- arthur@greensbooks.co.uk
- 01684 310106
Testimonials
‘Arthur has made a fantastic job of recovering a very hefty Church Slavonic Holy Gospel. He took time to listen to and understand the ethos of the church and the way in which the Gospel is used. He put forward ideas and designs for consideration and discussed and sourced appropriate top quality materials. We wanted a high quality and timeless finish in keeping with its history and current use and Arthur delivered this beyond our expectations. We cannot recommend him highly enough’.
Igor, Worcester.
‘I’m very pleased with…[my family bible]…and appreciate you doing exactly what I asked. I will be recommending you and your work to anyone I know…you have given that book another couple hundred years of life!’
Harry, Worcestershire.
‘…an enormous Thank You! The restoration, scholarly conservation and binding have far surpassed our hopes and expectations! …The original 15th century owner would be pleased!’
Fr Michael Evans, Prior of Belmont Abbey, on the conservation of a 15th century Book of
‘Thank you so much for running such a good course on understanding bookbindings. I’d attended training on bookbindings previously which focused more on decoration and on ‘posh’ bindings etc. I found your course much more useful and relevant as an archivist, where we work more with collections containing more utilitarian and work-horse bindings, and I was very interested in the session on stationery bindings in particular. I’ll now look at my collections and their conservation needs in a very different way, which is useful not just for my own practice but also for sharing information about bindings with our wider users. The course was very well planned, it made all the difference to be able to handle Arthur’s models to examine the binding structures without fear of damage, and also to be able to compare with the real thing from his own collection and from the stunning holdings at Gloucester Cathedral. The bibliography was very useful and I’ll definitely be purchasing a couple of titles to continue developing my interests. I will definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in the history of the book and record-keeping.’
Dr. Charlotte Berry, Archives Manager at The University of Warwick.
‘Understanding Bookbindings at Gloucester Cathedral: “A wonderful treat. I thought I would probably know much of it having studied Western Book Structures as part of my Masters degree but I have to say I was proved wrong. It was fascinating, well-presented by Arthur and very enjoyable’.
Emma Laws, Librarian at Exeter Cathedral.
‘Thank you so much for the talk you gave [at the Cathedral]. It was a great success, full of interest for everyone there. Several people have remarked to me since how they enjoyed it. It was excellent to be able to pass around all those models. You learn so much from handling an object that you cannot get from photos…Your inquisitive and thoughtful approach to your work is inspiring.’
Dr. Rosemary Firman, Librarian at Hereford Cathedral.
‘I really appreciated the way Arthur shared his deep knowledge and understanding in an accessible way; giving us the chance to handle rare books and go on an extraordinary journey into the topic in such a short time. Arthur is such a patient and student-centred tutor, stepping back to let us get on with it, and stepping back in at just the right time to avoid mistakes. It was such a privilege to step into this world for one day, and I will now look at books in a completely different way. This is transformational learning!’
Iwan on our ‘Introduction to Bookbinding’ workshop.
‘I found working with Arthur very helpful, straightforward, and efficient.’
Dr. Christopher Skelton-Foord, Librarian, New College, Oxford.
‘Working with Arthur is an absolute pleasure and a real education. His passion for and deep knowledge of bookbinding techniques coupled with his practical mastery of binding tradecraft really came to the fore in his conservation of a massive Tudor volume of Holinshed’s Chronicles. Throughout the project we discussed its challenges and he advised on options with an honest assessment of the benefits, risks and costs of each. Arthur succeeded with flying colours in a technically very demanding project where others would fear to tread and I am immensely grateful. The finished book, strongly and beautifully rebound preserving its original wooden boards, is absolutely splendid.’
Simon Lee, Lyppard Books.
‘I am delighted with the repairs to the family photo album and am grateful for the care you have taken.’
Jeanie Dowrick, Worcester.
‘Arthur conserved an early printed book, Topsell’s History of Four-footed beasts (1658), and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s first visitors’ book (1812-1819). We were impressed with Arthur’s thoughtful and considered approach and his open dialogue about finding the best way forward. We are very happy with the high quality of his work.’
Amy Hurst (Collections Archivist) and Mareike Doleschal (Collections Librarian), Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
‘I have just been binding a book which features some original writing on cards which I have attached using the fasiculing technique I learnt from you. I find your method really neat and precise.’
Ursula Jeakins, Bookbinder, Gloucestershire.
‘it really is a lovely piece of work, which one day will be a treasure of the archives’
Dr Robin Darwall-Smith, Archivist, University College, Oxford.
‘You have some really useful techniques, obviously tried and tested and some hard won experience which was great to see in practice and hear about, so thank you for such a useful workshop and being so generous with your knowledge. The polythene/Goldbeaters skin method is great – I wish I’d known about it years ago! ‘
Ian Watson, Conservator, Sussex.
‘I just wanted to thank you for such an interesting and informative day at the parchment repair workshop you carried out. It was very enjoyable and will be directly applicable to our work at The Paper Conservation Studio.’
Ciara McQueirns, Conservator, Dublin.
‘The experience I had working with Arthur was unique and incredibly useful, it was so helpful to collaborate with someone that has such a broad and deep knowledge of his subject and the fact that we both fully understood the problems in hand, meant we worked well together to devise a really ingenious way to tackle them.’
Dr Victoria Purewal, Conservator, Cardiff
https://icon.org.uk/news/tru-vue-blog-problem-solving-across-disciplines
‘I did a course on bookbinding some years ago and became hooked. I was keen to brush up my limited skills but there are so few courses available these days so I was delighted to find that Arthur Green had set up a studio near Wallingford and was offering bookbinding courses for a wide range of abilities. I started a fine binding project for a text block I had of a limited edition book which is progressing very well after only a few lessons. Because of his background in conservation Arthur has a very methodical and precise way of explaining things, particularly regarding the structure and process of making the book. The studio is in a converted farm building in an idyllic spot, spacious and beautifully laid out with every possible tool and material you could wish for.’
Richard, Henley-on-Thames.
‘Having been on a number of Arthur’s bookbinding workshops as a complete novice, I can say that he’s very well organised as a teacher, and his instructions and explanations of the techniques are clear and easy to follow. His time-keeping is also excellent – I’ve never seen anybody leave a workshop with something unfinished or had to rush to complete a project. The new studio is an excellent space – I’m delighted to see someone with such a passion for and knowledge of bookbinding, and such a willingness to share that knowledge, embark on this new venture.’
Helen, Eynsham.