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Articles - May - 2022 Issue

Jon Buller, Master Hand Bookbinder (Detroit area)

- by Maureen E. Mulvihill, Guest Writer

On May 1st, 2022, the Book Club of Detroit (founded, 1957; current president, novelist Charlene Kull) hosts Master Hand Bookbinder, Jon Buller. As founder of Bessenberg Bindery, he served Detroit-area professionals, librarians, and collectors for nearly 50 years. His talk discusses the evolution of the European tradition of hand bookbinding, and he will present (physical) examples of binding styles. He is now passing on his expertise to younger hands. For illustrated feature by Guest Writer & former Detroiter, Maureen E. Mulvihill, Click Here.

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Posted On: 2022-05-07 20:01
User Name: mairin

A quick note to acknowledge the prompt & cordial assistance of Jon Buller, also Charlene Kull and Maurice
Barie (Book Club of Detroit), in the development of this article. And special thanks, as well, to Michael Stillman
(Rare Book Hub) for seamless installation, as always, and close care with the 'Guild of BookWorkers'
logo in the Buller photo. Mr Buller recently wrote that his talk was well-attended, well-received, with a lively Q&A.
He was pleased to have had the opportunity to discuss hand bookbinding and especially to present
a variety of visual items (bookbinding styles, slides, catalogues). He found the experience "a good exercise";
and is now hoping to possibly digitize his considerable slide collection to enable broad access to these
beautiful objects. For bibliophiles like Jon Buller, hand bookbinding is both a craft and an art form.
Thank you, John. And thank you, Bruce McKinney (Rare Book Hub), for hosting the article.
- Maureen E. Mulvihill, Rare Book Collector (early women writers) / Guest Writer, Rare Book Hub.

Rare Book Monthly

  • <b><center>Sotheby's<BR>Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s:</b> The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD <b>Sotheby’s:</b> William Blake | <i>Songs of Innocence and of Experience.</i> Sold: 4,320,000 USD <b>Sotheby’s:</b> The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD <b><center>Sotheby's<BR>Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts</center></b> <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for <i>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.</i> Sold: 1,920,000 USD <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Machiavelli | <i>Il Principe,</i> a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Leonardo da Vinci | <i>Trattato della pittura,</i> ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP <b>Sotheby’s:</b> Henri Matisse | <i>Jazz,</i> Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • <center><b>Gonnelli<br>Auction 59<br>Antique prints, paintings and maps<br>May 20th 2025</b></center> <b>Gonnelli:</b> Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€ <b>Gonnelli:</b> Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€ <b>Gonnelli:</b> Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€ <center><b>Gonnelli<br>Auction 59<br>Antique prints, paintings and maps<br>May 20th 2025</b></center> Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 € <b>Gonnelli:</b> Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€ <b>Gonnelli:</b> Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€ <center><b>Gonnelli<br>Auction 59<br>Antique prints, paintings and maps<br>May 20th 2025</b></center> <b>Gonnelli:</b> Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€ <b>Gonnelli:</b> Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€ <b>Gonnelli:</b> Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€ <center><b>Gonnelli<br>Auction 59<br>Antique prints, paintings and maps<br>May 20th 2025</b></center> <b>Gonnelli:</b> Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€ <b>Gonnelli:</b> Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
    Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
    Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
    Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
    Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
    Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
    Gonnelli
    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
    Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
  • <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>May 14<br>Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration</center></b> <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> (Choiseul-Gouffier, Marie). <i>Voyage Pittoresque de la Grece,</i> 2 vols, 1st edition, 1782-1822. £2,000-3,000 <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> <i>Gentlemen's Magazine and Historical Chronicle,</i> by Sylvanus Urban, 11 volumes. £700-1,000 <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> Shackleton (Ernest). <i>The Heart of the Antarctic,</i> 2 vols, 1st ed, presentation copy, 1909. £2,000-3,000 <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>May 14<br>Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration</center></b> <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> Drayton (Michael). <i>Poly Olbion...,</i> London: 1622. £2,000-3,000 <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> Scheuchzer (Johann Jacob). <i>Ouresiphoites Helveticus,</i> 4 parts in 1, 2nd ed, 1723. £3,000-4,000 <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> Roberts (Henry, after). <i>Chart of the NW Coast of America and NE Coast of Asia ...,</i> [1784]. £500-800 <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>May 14<br>Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration</center></b> <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> World. Maffei (Giovanni), <i>Indiarum orientalium Occidentaliumque Descriptio...,</i> 1589. £1,200-1,500 <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> World. Ortelius (Abraham), <i>Typus Orbis Terrarum,</i> [1598]. £2,000-3,000 <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> Bible [English]. [<i>The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New...,</i> 1613]. £2,000-3,000 <b><center>Dominic Winter Auctioneers<br>May 14<br>Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration</center></b> <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> Taylor (John). <i>All the Workes of John Taylor the Water-Poet...,</i> 1630. £1,000-1,500 <b>Dominic Winter, May 14:</b> Pierpont Morgan Collection. Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, 1904 & 1906. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    May 14
    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
    Dominic Winter, May 14: (Choiseul-Gouffier, Marie). Voyage Pittoresque de la Grece, 2 vols, 1st edition, 1782-1822. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Gentlemen's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, by Sylvanus Urban, 11 volumes. £700-1,000
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Shackleton (Ernest). The Heart of the Antarctic, 2 vols, 1st ed, presentation copy, 1909. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    May 14
    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Drayton (Michael). Poly Olbion..., London: 1622. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Scheuchzer (Johann Jacob). Ouresiphoites Helveticus, 4 parts in 1, 2nd ed, 1723. £3,000-4,000
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Roberts (Henry, after). Chart of the NW Coast of America and NE Coast of Asia ..., [1784]. £500-800
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    May 14
    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
    Dominic Winter, May 14: World. Maffei (Giovanni), Indiarum orientalium Occidentaliumque Descriptio..., 1589. £1,200-1,500
    Dominic Winter, May 14: World. Ortelius (Abraham), Typus Orbis Terrarum, [1598]. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Bible [English]. [The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New..., 1613]. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    May 14
    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Taylor (John). All the Workes of John Taylor the Water-Poet..., 1630. £1,000-1,500
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Pierpont Morgan Collection. Catalogue of the Morgan Collection of Chinese Porcelains, 1904 & 1906. £2,000-3,000

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