Manuel Mazzotti

Bookbinder

©Manuel Mazzotti

©Daniele Zappalà

©Manuel Mazzotti

The engineer of bookbinding

Manuel took first prize in the 2019 International Bookbinding Competition
He has learnt from some of the world’s best bookbinders
He was a book collector before deciding to bind books himself

Italian-born Manuel Mazzotti is a bookbinder, designer and trained engineer who creates limited edition books, prints, stationery and installations. Not one to do things by halves, Manuel went to Switzerland to learn from some of the best bookbinders in Europe at the Centro del Bel Libro. He studied the folded, origami-like structures of Hedi Kyle under school director Suzanne Schmollgruber. Then, in 2015, he received a QEST Scholarship to study with two masters, Kathy Abbott and Tracey Rowledge, who specialise in fine binding and gold tooling respectively. Today, his work can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate, the British Library, the London College of Fashion and the National Poetry Library.

Interview

©Daniele Zappalà

©Daniele Zappalà

How did you first get into bookbinding?: As an engineer, it used to baffle me that so few books perform what I think should be their most basic mechanical function: to open and lie fully flat. So as an avid book collector, I decided to sign up for bookbinding classes to understand how I could modify their structure.
How do tradition and innovation combine in your work?: Bookbinding hasn’t changed much in the last few hundred years. Other than an electric guillotine, I use only traditional tools and presses. However, my studio specialises in contemporary bindings rather than fine binding; for example, I use a variety of structures in order to enhance the content of the book.
What are people sometimes surprised to learn about you?: Forty per cent of what I do is actually making beautiful boxes because, of course, a precious book needs to be kept in a precious box!
What do you advise a young person wanting become a bookbinder?: Spend time learning from the people whose work you love. Try to learn as many techniques as possible in order to create your own vocabulary to apply to different projects. Experiment.

Manuel Mazzotti is a master artisan: he began his career in 2010 and he started teaching in 2011