For the love of bookbinding

Peter James fell in love more than 40 years ago. He knew he had found the one he would be faithful to until his dying day.

His unfailing love? It’s not for a woman, but for the ancient craft of bookbinding. Decades later, his devotion remains strong as the head forwarder for the Government Printing Office.

“There is no burden in doing what I do. I will always come back to bookbinding,” James, 62, said through a British accent.

His love affair began in the 1960s, when at 15 he applied for a job as a “lackey” at a London bookbinding shop.
He never thought he would become enamored with the business of binding and adorning books — his goal was a career in printing.

At the shop he learned loose-leaf, hardcover, Bible and library-style binding, and soon graduated to an apprenticeship.
“I liked what I was doing so much,” he said. “Basically by then I was interested in bookbinding.”

The apprenticeship was difficult to get and competitive to keep. About 30 other apprentices from shops in London worked to outshine each other while learning how to marble, hand-sew and fold books, among other methods. The technique of hand-sewing books, using a wooden tool, has remained the same for more than 200 years.

James completed his apprenticeship successfully and became a journeyman.

His love has, in fact, inspired him to see the world. Once he became a skilled journeyman, James could easily get a job anywhere in Europe. He initially planned to go abroad for a matter of weeks, but found himself drawn to faraway places.
“I got the travel lust,” he said.

He chose Norway as a jumping-off point. But the U.K. would allow him to bring only £50 out of the country, so for more than a year, James hitchhiked across Europe looking for work and adventure. “I would work at a place and get enough money to move on,” he said.

Love of the more traditional kind inspired James to make the leap across the pond when he fell for an American woman he met in Germany. Before he knew it, he was living in the U.S., although he didn’t stay with his girlfriend for long.
“Things happen when you’re young and stupid,” James said with a grin, remembering the 23-year-old he used to be.
Once in the U.S., he worked his way up the ladder, and eight years ago began working for the government’s printing, publishing and digital media services experts.

James has the most fun marbling, a technique that an Italian craftsman taught him. So unique that only a handful of bookbinders in the country know how to do it, marbling is the process of coloring a book’s edges using a special cocktail of ingredients, including ox bile and carrageenan, which is essentially Irish seaweed.

“It’s a little decorative, so it’s fun,” he said.

James creates the desired pattern using a wooden brush, which he dips into the colors. Then he splashes the colors in an oily substance. The final step is to place the book on the surface of the mixture, adhering color to the edges of the pages.
James uses one of a dozen marbling patterns to decorate the so-called head, forage and tail of historical documents such as the U.S. Code.

He is desperate to learn how to “tree marble,” or marbling a book’s cover after an acid treatment that helps colors stick. His desire to learn is as much influenced by his innate curiosity as by the will to hold on to a dying skill.

“There’s no one doing it and I’d really like to do it,” he said.

His passion for bookbinding even once led him to the White House, where he hand-delivered President Bush’s first presidential papers. The books, usually two or three volumes thick, are compilations of daily accounts of the president’s term.

Former Public Printer Bruce James introduced James to the president by his formal title (head forwarder) and Bush was immediately curious. James explained his position and was treated to a 20-minute guided tour of the Oval Office.
“He’s very personable,” he said of Bush.

James called the visit one of the highlights of his career. “You’re standing there with the president, and that’s pretty neat,” he said.

James also works on one-of-a-kind books commemorating special occasions, such as the memorial tributes to former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, as well as on presidential pardon books and bill holders. In addition, he has hand-bound tributes to the late Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.) and former Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-Mass.). 

The books will be here “long after we’re here,” James marveled. “Someone will pick it up and they will be handling work that I’ve put my hands on. By extension, I get to touch history a little bit.” 

His devotion to his life’s work is so strong that he said he never intends to retire.

“I love what I do,” he said. “I’ve always said that I will die at the bench.”