Anne Hailes: The art of bookbinding

Take the road up the hill out of Broughshane, along the coggly lane to the old farmhouse now converted into a cosy home. Here you’ll find Willow Leaves Handmade Books. The trees all round are hanging on to to their autumnal leaves, the views of Slemish Mountain are stunning and there’s a welcome on the doorstep.

Rosanne Cecil has baked scones and biscuits but they have to wait because we’re off to one of the stone outhouses, no longer sheltering hens but rather Rosanne’s beautiful handmade books.

It’s not often you get to meet a bookbinder of this professionalism and imagination and to appreciate the elegant results of the skilled work that goes into fashioning these books. We’re surrounded by work benches, and tools of the trade - the nipping press, a sewing frame where she stitches hand-folded papers, binding together four pages at a time using a special needle and thread.

There’s an old fashioned iron, heavy enough to press both the papers and the cover because you don’t want cockling... Stitching the spine comes in a variety of procedures and she likes to use the work of her artist sister for unique ‘endpapers’ - the pages fixed immediately inside the front and back covers - and some books will enjoy being marbled by stirring inks and pigments in water giving a swirling finish to the decoration. She confides that this can be achieved using carrageen moss but there is little detail - why give away secret techniques, after all?

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We’re surrounded by work benches, and tools of the trade - the nipping press, a sewing frame where she stitches hand-folded papers, binding together four pages at a time using a special needle and thread

Ancient and Modern

Rosanne uses a mixture of traditional methods with modern developments when building a book and buying the paper is a skill in itself, some from as far away as Japan. The pages are empty when Rosanne has finished, just waiting for the new owner to record their special thoughts. Her volumes are in demand as wedding presents, for photographs, guest books, birthdays and, at the moment, as Christmas gifts. More often they are acquired specifically for personal poems, sketches and writings, always as a special journal.

“I’ve just completed a set of 20 books for an event at Queen’s University, each one is different and unique to the new owner,” she tells me.

“Although I get commissions, I also sell in craft shops and I like to welcome people here to my house by appointment to see what’s on offer and have a chat about what they want.”

Now a member of the Society of Bookbinders and of County Antrim Open Studios, when she was a little girl Rosanne loved reading books but she was also fascinated by how they were made, from the cover to the illustrations. She began making her own little books and when she started school her mother, who taught art, explained to the teacher that the child would be quite happy sitting in the corner reading and examining the bound pages; already she was looking at methods as much as story. So, with this background, art and paper soon became much more than a hobby.

Learning Her Craft

A course in bookbinding at West Dean College of Arts, Design, Craft & Conservation in Chichester was followed by perfecting other techniques and skills at bookbinding studios in Scotland. She admits she is still learning every day and you can certainly see how the countryside around her influences her exclusive designs. Although there are many other interests in Rosanne’s life, her craft work is a priority at the moment as her books are in such demand.

Happy Coincidence

This charming bookbinder grew up in London but came to Northern Ireland as a research fellow in social administration at Magee University. It was there she met and married a man, also from London. She and Julian set up home at the Giant’s Causeway. “It was important to find somewhere between the north west campus and the university at Jordanstown where I often worked and so we arrived at the townland of Correen, 28 miles from each venue and a perfect spot for artistic inspiration.”

She and Julian love the countryside to the extent that they have planted thousands of trees both in their own grounds around the house - two for every book she makes. However, in Newtowncrommelin in the Glens of Antrim, they have planted 10,600 native trees, including elder, birch, hazel and Scots pine especially brought in from Scotland.

“It’s all about being aware of the environment,” she explained, “and giving back for all the paper I use.”

And so it was back to the warm kitchen and tea and scones.

Rosanne Cecil can be contacted for appointments on 078 4024 5764. folksy.com/shops/willowleaves