Interview with George Martin Cunha, March 5, 1991

Interview Summary

In this interview, George Martin Cunha discusses at great length the crafts of bookbinding and papermaking. He mentions various books and authors on these subjects, describes the similarities of vellum and parchment paper and notes that the making of vellum is a dying art and practiced more in Europe. He talks about watermarks on paper and how fake ones can be made. Cunha discusses Gutenberg's first moveable type printing process and that carbon ink was used. He says when printers began to use the offset printing process in the 1940s they found carbon ink was not necessarily the best so began to experiment with aniline dye inks. He describes how a first impression of a book is made today with carbon ink on moveable type and then the offset plates are made with this original copy using "generally less durable inks" and says it is necessary to test the ink before using organic cleaning solvents. He talks about the opportunities for travel and meeting people that the craft of bookbinding has given him. Cunha has studied bookbinding from both the craftsman's and preservationist point of view. He talks about the need for printers to continue practices learned over the centuries, especially the use of soluble adhesives, since books eventually need to be repaired. He notes that fine book making is the same today as it was in the 1490s. Cunha says the paper mills converted to the alkaline process purely for economic reasons and that paper has not changed in two thousand years, it's what people have done to it, i.e., treating paper with alum and rosin. He emphasizes that "acid is the arch enemy" and warns "choose your paper carefully." He comments that bookbinding requires the characteristic of patience, that women seem to have more of this than men, and the success of the Guild of Book Workers in America is due to the dedication and capable leadership of these women. He discusses the techniques of Japanese bookbinding.

Interview Keyword

Handmade paper Gutenberg Bible Vellum Parchment Henry Morris Cellulose Women bookbinders Bookbinding techniques Printing

Interview LC Subject

Cunha, George Daniel Martin Cunha, George Daniel Martin--Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History Materials Paper industry Papermaking Workmanship Bookbinding

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