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About The American Bookbinders Museum
Exhibited at the museum are a wide array of 19th century industrial binding machines, hand tools, collections of 18th and 19th century marbled and printed papers, reference books and manuals dating back to the 18th century, journals, photographs, and much more. The museum also maintains an electronic database containing biographical information on thousands of American bookbinders from the 17th century through to the present day.
Black and white photography
courtesy of Dan Goldberg
The Focus of this collection is on bookbinding's transition from a craft to an industry. We try to obtain the earliest examples of equipment that successfully replaced each of the hand steps in bookbinding. This includes what is perhaps the earliest rounder- backer in existence, a very early book sewing machine, early gold stamping (blocking) machine, guillotine and board shears. These are juxtaposed with the various hand tools they replaced
As a Bookbinders Museum we seek stories of the people who bound the books, invented and operated the equipment and changed a trade into an industry.
Photographs show the binders, the environment in which they worked, the type of binding they were doing and the tools and equipment they were using.
The Museum maintains an on line data base containing information on over twenty five hundred American Binders prior to 1850
and includes their business location by date, partnerships, dates of birth & death when available and a variety of other information.
 
Decorative Paper Collection
We have on exhibit many examples of printed an marbled nineteenth century decorative paper
as well as images of paper-makers and their equipment
Address
The American Bookbinders Museum is located at 1962 Harrison Street, San Francisco (near 16th street)
[our mailing address is: 2736 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103]
Telephone
Business hours M-F: 415-671-2233
Evenings: 415-710-9369
During Museum Hours: 415-824-9754
Always open on Mondays and Thursday 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
We are open any time by appointment and we welcome groups of one to thirty for private viewing.
The American Bookbinders Museum is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the preservation
and exhibition of all things related to the history of bookbinding in America.
If you would care to make a donation you an do so by clicking the button below and using your credit card. Checks can be made out to The American Bookbinders Museum and sent to The American Bookbinders Museum, 2736 16 th Street, San Francisco CA 94103
Thank you very much for your support!
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