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Dying crafts and keeping their magic alive: The story of a bookbinder
Linette Withers is the only independent bookbinder in Leeds and the creator of Anachronalia, a brand selling miniature books, bookplates and stationery. Growing up in a household where handcrafting was the main source of income and having a keen passion for books, Linette decided to quit her office job and start bookbinding for a living.
I met Linette in October of 2019, at her workshop. She was working on restoring an old atlas, which her clients wanted repaired, since it belonged to their late father. I decided to tell this story from Linette’s perspective. I believe her voice is more important than mine, when talking about her craft. She spoke to me about her goals, struggles and her ambition to keep bookbinding alive.
When I was seven, I went to a chained library with my dad and I remember being fascinated by all the medieval books there. But nobody told me you can do that as a job. Then, when I was working at university, I decided I wanted to make myself some books. I signed up for classes and discovered a whole world of bookbinding I didn’t even know existed.
When making a book, I start by folding the paper, then I sew the pages together, either into the covers or to each other, I attach the spine, add any headbands, do the trimming, do any edge colouring and, finally…
