In Spring of 2006, Bridwell Library for the first time will devote an exhibition entirely to highlights from its significant collection of master bookbindings. The exhibition will focus on the rich history of decorative binding styles, from the elaborate stamped leather and gold-tooled bindings of the Renaissance to the innovative, colorful, and textually responsive design bindings of the late twentieth century. The accompanying catalog, which illustrates and describes more than fifty master bindings, provides an introduction to the history of binding techniques and explores how this ever-changing art form serves as a mirror of society, as well.


This exhibition of master bookbindings also serves as a significant historical overture to Bridwell Library's upcoming Helen Warren DeGolyer American Bookbinding Competition and its associated conference and exhibition, which opens in June 2006.
 

Six Centuries of Master Bookbinding at Bridwell Library, by Eric Marshall White, with Elizabeth Haluska-Rausch and John T. McQuillen. Bridwell Library, Dallas, Texas, 2005. 126 pp.,  illus., $30.00 (plus shipping and handling).