bbdir/bbdir/name/grabau-john-f-buffalo-ny/?page=The Arts and Crafts Society, “The Roycroft Community” (accessed July 28, 2017) http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/hdavis.shtmlGrosvenor Rare Book Room, “John F. Grabau Bookbinding Specimen” (accessed July 28, 2017) https://grorarebookroom.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/john-f-grabau-bookbinding-specimen/Information derived from the collection.
This manuscript text contains a selection of formulae from Louis Kinder’s
Formulas for Bookbinders as well as a section by Grabau titled “A Guide to the Binding of Books, with a few Suggestions.” The first twenty-one pages of the volume contain formulas selected from Kinder’s work and are entitled “Formulas for Sizes, Fillers, etc. by L.H. Kinder.” This section includes formulas for various glairs, shellacs, glues, pomades, and fillers. Beginning on page twenty-three, Grabau recorded his own instructions on the various processes involved in bookbinding. Grabau included instructions on mending books, creating flyleaves and pastedowns, sewing signatures, and binding with various materials. On the final page of the volume, Grabau made a sketch of an open book and wrote “The End.” He signed this page “John F. Grabau/Buffalo, May 1906.” Grabau included a handwritten index at the end of the volume.This volume is bound in half crimson morocco leather with marbled boards and contains a crimson ribbon marker. The title is in gilt on the spine. The pastedowns and flyleaves are marbled. The title page reads “Selected Formulas for/Book-binding/with a guide to the binding of individual/books in Moroccos and Levants/by/John F. Grabau/Buffalo, N.Y./1906.” The volume contains thirty-six leaves of unlined wove paper with handwritten text in black ink on thirty-five pages.
Item 0036: Shelved in SPEC MSS 0095 vault
Purchase, January 2017
Processed and encoded by Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger, July 2017.
People
Subject
- Bookbinding--united States--History--20th century
- Bookbinding--Handbooks, manuals, etc
- Book industries and trade--United States--History--20th century
Occupation
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- 2017 July 28
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce isrequired from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec
Collection Inventory
1 volume