Peter Wiltshire learned the art of hand bookbinding from his father. Now, he’s restoring literary treasures in his own Dorset workshop
Peter Wiltshire gently lifts the lid off an old biscuit tub. Emblazoned across the Family Circle logo in big bold letters is DO NOT DESTROY. Inside is a worn and tattered leather-bound family bible, dating back to 1600.
Peter is about to embark on the enormous challenge of painstakingly restoring and rebinding its hundreds of fragile, flaking pages and the disintegrating cover.
One of only a handful of professional bookbinders in Dorset, Peter continues this age-old craft of hand bookbinding while co-parenting his three children, all under 10 years old.
His workshop in Maiden Newton is crammed with pots of tools, delicate brushes and huge, handsome book presses alongside a collection of discarded book boards. This incredible archive illustrates binding styles from different eras – Peter uses them to help customers (and me) – understand the restoration process.
‘Book binding used to be a cottage industry. It wasn’t mechanised at all. Books were sewn together with their boards cut to fit,’ he explains. ‘These were laced on using cords which went through holes in the boards. There was just no way of speeding up the process. Once the boards were laced onto the book, the leather was cut to size and wrapped around the book in one go.
‘During the Industrial Revolution – and alongside growing national literacy – the Victorians invented case binding, where instead of being sewn, case covers were created separately, then attached to the book. That was the birth of mechanised book binding.’
All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
Dad’s apprentice
Peter began practicing his skills as a teenager. His father, Tim, ran a prestigious bindery in Winchester, connected to
P & G Wells Bookshop, one of the oldest bookshop binderies in the country. ‘I’d sew books for Dad to get a bit of pocket money. I learnt a huge amount from just watching my father at work.’
However, a love of antiques and history was initially a greater attraction, and Peter began working for an auctioneer and antiques dealer. ‘It was only when an older friend of mine, with a slightly wiser head on his shoulders, asked me why I wasn’t training in bookbinding when I had such a unique opportunity within my own family. That was the catalyst, and I entered an apprenticeship under my dad.’
Peter went on to open his own bindery in Hampshire, connected to Petersfield Bookshop, before returning to work in partnership with his father until his dad’s retirement in 2021.
‘Dad was inspiring. The more I learnt about the craft, the more I realised his depth of knowledge and skill. I still pick his brains. I’m grateful there was no pressure from him to make me join his trade – this craft isn’t something you can do if your heart isn’t in it. It demands so much patience and precision.’
I see what he means as I watch him expertly work. Using an incredibly sharp paring knife he gently lifts the inside of a book cover inscribed with the name Jane Dodgson – a relative of Lewis Carroll. ‘You can’t compromise a signature like this – they are literally irreplaceable,’ he says. ‘Often the book is too fragile to soak the pages off and you may damage the book board – so a knife is the only way to save them. It’s nerve wracking!
You really do only get one chance to do it right.’
The work demands complete concentration and though Peter enjoys listening to history podcasts, he often works in complete silence. ‘As you can imagine, with three young children, home life is noisy. It’s relaxing to work this way.’
And when he’s not on dad duty or working, books are his go-to for downtime, too. ‘It’s a busman’s holiday, but I love exploring auctions and second-hand bookshops for rarities!’
Hand bookbinding is a niche profession with no official apprenticeship schemes, but it’s a burgeoning hobby with many amateur bookbinding groups and guilds across the country. It’s a far cry from the bookbinders of the past who, along with leather tanners, used to have one of the lowest life expectancies in London. They were badly paid and often worked in poor light.
Popular interest in restoration has seen a surge in commissions in recent years, and family bibles, second-hand literary treasures and even flight logs from the World Wars sit on Peter’s workbench awaiting his safe hands for repair.
But first it’s the bible in the biscuit tin!
Peter’s dinner party A-list guest?
I’d resurrect Roger Payne, a much celebrated and maligned 18th century bookbinder – as close to being rock-and-roll as you get in bookbinding! He was a wonderful bookbinder but an alcoholic who died penniless. Payne was the first English bookbinder to come up with a new style of bookbinding, and the notion that a book cover should reflect the contents of the book.
He wrote poems about beer on customer invoices!
