In an era when screens dominate our waking hours, the centuries-old craft of book bindery is still very much alive. This intricate, precise and creative artistry utilizes a range of materials: handmade marble and fancy papers, book cloths and leather, hundreds of distinctive hand tools and formidable antique book presses. Barrington’s Dr. Philip Maddock has devoted much of his time and resources to mastering the technique. Dublin-born and educated and a lifelong bibliophile in every sense of the word, Philip’s enduring passion for book collecting led him almost 20 years ago, to learn the book bindery trade at Boston’s renowned North Bennet Street School.
After 44 years of practicing radiation oncology, 35 of them in Rhode Island, Philip retired from medicine three years ago and turned his attention to transforming the former Wallis Seafood into The Fish Bindery. Philip and his partner and son-in-law Jason Patrician, a seasoned bookbinder and paper marbler, offer a wide range of services including bookbinding, design bindings, book restoration and protective boxes. Philip and his wife Niamh are parents of three and grandparents of six. “All are infected with books in our house,” he says.
There’s been much discussion in the book trade about whether books were going to be killed by Kindle. Well, sales of Kindle have leveled off and started declining. The idea that we might be using screens [too much] has brought people back to printed books. There has been a revival in book binding. The Rare Book School at the University of Virginia now has a waiting list for some classes.
I came [into Wallis Seafood] one day to collect the fish and saw a For Sale sign. I had been thinking of putting together a bindery. I had a basement full of stuff collected over the years. Getting rid of the fish smell took forever! We cleaned it back to the cinder blocks, hosed it down with boracic acid and bicarbonate of soda.
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