Anthony Cains: A Decorative Leather Covering Technique

Encouraged by Edgar Mansfield, his teacher at the London School of Printing during the late 1950s, Anthony Cains adopted his technique of moulding and manipulating the leather during the covering process to produce a more or less spontaneous design statement. Probably the best known example of Cains's work using this technique is illustrated in Philip Smith's book "New Directions in Bookbinding" (1974) and again in Eric Burdett's "The Craft of Bookbinding; A Practical Handbook" (1975). This covering method will be thoroughly demonstrated here. Bookbinding 2000 drew an international audience of binders and bibliophiles to commemorate the lifework of Bernard C. Middleton, whose collection of books on bookbinding is held at RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection. These videos, along with their companion publication, "Bookbinding 2000 Proceedings," present the lectures and demonstrations delivered at the conference, and offer insight into the diverse and stimulating work taking place in bookbinding studies.