...and yet Henry remains in possession of all ten fingers.
December 23, 2016 7:03 AM   Subscribe

Dwyer Murphy and LitHub bring us the story of The Last Bookbinder on the Lower East Side, a man who is called Henry, after his shop at 135 Henry Street.
posted by Etrigan (10 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Nice article!

It's always kind of sad when some craft that used to be in high demand comes down to one or two people practicing it, like typewriter repair people, though I love hearing about those one or two people. I wish this article went into a little more detail about what they actually do though.

We recently had to clean out my father-in-law's house (he died in 2002, but his wife hung on until last year) and he was a collector (and repairer) of clocks. So we ended up with a couple of old clocks and found the one local guy who could repair them. I'd image not too long ago there was a clock guy in every town.

I've been looking into continuing education classes at Boston's North Bennet Street School and they still run a two year bookbinding class. I'm not really even sure I know what a bookbinder does (bind books, I guess) but I love the fact that they have such a comprehensive class in something like that. They also teach violin making, among other things. I was chatting with another MeFite recently and we both felt that school deserves a decent FPP one of these days since it has such a rich history and has produced some amazing craftspeople.
posted by bondcliff at 8:30 AM on December 23, 2016 [3 favorites]


It's always kind of sad when some craft that used to be in high demand comes down to one or two people practicing it, like typewriter repair people, though I love hearing about those one or two people.

If you can outlast your competitors by luck or cunning, there's a small but steady living to be made being the metaphorical (or literal) "last buggy whip maker". It's rare for a trade to totally disappear, even if the market is reduced to hobbyists, eccentrics, and movie prop buyers.
posted by jedicus at 8:59 AM on December 23, 2016 [3 favorites]


They also teach violin making, among other things.

Lutherie is in no danger of extinction, or even of becoming particularly uncommon, it may surprise you to hear.
posted by Dysk at 9:11 AM on December 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


No, actually, that doesn't surprise me.
posted by bondcliff at 9:31 AM on December 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


Aw, you're just saying that.
posted by cortex at 9:34 AM on December 23, 2016 [4 favorites]


Can't walk down the street without tripping over a luthier, some days.
posted by dr_dank at 10:00 AM on December 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


Heck, my buddy Ross got hit crossing the street by a luthier driving a van. The luthier van'd Ross.
posted by cortex at 10:50 AM on December 23, 2016 [16 favorites]


Josh.
posted by bondcliff at 10:57 AM on December 23, 2016 [8 favorites]


One of my best friends from high school is a luthier; I was kind of surprised when he went into that, since, even though he was an avid string player, I had no idea that he had any interest in craftsmanship.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:31 PM on December 23, 2016


Lol. My thesis is being bound there right now.
posted by dame at 6:03 PM on December 23, 2016 [4 favorites]


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