A Bookbinder with a Mission...
Welcome to My Catholic Library. I’m Mark, the ‘hands’ behind your hand bound books. People always ask me, “What inspired you to take up bookbinding of all things?” Well, ever since I was the angelic altar boy you can see here, I’ve been captivated by the sensual aspects of Catholic spirituality. The sweet smell of incense, the melody of the chant at the Elevation, and saints glowing in stained glass…all these had me transfixed from a young age.
These experiences were rare in the 1990s which may be why they had such a lasting impact on me. Mercifully, there’s been a renewed appreciation for beauty in the Church since then. Yet when I started bookbinding in 2017, it dawned on me that there had been no such revival in beautiful books. The Church which produced the Lindisfarne Gospels was reduced to using flimsy paperbacks for spiritual reading and printed Mass sheets destined for the recycling bin! I wanted to do something about it, but what? Fortunately, the Holy Spirit had a plan….
A friend heard about my new bookbinding venture and asked if I could make something out of an old children’s Missal PDF he’d found online. He wanted his 6 year old daughter to learn more about what was happening at Mass (and if it kept her quiet, that’d be OK too!). He certainly didn’t want her waving their iPad around in church, and he knew the cheap version from Amazon wouldn’t survive in Maria’s hands! So I made the first My Catholic Library Children’s Missal – hand sewn, hardback cover, her name in gold foil on the spine. Five years later, she still uses it.
Soon more and more people asked me to make them for their own kids or godchildren. Before I knew it I was faced with more challenging projects, and not just the ‘Catholic book repair’ projects you’d expect like rescuing irreplaceable heirloom Missals and Bibles, but also restoring a rare 19th Century volume about horses! To do these books justice, I needed the wisdom of others, and I’ve learned about better book structure from the abbot of St. Michael’s Abbey Farnborough, and how to handle gold leaf under the watchful eye of the Wales’ National Library book conservator, and taken countless courses at the Society of Bookbinders, of which I’m a proud member.
It’s hard to put into words the joy I get from learning new techniques and mastering new materials and tools, so it’s a good job there’s always more to learn when you provide bookbinding services! Perhaps the only thing more satisfying is handling the finished book. I’ll admit I always take a few mintues just to enjoy the texture, weight, and smell (if it’s leather, especially) and can scarcely believe that it’s me who made it. I only hope the owner enjoys their newly restored book as much as this bookbinder does!
I hope that my commitment to the highest quality books, whether new or old, means they get handed on to nourish the souls of future generations. My mission is to see to it that more of you have the enduring and stunning volumes you deserve, filling up the bookcases that you’re proud to call “My Catholic Library”.
Ready to have your beloved book brought back to life? Click ‘Save My Book’ and tell me some basic information and I’ll be in touch to with how I can help.