WELCOME BOOKBINDERS AND BOOK ARTISTS

Since 1983 the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild has worked to support the development of the book arts in Canada. This web site is dedicated to that effort. The book arts include bookbinding, artists' books, papermaking, calligraphy, letterpress printing and typography, wood engraving, paper decorating, restoration, and conservation.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS:


IN PERSON WORKSHOP

Bookbinding 1 with Tim Dyck Durham, ON

Two sessions of three days - March 21-23 and 28-30, 2026


Bookbinding I is considered the fundamental course of the CBBAG curriculum by teaching terminology, materials, tools, techniques, and basic concepts. The course includes six components: setting up the shop and tools; materials and techniques, making a picture frame; sewing variations, endpapers; book cloth and board; making the case; hanging-in the text block, adhesion; and expansion and contraction. This course includes pamphlet sewing, lap stitch sewing, quarter, half, and full cloth case binding; and concepts of grain, warp and pull, swell, and the joint.

Click here for full details



ONLINE WORKSHOP

Pop Up Tunnel Book with Kit Davey

Sunday, February 22, 2026, 4.30 - 6.30 p.m. 


Each page of this book has a flat mini tunnel book which is revealed when you unlock the tab and lift it up.

Five layers, or frames, give you opportunities to attach images to create depth. 

When you flatten the tunnel and slip it back under the tab it goes back into hiding. 

Video of the book in action!

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ONLINE WORKSHOP

The Girdle Book with Anna Yevtukh

4 Sundays, March 1, 8, 15, 22, 2026

March 1: 10:30 AM – 12:45 PM (EST) 
March 8, 15, & 22: 11:30 AM – 1:45 PM (EDT) 


Learn how to create the quirky Medieval Girdle Book with all its traditional features.

This course will be packed with interesting information and practical knowledge. It's designed for anyone interested in the medieval history from bookbinding point of view and will require some usual professional bookbinding equipment like sewing frame and finishing press. Work-arounds will be offered explaining what you can use instead if you don’t have a sewing frame or finishing press.

Girdle Books were small portable books worn by medieval European monks and aristocrats as a popular accessory between the 13th and 16th century in a narrow area from Netherlands to the Upper Rhine Valley.

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Click here for The list of all workshops and courses.



Kindred Spirits: The Lucy Maud Montgomery Legacy as Interpreted by Contemporary Book Artists

For the list of exhibition venues across Canada, visit the exhibition's website:  kindred-spirits-bookarts.com

The Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada.

Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube (for exclusive lecture recording, Beyond Anne of Green Gables, presented by Kathy Wasylenky from Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario).

BOOKBINDING

WHAT IS IT?

Image of brass gold finishing tools being heated on a finishing stove.

Work & Hobby

Bookbinding consists of many different types of work, particularly in North America where it can be difficult to specialize and make a living.

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Magazine

EXTENSIVE LIBRARY

Image of a Book Arts Canada (Arts du Livre Canada) magazine cover.

Publication

Book Arts arts du livre Canada is published twice a year. It features book arts events, book artists, book and exhibition reviews, technical articles, and historical essays.

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EDUCATION

RESOURCES

Detail of the face of a brass finishing tool in the shape of a raven .ARTISTS & BOOKBINDERS

CBBAG has a few curated lists of resources that we think will be of use to bookbinders and book artists. 

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Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild (CBBAG)

Charitable Business Number 89179 5445 RR0001


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