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Early American Bookbinding In Brigham Young University's Special Collections, Kylie Ladd

Student Works

Bookbinding is a tradition that began in America before America itself. The earliest identified binder was John Ratcliff, who came to Boston from England about 1662. In fact, bookbinding preceded printing in America – the first (anonymous) binding was completed in 1636, and the first printer didn't appear until two years after that. Save for a few major figures, most binders and the bindings they completed remain anonymous, identifiable only by the style of decoration. In this paper will attempt to study the characteristics and traditions of early 19th century publishers and book binding through a case study of a …