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De Vormforensen www.devormforensen.nl

Mooie boeken maak je samen

By 19-09-2022

Bookbinder Gijs Wortel will be 80 years old in September 2022. The bookbinding profession is disappearing in the Netherlands and graphic design studio De Vormforensen think this knowledge should be passed on. In honour of Gijs’ birthday and his oeuvre, they are publishing a book about the making of books.

On Friday September 16, the book was presented at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. Gijs’ roots are in the Jordaan and his enormous passion for bookbinding brought him to this special place. The book is available in various bookstores or via the webshop.

Beautiful books are made together
With this book, we build a bridge between generations of bookbinders. We share the knowledge and craft of bookbinding legend Gijs Wortel. The book takes you through a selection of 35 special books that make the changes in the graphic industry visible and readable. Today’s book maker can feed himself with Gijs’ tips, a lexicon of professional terms and binding techniques. With this publication, we collect and publish knowledge that is still available today.

Gijs Wortel
Gijs Wortel (1942) was born in Amsterdam and came into contact with the bookbinding profession at a very early age. He was educated at the Amsterdamse Grafische School and SGV in Utrecht. He became a teacher and board member at the Grafische MTS in Amsterdam and had various management positions at two large bookbinding firms in the Netherlands, Spiegelenberg and Stokkink. From Wortel Binding he still guides and binds and works together with designers. Some nice collaborations like the SHV-book he developed with Irma Boom, the art books he still develops with Mark van den Eijnden and the life project the Atlas Blaeu van der Hem. Besides the bindery where he can be found every day in Someren-Eind, he collects books, materials and tools from graphic history. Gijs received the Grafische Cultuurprijs (Graphic Culture Prize) in 2008 and his craftsmanship is still relevant and valuable for today’s designers, binders and printers.

Who make the book
Together with author Alex de Vries and photographer Erik Smits, we worked on the content of the book last year. The production team consists of Drukkerij Tielen, paper supplier IGEPA, Boekenbinderij Brepols, Van Heek Textiles, Repro Hermans and Gijs Wortel Binding. Graphic design studio De Vormforensen (Anne-Marie Geurink and Annelou van Griensven) are the initiators of the book and will publish it themselves.

shop.devormforensen.nl

Portrait photography: Erik Smits