Last week one of our many friends stubbled across this little gem of a book in Birmingham. I think the best way to describe it is an olden day lonely planet guide for London. It was published in 1918 by Ward, Lock & Co. who were based at the Foundation and it is the fortieth edition of the book. The book contains maps of the city and a train map as well as over 100 photographs of various landmarks to go and see in London.
The St Bride Foundation is featured in the guide book and at the time it was published it had a general lending and reference library; free to residents and those employed in the Western area of the City. It had the typographical library open to ‘all those interested in printing and the allied trades’; and when referring to the typographical library it decribes it as ‘the most complete in the Kingdom’. It also mentions the classrooms used for printing workshops as well as the baths and swimming pool.
‘Covered’ Exhibition
Last night was the opening night of the first Designer Bookbinders Exhibition ‘Covered’ at the St Bride Foundation. There was an excellecent turnout and everyone really enjoyed themselves; a few even treated themselves to a book! If you haven’t heard of Designer Bookbinders you need to know that they create beautifully bound books using materials such as leather or suede. The finished bound books are amazing and it is very easy to see the hard work and skill that goes into producing each of these books.
Below are images of the books in the Exhibition…
All the books are for sale and many have already sold. To find out more information on Designer Bookbinders and how to get involved visit their website, http://www.designerbookbinders.org.uk/home.html
Just a quick update…
It has been an extremely busy time here at the St Bride Foundation recently. The Layton room renovations are coming to an end and are nearly finished just in time for the grand opening of the first Designer Bookbinders exhibition, ‘Covered’ which begins next week and something us all at the foundation are extremely excited about; below is a sneak peek of the Layton room getting its finishing touches!
Last month we had our first lecture in collaboration with Eyemagazine which was extremely successful . Speakers included Mark Porter, Mark Wilson and Wilson Fletcher and focused on the future of editorial design on multiple platforms such as smartphones and tablets. We are looking forward to the next one in June with Henrik Kubel! In fact our events diary is looking pretty full with three more lectures taking place between now and the beginning of May…to find out more information on upcoming events click here
Finally todolist.org.uk voted St Bide Library number 9 in the top 10 libraries in London and we couldn’t be happier about this! It’s great to see that other people recognise how wonderful the St Bride Foundation is as of course I am just a tad bias in my opinion of the place!
So the past week at the Foundation has been extremely busy and very exciting. Last Thursday we had a print party in which we opened our doors to people in the Printing Industry so that they could come and see our wonderful building. We also thought that this would be the perfect time to launch our new conference and events brochure from which we hope to widen our current clientele.
If you have been to the Foundation in the past week you may also have noticed that our reception area has had a little bit of a make over. We have got a lovely new desk that we think fits in well with the Victorian decor of the building. I have added a picture featuring our lovely security guard Pascal so you can make a decision for your self!
The Water Carriers
St Bride Foundation is proud to present Rebbecca Covaciu’s new collection of paintings, The Water Carriers. The 16-year-old Romanian Gypsy artist currently lives Milan and since the age of 12 has been selling her paintings in the bars of the city at night. Although her life has been full of hardships her pictures are full of light and bright colours with a great command of line and intuitive use of impasto. This is the UNESCO award-winning artists first solo exhibition outside of Italy. Please visit the link below to see examples of this wonderful young artists work. The exhibition is on now until the 25th February from 10.00am – 6.00pm on request and during all performances.
If it’s Christmas, its got to be Cantabile!
Cantabile are a regular client of ours and this year they are back for their Christmas performance on the 7th December. Get into the festive spirit with one of Britain’s best-loved vocal groups as they celebrate Christmas. Known worldwide for their blend of harmony and humour, they will present a delightful mix of carols, Christmas songs and comedy classics. Described by Classic FM as the ‘definitive Christmas entertainers’ this show can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Christmas With Cantabile Friday 7th November at 7pm. For ticket information please follow the link below:
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4751627245/es2/?rank=1
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Crafty Types
On Tuesday we had an extremely successful night at the Crafty Types lecture organised by Becky Chilcott. Over 100 people came to see leading practitioners discuss the craft of the letter through their own working practices. The twitter feed was super busy after the event with people tweeting how brilliant they thought the lecture had been.
In other news the print workshop has released course dates for the New Year. So if you are interested in learning about letterpress printing from highly skilled and experienced printers please visit our website
http://printworkshop.stbridefoundation.org/
