New Leather

Yesterday, I drove out to the country in a snowstorm to visit a bookbinder who is retiring. He had called me to ask if I wanted to look at, and possibly buy, some of his equipment or supplies. I didn't know what to expect, and as I was navigating slippery corners, taking wrong turns, and backtracking to find his place, I did wonder whether it was going to be worth it. Well it was! He is a lovely person, and very knowledgeable.

He spent quite a bit of time showing me his workshop and giving me advice on bookbinding. There aren't any other bookbinders (that I know of, anyway) near where I live, so it was great to have someone to chat with about it. He also sold me all of his bookbinding leather, mostly goat and also some calfskin in all sorts of colours. It's so pretty! Here are a couple of pictures, one of all the leather in a pile, and another of my worktable with some leather and also some of the handmade paper I just bought to use for book covers. Now I just have to get busy and make some books...