All eyes on London this week: A Celebration of Bookbindings at Bernard Quaritch in London

The event marked a fitting and elegant beginning to what promises to be another busy and international London rare book fair week.

David Pearson is widely regarded as one of the leading authorities on the history of books and book ownership. After a lifetime spent working with books, as librarian, scholar, collector, and writer, he has helped shape modern understanding of provenance research and the social history of books. His previous works include 'Provenance Research in Book History' (2019) and 'Speaking Volumes: Books with Histories' (2022), both of which have become standard references in the field. He also serves as editor of The Book Collector.

His new book, published on 28 May 2026, offers a richly illustrated history of bookbindings from Roman times to the present day. Drawing almost entirely on examples from the extraordinary collections of the Bodleian Library, the volume explores not only the technical and artistic development of bindings across two millennia, but also what bindings can tell us about ownership, taste, social status, craftsmanship, and the movement of books through time.

Since the invention of the codex nearly two millennia ago, bindings have been both an essential and often highly beautiful part of the book. While their primary function is practical, to protect and hold a text together, they have also long served as a canvas for craftsmanship and artistic expression. Before the industrialisation of the book trade in the nineteenth century, every binding was individually made by hand, whether modest or lavish in appearance. Across centuries, binders employed a remarkable variety of materials, from calfskin, vellum, and parchment to ivory and even silver, using techniques that reflected changing fashions, regional traditions, and the wishes of owners ranging from students to royalty. Bindings can reveal much about the tastes and ambitions of collectors, the realities of everyday readers, and the wider cultural history of the societies that produced them. Because they can often be dated and geographically identified, they also provide invaluable clues to the histories and journeys of individual books themselves.

The choice of venue for the launch could hardly have been more appropriate. Founded in 1847, Bernard Quaritch remains one of the world’s great antiquarian bookselling firms and an institution deeply interwoven with the international rare book trade. For generations, Quaritch has been associated with scholarship, collecting, bibliographical expertise, and the highest standards of antiquarian bookselling, making it a perfect setting for a publication devoted to the artistry and history of the physical book.

As London once again becomes the centre of the international rare book world this week, the evening served as a reminder that beyond fairs, catalogues, and commerce lies something deeper: a shared fascination with books not only as texts, but as physical objects carrying centuries of human history in their bindings, materials, and craftsmanship.

More information about the publication can be found >> HERE

Image above: David Pearson (left) with Samuel Fanous, Head of Bodleian Library Publishing
Below: Impressions from a lovely book launch at Quaritch to kick off the London Book Fair Week