Winner Alain Taral (above) with competition sponsor Mark Getty. Picture: Greg Smolonski
A French wood veneer craftsman has become the inaugural winner of a bookbinding prize launched by the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
Alain Taral beat competition from nine countries across the world to win the Sir Paul Getty Bodleian Bookbinding Prize, using wooden joints, a steel axis, a slipcase covered in birch and precious veneers including palm, yew, bubinga and elm burrs.
Taral's winning entry beat competition from dozens of top binders. Picture © Bodleian Library
The 117 shortlisted artists, including British runner-up Jenni Grey, feature alongside Taral in a major exhibition, Bound for Success, at the Library. Notable exhibits include an Israeli book incorporating sprinklers and irrigation tubes, a French example involving a bath plug and an Estonian binder who sewed his book with a fishing line on perch and pine skin.
Jenni Grey's beautiful design earned her the runner-up nod. Picture © Bodleian Library
"Bookbindings are an often overlooked aspect of our past," said Richard Ovenden, Keeper of Special Collections and Associate Director at the Library. "The Bodleian is delighted to have the opportunity to demonstrate the way bookbindings reflect major social, artistic and historical trends. We hope that both the award and the international competition will become regular features in the bookbinding world."
Fanfare, French (late 16th century), gold-tooled red Morocco binding with onlays in three colours, gilt edges and traces of silk ties. On Officium Beatae Virginis Mariae (Paris, 1597) Broxbourne. Picture © Bodleian Library
An accompanying key display, An Artful Craft, stars masterpieces from leading 20th century bookbinding collections at the Broxbourne and Wormsley libraries, as well as other world-renowned historic collections held at the Bodleian.
Dublin, College Binder, Irish, 18th century red Morocco, gilt tooled outer border of floral rolls, lozenge shaped centre-piece made from small tools, gilt-edged. On Q Horatius Flaccus, Opera (Dublin, 1745), Broxbourne. Picture © Bodleian Library
Treating the bindings as "things worthy of curiosity and admiration", it showcases books created with straw, leather, wood, ivory and gemstones. The incremental part Islamic styles had in shaping the look of books in the West will also be explored.
Bound For Success: Designer Bookbinders International Competition 2009 runs until August 1. An Artful Craft: Fine and Historic Bookbindings from the Broxbourne runs until October 31. Both exhibitions open 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, 9am-4.30pm Saturday. Admission free.
