The Art of Binding Books

(Wakefield, W. Yorkshire): Fleece Press, 1991. Claes, Brother Edgard. (28)ff. One of 290 copies. Illustrated with etchings by Anthony Christmas. Written by master binder Angela James, this attractive little book summarizes the history of binding, with a glossary.

This copy has been bound by Brother Edgard Claes of the Holy Cross Fathers in Diest, Belgium, and certainly demonstrates his avant-garde response to the traditional approaches to the medium defined within. Backed in black morocco, the covers sport swirling layers of delicately and exactly cut boards, oriented and designed in a futuristic, even space-age mode. Layers affixed with screws, and inset are ornamental pieces made from tiger's eye, onyx, and agate. Housed in matching box with suede sleeve. Very fine. (2 by 2 15/16; 54x75mm).

After training in art, design, and layout, Claes studied binding with Renatus de Cock and August Kulche at the Rijksinstitut in Malines, where he was later appointed professor. His original intent was to do restoration work in the monastery library, but his creativity and zeal led him to the use of innovative materials and cutting-edge abstract designs which emphasize the structure of the book. He won the Prix International de Reliure d'Art in 1986 and was given a one-man show in Paris in 1993. In spite of his many monastic duties, he does all the work painstakingly himself, and master binder August Kulche said of his student, "He is one of the few whose hands obey his brain to perfection.