Book binding workshop offers shelves of choices
CAIRO: Leather-bound books have become a rarity, and are usually associated with musty academic volumes or classic home libraries. Today, the leather volumes have been pushed aside to make way for paperbacks on bookshelves. But there’s something permanent about leather-bound books that seems to say, “I’m here to stay. Which is a sought-after trait in a treasured, favorite novel; classic books that have been passed on through generations of a family; a private journal; or a photo album with personal keepsakes pressed between its pages. Some volumes should last as long as our attachment to them, and for those special ones head down to Atelier de Reliure.
Tucked away in a small alley behind Al-Azhar mosque (across the streets from the commercial tourist traps of Khan El-Khalili), the atelier stands out from among the vegetable stalls, small grocers and shoddy barber shops with its neat, well-lit window casings. Bookshelves line the walls, showcasing a variety of leather bound volumes – literally in all shapes and sizes – from small notebooks to large portfolio scrapbooks.
A family-owned business, the workshop hasn’t evolved much since the 1940s when Hajj Abd El-Zaher and his brother El-Hajj Hassanein were apprentices in the trade. Abd El-Zaher, well into his sixties, sat quietly in the background busy securing the leather joints of a stack of books with an iron, his motions almost mechanical from years of training. Their tools haven’t changed (or even upgraded by the looks of the blackened iron stamps), and much of the work is still done by hand. The fashion, however, has evolved.
There are traditional, classic all-leather books. Others sport leather joints, but with colorful marbleized paper imported from Italy on the covers. The volumes can be tailor-made, and the choice is only limited by your creativity: red marbleized paper with a black leather joint, or a camel leather joint with a soft, buttery paper. For a more rugged, masculine volume opt for a papyrus cover. The leather joints can also be customized with gold-embossed lettering, ideal for a family album or a personal diary.
One customer even brought a sample of khayamiya (traditional tent) material to tailor make into a journal. The end result was a colorful, bold book cover – a great gift idea to file away for a later date.
Special orders take up to ten days to complete, but it’s well worth the wait.
To cater to a less bookish customer, the workshop has created a selection of products fashioned from marbleized paper. There are magazine holders, small boxes, tissue boxes, and bins.
The one common denominator is the outstanding workmanship, which is unsurprising considering the years of experience.
A traditional trade, the atelier’s business stemmed from binding a few books for the odd customer – mostly academics who wanted to preserve their recently published thesis. But business took off when an American asked to bind a notebook. Word of mouth and the occasional mention in the press, and customers soon flocked to the workshop.
Don’t be fooled by the surrounding traditional arts and crafts in the area and their humble appearances, though they’ve held on to the practices of the past, they are savvy in modern marketing. The workshop has gotten a facelift, and my guide whipped out his laptop to email me a selection of product photos, which, I must admit, took me by surprise. Today, they export to French distributors, who sell across Europe. And they are looking for representatives in North America.
The workshop has recently launched a new side business: rebinding second-hand books. Piles and piles of them are stacked in an adjoining room. The books are purchased in bulk from old estates or book vendors, which explains the unusual variety of titles and languages. A burgeoning business, it’s unclear if they’ll lure in customers, but there are possibilities.
Leather-bound volumes are increasingly popular among interior designers as a decorative accent to a new library, after all what better way to give off an intellectual, educated vibe than rows of pristine leather books that insinuate a depth of knowledge. For those who like to match the books on library shelves with the upholstery of the seating area, clearly the books are purely aesthetic and content is negligible.
Another possible customer base are, of course, book collectors who will enjoy hours of sorting through the books for that rare find.
Alternatively, if you have a favorite novel or a classic family heirloom that is falling apart, it can be rebound in a spanking new cover to withstand the wear and tear of time.
The books can be found in several outlets across Cairo, but it’s worth paying a visit to the atelier itself for a wider choice and better prices.
Atelier de Reliure31 Sheikh Mohamed Abdu St. Al-Azhar (behind the mosque)Tel: (02) 511 8041
