The Vanishing Breed: A History of Bookbinding Compiled by Don Brady

I was surprised when I first saw Don Brady's name on the spine of this book.  I thought miniature books were the only books my friend  published.  

But who better to compile a history of bookbinding than someone who spent a lifetime binding books?


Robert C. Bradbury provides an excellent CV of sorts on Don Brady in his book, Twentieth Century United States Miniature Books, No. Clarendon, Vt., 2000:

Donald Brady operates his private press in New Port Richey, Florida and calls it Clearview Press. Brady has printed and bound books throughout his career. He began printing when he was 15 in high school. He worked at the Telegraph Press in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for 17 years and then at the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. for 25 years before retiring. Brady's work with miniature books began after he retired, starting with binding books for many other publishers, including Ward Schori. He handsets 6-point type for the shorter books and sends the work out to a linotype for longer ones. Printing is done on a 7 X 11 press in his printshop, although one book was printed at The Olde Mill House and Printing Museum, Homosassa, Florida, where Brady volunteers by giving printing demonstrations. Of course, he does all the binding and stamping of his books.

Don't bother looking up the title of this book.  This copy could be the only copy that Don printed.

Don copied and compiled over 120 articles about bookbinding for this book, mostly from Bookbinding Magazine, a few from its successors, Bookbinding & Book Production, and Book Production Industry, as well as several pieces from the newspapers and magazines in the Washington, D. C. area.  For brevity's sake, I will display the article titles of only about 35 of them.  But I will provide a link at the end of this blog where you can view the article titles of all of them.

I did a double take when I started reading the first article. It is about a 25-year old bookbinder who has made a name for himself in the book world.  If you haven't heard of him, Google his name and you'll see what I mean.  Here I'll google it for you: Richard Minsky.

Book Production Industry, April 1973:

Sunday Magazine, The Washington Star, December 14, 1969:

Bookbinding & Book Production, May 1938:

Bookbinding & Book Production, January 1937:

Bookbinding & Book Production, June 1937:

Bookbinding Magazine, March 1936:

Bookbinding Magazine, April 1936:

Bookbinding Magazine, April 1935:

Bookbinding Magazine, May 1935:

Bookbinding Magazine, June 1935:

Bookbinding Magazine, June 1935:

Bookbinding Magazine, January 1934:

Bookbinding Magazine, November 1934:

Bookbinding Magazine, April 1933:

Bookbinding Magazine, September 1933:

Bookbinding Magazine, September 1933:

Bookbinding Magazine, March 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, April 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, April 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, May 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, May 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, August 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, August 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, December 1932:

Bookbinding Magazine, April 1931:

Bookbinding Magazine, April 1931:

Bookbinding Magazine, May 1931:

Bookbinding Magazine, September 1931:

Bookbinding Magazine, July 1930:

Bookbinding Magazine, August 1930:

Bookbinding Magazine, September 1930:

Bookbinding Magazine, February 1929:

Bookbinding Magazine, May 1929:

Bookbinding Magazine, August 1929:

Bookbinding Magazine, November 1929:

Bookbinding Magazine, June 1927:

Bookbinding Magazine, November 1927:

And here is the link for the images of all the title pages of the articles Don Brady compiled for his book on the history of bookbinding.

Don Brady features in my Bibliophiles in My Library blog this month as well:
"From Whence They Came:  Don Brady And His Miniature Books."