The bookbinder’s profession is disappearing in the Netherlands and graphic design studio De Vormforensen believes that this knowledge should be transferred to a new generation. They are publishing a book in honor of Gijs Wortels’s 80th birthday and his oeuvre. The book was realized through crowdfunding via Voordekunst.nl and sponsors. Almost 2 years after the first meeting between De Vormforensen and Gijs Wortel, the book is here!

This book is a bridge between generations of bookmakers. It shares the knowledge and craft of bookbinding legend Gijs Wortel. The book takes you through a selection of 36 special books that make the changes in the printing industry visible and readable. Today’s bookmakers can feed themselves with tips from Gijs, a lexicon of technical terms and binding techniques. With this publication, De Vormforensen collect and publish knowledge that is still available today.

Gijs Wortel (1942) was born in Amsterdam and came into contact with the bookbinding profession very early on. He was educated at the Amsterdam Graphic School and SGV in Utrecht. He became a teacher and board member at the Grafische MTS in Amsterdam and held various management positions at two large bookbinderies in the Netherlands, Spiegelenberg, and Stokkink. From Gijs Wortel Binding, Wortel still supervises and binds books and works with designers.

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A number of great collaborations, such as the SHV book he bound for Irma Boom, the art books he is still developing with Mark van den Eijnden and the Atlas Blaeu van der Hem life project, are described in the publication. In addition to the bindery where he can be found every day in Someren-Eind, Gijs collects books, materials, and tools from graphic Dutch history. He won the Graphic Culture Prize in 2008 and his craftsmanship is still current and valuable for today’s designers, binders, and printers. Graphic design studio De Vormforensen (Anne-Marie Geurink en Annelou van Griensven) are the initiators and designers of the book.