DB Licentiates

Born 1924, London, England. Trained at Central School of Arts & Crafts and apprenticed to The British Museum Bindery. Craftsman – Demonstrator, Royal College of Art, 1949 – 51. Manager Zaehnsdorf Ltd. 1951 – 3. Self-employed book restorer and designer bookbinder since 1953.
City & Guilds of London Institute Silver Medal (First Prize) for Forwarding, 1943.
C & G Chief Examiner in General Bookbinding, 1957 – 63.
Founder member of The Guild of Contemporary Bookbinders in 1955 and Fellow of Designer Bookbinders since 1968.
President of DB, 1973 – 5. Awarded MBE for services to bookbinding, 1986.
Publications include A History of English Craft Bookbinding Technique (1963, 4th ed. 1996) The Restoration of Leather Bindings (1972, 4th ed. 2004) and Recollections: a life in bookbinding (2000).
Has conducted workshops for the restoration of leather bindings in Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland, The Netherlands, USA and Venezuela.
Bernard no longer accepts commissions for designed bindings, but continues to restore antiquarian books and make bindings in period styles.