Bookbindings recently acquired for Bryn Mawr College through the generosity of an alumna form the basis of the 1998-1999 exhibition in the Mariam Coffin Canaday Library. The new collection contains two hundred nineteen signed or ticketed British bookbindings, nearly all from the nineteenth century. Additional ticketed British bindings from the Rare Book Collection and comparable American examples from the Maser Collection supplement the exhibition, providing an opportunity to compare and view with new emphasis the similarity of bookbinding on both sides of the Atlantic.
The strength of the collection falls within the years 1820 and 1860, a period when the trade moved away from hand binding, with shop masters working alone or with a few journeymen, and toward larger firms, with specialization of labor and increasing mechanization. Industrial progress and growing literacy placed expanding demands on the binder. These demands were met through the steady advancement of both the business and the craft of bookbinding.
Because these bindings are ticketed, techniques used to meet the new demands can be studied, and names can be given to the men and women who developed and practiced these innovations.
