AboutABC has 150 plus members throughout New Zealand and Australia.Regional contacts are located in Northland, Dargaville, Auckland, Hamilton, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington, Nelson/ Tasman, Christchurch, Southland and Central Otago.
From humble beginnings......the recollections of John Sansom
In 1989 a small group of people met as a ‘bookbinding interest group’, namely Pamela Robson, Jocelyn Windsor, Marthin Mare, Jack O’Brien, Peter Goodwin and John Sansom.
Prior to this there was correspondence back and forth with Edgar Mansfield in the UK to establish If he knew of a bookbinders' guild in New Zealand as Edgar, before moving back to the UK, had been an artist, sculptor and teacher at Fielding High School.
Edgar later began a movement in Britain which heralded the renaissance in bookbinding. Edgar’s advice to me was “do your own thing and get on with forming your own guild”. This we did and from the ‘interest group' the Association of Book Crafts (NZ) Inc. was finally formed. Marthin Mare was the first newsletter Editor producing the first one in 1989. At the time we became an Incorporated Society we had 22 foundation members.
Our letterhead and logo were designed for us by David Buck.
Arthur W. Johnson, the author of several books, binder, calligrapher and teacher was our first Patron and made a number of visits to New Zealand with his wife Pamela, an international tutor in lace making. They both fell in love with our country, especially the Catlins area.
Arthur W. Johnson, the author of several books, binder, calligrapher and teacher was our first Patron and made a number of visits to New Zealand with his wife Pamela, an international tutor in lace making. They both fell in love with our country, especially the Catlins area.
Dominic Riley
In June 2021 Dominic Riley accepted the role of ABC Patron. He made his first visit to New Zealand in 2014 to present and speak at the Australasian Conference in Auckland. Dominic has since delivered a number of workshops for ABC members when travelling to Australasia for conferences. Dominic Riley is an internationally renowned bookbinder and teacher. He specialises in the restoration of antiquarian books and the creation of contemporary fine bindings. He teaches bookbinding both in the UK and USA, and his prize-winning bindings are in collections worldwide, including the British Library. He is a Fellow of Designer Bookbinders and President of the Society of Bookbinders.
Dominic first learned bookbinding at 16 from Benedictine monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire and later at the London College of Printing. He has worked at the V&A, and for various binderies in London, New York and San Francisco. His binding work is mostly the restoration of antiquarian books and design bindings. He won first prize and the Mansfield Medal in the Designer Bookbinders 2007 competition and was elected Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2008. In 2010 he bound a special copy of the winner of the Booker Prize which was presented to the author. In 2013 he won the prestigious Sir Paul Getty award in the International Bookbinding Competition and his winning binding was acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Dominic first learned bookbinding at 16 from Benedictine monks at Douai Abbey in Berkshire and later at the London College of Printing. He has worked at the V&A, and for various binderies in London, New York and San Francisco. His binding work is mostly the restoration of antiquarian books and design bindings. He won first prize and the Mansfield Medal in the Designer Bookbinders 2007 competition and was elected Fellow of Designer Bookbinders in 2008. In 2010 he bound a special copy of the winner of the Booker Prize which was presented to the author. In 2013 he won the prestigious Sir Paul Getty award in the International Bookbinding Competition and his winning binding was acquired by the Bodleian Library in Oxford.