Seventy Years in Bookbinding (DVD) – A Portrait of Bernard Middleton

Bernard C. Middleton, M.B.E., F.S.A was one of the most skilled craftsman of our time. His career spanned some seventy years, as bookbinder, teacher and writer. We are fortunate to have this visual record of Bernard at work.

In this film, Bernard looks back on his long and varied life in bookbinding, which began at the of Arts & Crafts in 1938. He remembers his apprenticeship years at the British Museum and reflects on his time spent as the manager of Zaehnsdorf’s.He talks about his early years of self-employment in a garret room in Soho, his American adventures and his experiences in the flood-damaged libraries of Florence.

Bernard shares some of his extraordinary techniques for restoring antiquarian books and takes us on a tour of his bindery.

With his characteristically understated humour, his sharp mind and thoughtful observations on the he craft that he loved, Bernard gives us a truly fascinating, often moving and always enjoyable insight into his remarkable world.

123 minutes.