Bookbinding Victoria

The Victorian Bookbinders' Guild Committee would like to congratulate all contests in the bookbinding categories of the Melbourne Royal Show. All entrants can be seen in the Spotlight Makers Pavilion during the Melbourne Royal Show on at the Melbourne Showgrounds until Friday 4th October.

Best Book Binding
1. Matthew Robinson: TREES OF CANBERRA

Designer, Fine, and Traditional Binding
1. Jim Finger: AUSTRALIAN GAME
2. Jim Finger: FINN CAGE BIRDS
3. Jim Finger: SUSSEX

Art Binding
1. Narelle Griffin
2. Gail Stiffe: DO WE CARE
3. Marcel Feillafe: ETHIOPIAN BINDING 01 2025
HC. Jim Finger: NOSTALGIA
C. Narelle Griffin

Creative Binding
1. Matthew Robinson: TREES OF CANBERRA
2. Emma Chan: EXTENSION 1/∞
3. Clementine Bastow: HIGH VALYRIAN TEXTBOOK

Are you searching for equipment for bookbinding? The Guild has a variety of nipping presses, standing presses, laying presses, cabinets, hand tools blocking machines, hand tools, and materials available to members and friends. It is usual for us to have a buy swap and sell, at the AGM, scheduled this year 25 August at St Faiths. We will have some materials and hand tools for sale at St Faiths, and I have in store a variety of difficult to transfer items stored at Narre Warren. Please feel free to PM me James Finger on FB or [email protected] email to discuss your requirements or to make an appointment to visit my premises. Transport to St Faiths is difficult for heavy and large items. Materials and hand tools will be at the AGM. See posts below. Regards James Finger President

OPENING TONIGHT!
Thursday 6pm - 9pm

Melbourne Rare Book Fair
📍 Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne
🗓 30 Jul – 1 Aug 2026
🎟 Free entry — rarebookfair.com

Presented by with support from & & Grimwade Conservation Services

Part of Melbourne Rare Book Week



































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A gentle reminder that membership renewals for 2026/27 are now due. Membership renewal forms can be filled in online or downloaded and emailed through to the secretary. The annual membership is $60 for single membership.

See https://www.vbg.net.au/p/membership.html for more details.

EOI: The Guild invites expressions of interest for a one day workshop to reproduce the historically important Nag Hammadi Codex. Found in a large ceramic jar on the banks of the Nile river, the Nag Hammadi Codex has been dated to c. 400AD and are the oldest surviving complete code bindings. The technique uses goatskin, papyrus and paste. This workshop is designed for 4-6 participants and includes all materials. Register your interest via email or messenger.

EOI: The Guild invites expressions of interest for a hands-on two-day workshop in rope spine binding, a conservation-minded technique for protecting single-folded pamphlets and booklets. The workshop is designed for 4–6 participants and will run over two evenings. Register your interest via email or via messenger.

For our April meeting, Jim will guide us through the art of stitching for a codex-style book, exploring the techniques used to bind pages into a volume. Learn how traditional stitching methods bring structure and durability to books.

📅 Tuesday 28th April 2026
⏰ 7pm to 9pm
📍Rear Hall, St. Faith's Church, 8 Charles St., Glen Iris

📣PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT📣

Our Clunes Booktown Festival 2026 program and tickets have launched! 🚀

We look forward to welcoming you to the Clunes Booktown Festival, to mark our 20th anniversary on 21-22 March with a stellar program on the theme of defiance and hope.

We’re thrilled to welcome Bob Brown, Sofie Laguna, Toni Jordan, Dennis Altman, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Marieke Hardy, Real Pigeons and many more brilliant minds to our very special and historic town.

With author talks, workshops, 130+ booktraders, kids village, entertainment, and a special First Nations Night Sky Dreaming event, a wonderful weekend awaits you.

Pop the kettle on and get ready to peruse and purchase via the 🔗👇

https://clunesbooktown.org.au