Adam Savage Learns How Old Books Were Made!

[@tested]

Learn more about the American Bookbinders Museum at bookbindersmuseum.org/ and twitter.com/BkBindersMuseum

[@daveotuwa5596]

You're keeping the book written by an ancestor of the actor who impersonated Mary Poppin's loved one in the film eponymous to the character. Happy bookbinding!📖

[@OrAngeAnArchy]

Madeline: Books are Jars, prove me wrong. LOL! She is awesome and her passion for this process and it's history is very visible.

[@Dumber0]

sad part is that if this is in SF they will burn it down and make to a crackhouse or something. cant believe ppl in usa still live in that city

[@harbl99]

"The whole point of a book is to protect the information that is inside it." The little snippet about 'why gilded page edges?' was a definite "Oooooooh, that's brilliant" moment.

[@osmia]

+

[@Studio23Media]

Yeah, that was a big revelation for me. 🤯

[@Van-Leo]

i felt my brain wrinkle with that one!

[@DannyBeans]

It reminds me of a line from Carl Sagan, that writing was the first method of storing information outside of our own heads.

[@ValerieG3]

When I got to the end of the video, my main thought was, "Wait, the video's over already?" I could have watched hours of this. I love learning about the history of books and bookbinding, and I loved both Madeline's explanations and demonstrations as well as Adam's fascination with everything. I also loved Madeline's casual mention that human skin was sometimes used as book covers. That's the voice of someone who's had to answer questions about that way too many times, and she is more than ready to talk about anything but that.

[@crissvartur]

I actually laughed out loud when she derisively just said human skin binding was boring..... This is a woman who had, well deserved and valid, strong opinions on book coverings..... Was a lovely video to watch someone share their passion and work.

[@hitman036]

“Unless you’re the human concerned” got me.

[@russbowlus]

"...unless you're the human involved." Ha!

[@curtisbme]

Obviously she is not impressed by the Necronomicon.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

I love how opinionated she is about the niche field of bookbinding.

[@curtisbme]

@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Huh? Do you really think there any specialist in any "niche" who would not have strong opinions in their area of study??

[@Gandalf50Shades]

I was not prepared for a museum curator as old as my mum to use the phrase "Its not a bug, its a feature".

[@CorwynGC]

The phrase dates back to at least 1975, so 48 years ago.

[@infernas]

Memes transcend generations! 😂

[@scottsolar5884]

My artist grandmother said that phrase in the 1960’s

[@unlokia]

A Mum can be 16 when she bears a child. “As old as my Mum” is meaningless.

[@catatonicbug7522]

You have to remember that the progress of book binding was just the ancestor of the IT industry. It's all technology that gets information out to the people who want it.

[@azteclady]

I always love Adam's enthusiasm for so-called 'esoteric' areas of expertise, but this one hit me right in the feels, as an amateur bookbinder and daughter of a librarian and a historian. Thank you!

[@Wood-In-My-Eye]

His enthusiasm Judy’s fuels my hunger for knowledge. His energy to learn and know things is so uplifting. I usually start my day watching an episode of him. It puts a smile on my face and in my heart to start my day like him!

[@Prophes0r]

I'd say his enthusiasm in general. Adam has managed to retain a spark of that child-like wonder that our society seems to love burning out of adults. Giddy appreciation of the tiny details simply because they are pretty, or clever, or even just pretty clever, is a thing we should be cultivating in our children and ourselves.

[@johnrogers1251]

@azteclady : You're an amateur bookbinder - that's impressive! There's a librarian in my family and I like the history of math, so I guess we're somewhat alike.

[@abbofun9022]

Adam, you are at your best in conversation with these super knowledgeable people, the Met and now this beautiful lady. The subject almost doesn’t matter, it’s gonna be awesome. Please find more of them and put them in front of a camera. P.s. wouldn’t mind at all if the post was an hour or more, fascinating from start to finish.

[@STSGuitar16]

I second the idea of longer, more in-depth videos of stuff like this. Give me all of the minutia!

[@sittingstill3578]

Adam already knows more about this topic than the docent. He’s helping her hit her talking points and recall interesting details he thinks are very cool for his viewers. They work really together. It’s so cool to see this museum featured on the channel. If I lived closer I’d love to check it out myself.

[@joeyjanisheck82]

She is outstanding. This is a killer look into things most of us didn't even know.

[@coeusdarksoul2855]

She really is... "Yes, the used human skin, which is very boring. Unless you're the human involved." has me DYYYYING!

[@DirkFedermann]

I love museums where the stuff they display still works and is still be used for demonstrations

[@germansnowman]

I grew up literally above our family printshop (sixth generation), my grandmother was a bookbinder, and I worked in the prepress and design industry for a long time. I still learned a lot about the history of bookbinding from this video. Fascinating!

[@jtiem]

Books are such a beautiful element of human history and deserve this moment of appreciatition. Well done Tested crew.

[@joejones9520]

it's crazy how it mimics the auto industry in that the early creations were made to last almost forever but slowly books just like autos turned into almost disposable products not meant to be used for long.

[@RevUnstableBoy]

Madeline (sp?) is such a wonderful book geek. You can really tell she care so much for the craft and loves the whole process, and as always Adam just soaks it all up. If I ever get out to the west coast I definitely will be making a stop at this museum.

[@scarfboy]

Yeah, most of my reaction was "I love her"

[@nzlemming]

Her name is Madeleine Robins, also known as author Madeleine E. Robins.

[@briansavage932]

This should be it's own show alltogether. I'd binge watch these like crazy. Adam visiting passionate people in their own element.

[@evym4233]

When you were looking at the book by the printing presses, at about 30 minutes into the video. I ended up crying. That book, was my father's very favorite book. and he'd have LOVED to have such a gorgeous edition of it. The Blue Flower by Henry Van Dyke. I am fascinated by hand made books, so I was watching this with my husband. Thank you for that unexpected moment of bitter sweet.

[@steadfasttherenowned2460]

My oldest book is a Bible printed 1911 in England. It was presented, brand new, to my great grandmother. Its a full old and new testament with all the geographical maps of the places written about in the Bible. I know my great grandmother was the original owner because it was written on the first page.

[@steadfasttherenowned2460]

Found in the copyright, there are only 12,000 copies made of this specific Bible edition.

[@evilshrimpy]

Whilst mechanical bookbinding in several forms is now the norm, hand-binding for short runs and individualized gifts is still alive and well! I have worked in a print-shop where a modern-day industrialized version of that guillotine cutter was used, as workmanlike a machine as anything you might see in Adam's shop, and well-loved, it operated much like the lever-powered version demonstrated in this video. It had an electronically controlled backstop for careful alignment to within the millimeter, and was hydraulically powered, so that part was different. I will always remember the noise it made as it made to cut- it looked and sounded very much like it could take off every finger on your hand in a single stroke, which of course it could. It's lovely to see in operation the romantic old cast-iron version of a tool I knew so well and used so often.

[@BlackCatBritt]

As both a book-lover and a graphic designer, this video was endlessly fascinating. Kudos to the wonderful conversation with Madeline, who really knows her stuff and communicated it in such an understandable way.

[@haydnmalyon7690]

This is all incredibly fascinating! I had never even considered the existence of a "book sewing machine". Thank you both for this lovely walkthrough.

[@silva352]

This was fascinating to see.........I kind of want to see Adam attempt to bind a book from start to finish in his shop now.

[@TheDGAF06]

It’s an incredibly intricate thing to do. Lots of simple small things you have to get right. It’s an unfortunately dying skill.

[@_wanderingrocks_]

I’d be more than happy to show him. It’s definitely something that could be done in a day, at least for a simple flat back hard cover book.

[@Blazer02LS]

Nerdforge just did a huge book using many of these methods.

[@MrVeps1]

@@Blazer02LS Yeah, Nerdforged actually has a lot of bookbinding videos, even rebinding newer books in gorgeous, embossed leather covers.

[@minijms1]

Retired printer here, I went through the whole process, started off as a hot metal compositor, ended up a proper printer. Go and see how a modern day newspaper press works and admire tensions and timing. Mind blown.

[@nat7278]

Egg whites for gilding!?! Full stop. I think that just solved a long time problem I've had with gilding with modern size. In that one tidbit you made my day!

[@3nertia]

I love that Adam always find the other nerd like him on any given subject and then they just go to town

[@Cobra8719]

This is truly one of my favorite episodes. The amount of detail and knowledge is astounding. Anyone born before the 2000’s should have a great appreciation for what value books really hold. The internet has really spoiled what was once one of the very few ways to gain knowledge; print on paper.

[@timmyangeltlc4888]

Thank you Adam. This vlog brought back memories the many happy hours I spent in high school helping our school librarian shelving, cataloging, checking in, and even repairing books that were damaged. I was even given credits towards graduation due to all of the hours I spent helping do the aforementioned duties as well as helping other students find things they needed and teaching elementary students beside the librarian.

[@johnrogers1251]

This is another museum I could spend *hours* in marveling and admiring the craftsmanship and skills of book binding. The docent was excellent, and I could see myself having an extended conversation with her, given the chance.

[@erlandodk]

I simply love knowledgable people talking with such enthusiasm about what is clearly a passion. Thank you, Madeleine.

[@modularcuriosity]

What an interesting person. And how wonderful is it to see somebody speaking about their passion? I really enjoyed this.

[@hakonsoreide]

As a small-time collector of books, this was truly a fascinating journey into some of the evolution of bookbinding in the 19th Century. Wonderful.

[@dambaek.]

After watching this I watched the 1981 "Hands: A Dublin Bookbinder" and enjoyed understanding the process thanks to this video and seeing the skills in serious use.

[@pumirya]

It’s amazing to see how not just books, but other things are made in the past, and how much effort it took. So many things come to us so easily these days that I think it’s hard to appreciate sometimes how difficult it was to make some things in the past. Thanks for the video and keep up the good work.

[@kiltedsasquatch3693]

Agreed. What amazes me is how engrained people are to just run to the big box store to buy something. I look for and accept new challenges to make things, which also develops new skills. You have to know your limits but expand them too.

[@catatonicbug7522]

It's still difficult to make things well. There is a saying, "You can have it done well, fast, or cheap. Pick 2." True artistry takes time and is very expensive, but our consumerist culture has lost appreciation for it, so we'd rather buy it cheap and replace it.

[@kiltedsasquatch3693]

@@catatonicbug7522 There is, indeed, a level of chatoyancy that can only be achieved with hand crafted items.

[@KoKagi]

Just finished a book history class in my library program. Where was this video when we were going over book binding in the early 1900's!?!? Love it.

[@Ice_Karma]

13:52 I love the exchange over 'skive'.

[@turboslag]

About 20 years ago I started a book binding course here in the UK, as a night school course, purely out of curiosity. Unfortunately I couldn't continue to it's conclusion due to family issues. I did manage 3 terms and although it was utterly fascinating it was also extremely difficult to master. The complexity of steps and difficulty of getting them perfect, and there is no middle ground, it's either perfect or reject, was very taxing. Some of the fact bombs the tutor dropped into her dialogue were mind blowing, like originally the apprenticeship for just gold blocking was 5 years!!!! And even then there was a two year supervision period under a master before you were allowed to go solo!!! So although book binding was a craft skill, it was a skill of the highest level, especially when it's considered the Craftsmen had to work quickly, despite the intricacy of the work, to produce books economically. Now of course, most books are machine bound and are utter junk compared to hand bound. Thankfully hand binding continues, although on a minimal scale because of the cost. To me it is an art form.

[@sundaynightdrunk]

Honestly, this is one of the very best channels on all of youtube. Very few channels have me interested in every single video they put out, but somehow I never miss one. Keep doing what you do.

[@johnc6809]

Adam I remember my junior high shop class in San Lorenzo. We learned to make a book! This was in 1970! We sewed the the pages. Trimmed them on the giant chopper thing. Glued the cardboard to the seized fabric and set the pages into the covers. Creased the spine. I now marvel at the amount of cool things we built in school that just isn’t done anymore. Such a shame. I’m 64 and feeling old!

[@marvinhensbergen1515]

I really hope Adams workshop and all his stuff gets preserved forever. If I would ever go to the USA, a visit to his museum would be my number 1 priority.

[@RealfishingNL]

That woman is great. Explains everything in a nice way. She awnsers all adams questions. Knows her numbers and the awnsers to the questions and even let adam feel some items. Great museum employe👍👍👍👍

[@scottmantooth8785]

*i truly appreciate well made and crafted objects and a well made book is a work of art unto itself*

[@DamienWise]

What an amazing series of practical demonstrations! Big thanks to Madeline at the American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco for the wonderful walk through history. You can tell she loves her job by how excited and hands-on she gets. And her earrings!

[@biggles258]

Yes! I spotted her earrings too, but not until waaaaay into the video.

[@alhutchison1535]

One of the best Adam Savage 'field trips' I've seen.

[@diegooland1261]

I'm in love!!! As a novice book binder, this is awesome. I hear paste was also used because the amount of liquid used to make the paste could be adjusted depending on the temperature and humidity, giving better control over how it dried. And a fragrance could be added, like clove to give it a pleasant smell and perhaps repel bugs. And yes, sewing signatures together is a very special skill.

[@paulgar8]

The Docent is AMAZING - Thanks to her and Adam for a fantastic amount of information.

[@roguecthulhu6002]

Loved this! I taught myself bookbinding in college (instead of doing my homework). Books will never die out because it is the only form of recording information that does not need a device to decode.

[@veganconservative1109]

I can't believe I grew up my entire life from well before I even learned to read LOVING books... and never thought to question how they were put together and why. This was amazing.

[@AllanCav]

Safe to say Adam’s favourite word at the moment is ‘iterative’! Superb video, how generous with her knowledge and clear in her explanations. I learned several new things.

[@crumpred805]

For those of us who had graphic arts class (up to the late the seventies), we know the real meaning of "cut & paste". We also bound books, tin & type set, film developing, silkscreening and so on. Life is easier today, but very expensive!

[@johnrogers1251]

"cut & paste" - yes, indeed! I went to a vocational high school to study Graphic Arts / Printing, and did some "paste-ups" to produce the "flat" that would then be photographed to be used to make a printing plate for an offset press. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. :)

[@Freelancer221]

It's basically a cliché by now but i truly think that the decision to write information down and to multiply the writing and to make it accessible and spread over decades and centuries to come so that others could learn from it is the single most important and beautiful and noble thing we as a species did and continue to do. And all the works of fiction which make us weep and laugh and make us feel all of the feelings just because someone had an idea and wrote it down and someone else made books of it to publish. Oh, all the places I went to in my book reading fueled imagination. Thanks Tested for the best half hour of learning and being entertained in a long time. This was beautiful.

[@AfroMyrdal]

I did not expect this video to be as enthralling and educational as it was! I LOVE her! She's an absolute natural and a treasure! ❤

[@constpegasus]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. A competitor in the top 10 best videos yet.

[@Fallub]

What a great and enthusiastic woman. I really loved the stories.

[@BlackOakBindery]

"Bookbinding was a badly paid profession." Still is! 😂 Signed, A bookbinder But seriously, as a professional bookbinder, this makes me very happy to see. I'm going to be visiting that museum this fall and I can't wait!

[@CaptainMarvelsSon]

That was fascinating! It helped to have someone well versed in the craft who also spoke well and did not constantly mumble over her words.

[@artpotato9838]

THIS IS SO COOOL!! Paper making and book binding was one of my covid crafts. SO COOOL ADAM AND TEAM thank you for sharing!!

[@adamminister7123]

Oh wow. So much thought and effort went into the how and why. I never would have guessed that everything was actually done that way for a specific reason. The reasoning behind gilded edges was fascinating.

[@orenatostefani]

“the whole point of a book is to protect the information inside it.” - so simple yet so profound; That made the video for me. Keep rocking Adam 👊🏼🙏🏼💜

[@pony3284]

So glad I tuned in for this!!

[@pacifica111]

Shes great, this is what a teacher or exhibitor should be like, she lets you talk and interact and not just dictates and clearly has alot of joy and pasion for the entire place and subject 😄 awesome

[@Rr0gu3_5uture]

Man, I love old books. Two of the fave I own are a gold gilded Complete Works of Robert Burns from 1876, and a rather battered atlas from 1764. The atlas is so detailed, that it lists and names a whole bunch of old local landmarks in and around Scotland that even my town museum were unaware of.

[@momentsPY]

WOW, this Lady is amazing. The amount of knowledge she shows about this art is incredible. Very nice visit to that fantastic place. Greetings from Paraguay.

[@kevinbreckenridge6729]

This may be the best museum tour you've done so far.

[@anonymes2884]

Two of my favourite things - books and listening to someone that knows and loves their subject.

[@Brandon-zo9ly]

The excitement, and critical eye of a maker that Adam brings to this videos is really what makes them special.

[@kropjesla01]

I did not expect this video to be this interesting. Wonderfull to hear Madelyn speak with such passion. She's wonderfull Thank you for this Video!

[@dowdayjing8442]

I wish this video were even longer! So fascinating!

[@jennypaxton8159]

And here I am, taking PDFs, combining them, printing them out into signatures, and binding them! The cyclicity pleases me greatly.

[@DrRockter5150]

Adam, I've been watching a fantastic channel that shows that binding of books from start to finish. It's called "Four Keys Book Arts". He uses the same tools as shown here. It's so cool to see the craftsmanship used and needed to make something as beautiful as a hand-bound book from long ago.

[@tau3457]

My first question was going to be 'what is your oldest book Adam?' Mine is a tattered Mrs Beaton's book of household management. Passed down from my great x3 grandmother from the 1860s. It was like a household instruction manual that was given to newly married daughters and taught them how to do every single thing necessary from posture, to gardening, to kids, husband(ry) etc.

[@sether_ton]

You can tell that Madeleine is just as passionate about the process as she is about explaining it, while also being extremely engaging. I wish I had had more teachers like her growing up!

[@biosparkles9442]

This is the first educational video I've watched in a long time where I was actually disappointed that it ended. I could listen to Madeleine talk about book binding for hours.

[@TheTuubster]

I just recently bought an old lexica off eBay printed in the 1830s. I was surprised how well the books were manufactured. How convenient that this video now gives the info how they made them.

[@davesolimini]

I could listen to that woman for hours. Quick, witty, deeply knowledgeable - so much fun.

[@B.McAllister]

I love watching people speak of things they are passionate about. You can see she takes so much joy from explaining the process to anyone, especially willing ears like Adams. It's like getting a second-hand high from their happiness. Also, I learned a lot from her. I am going to be crafting my own books of poetry. I have decided that this is how I am going to make them. Might even do the gold leafing.

[@sonicfreak04]

I visited Wyvern Bindery back in 2018 (guys who made the prop books for the harry potter series as well as other films and tv shows) and I gotta say it was an amazing experience seeing them hot press gold foil onto the book covers as well as seeing them binding the books.

[@mediocrefunkybeat]

This is absolutely brilliant and the development of the process is such an archetypical example of industrialisation. Thank you for this, it's truly excellent.

[@timmiller9965]

This has to be one of the best KZbin videos ever. Amazing.

[@juliadagnall5816]

As someone who has loved both books and museums for as long as I can remember, this was a real treat!

[@EliotChildress]

I loved how at first she was a little annoyed Adam was stopping her and interrupting her “presentation”. Then very quickly she realized he how curious and genuinely interested he was. Then she opened up and answered every question in depth.

[@ryanstewart116]

While I was institutionalized, I used to make blank books for people so this fascinating. Hoping to make some handmade journals now. Learning how to cut wooden threads has been fun.

[@Achenar15]

I would love to see some more content on this subject, that was so interesting!

[@thaywiz_gwar]

I was fascinated each and every minute of this video; also wonderful to see Adam just as fascinated.

[@HenkDeHauw]

First shot in the museum: love the old Dutch text on the wall

[@time2fly2124]

i used to work in a magazine/catalog printing factory for about 9 years working in the finishing department, working on a "saddle stitcher", around the 20:00 mark is basically what they still do today, they literally "stitch" the books together with metal staples, individually cut from a long spool, much faster than the 1880s though :) some machines can push 25,000 books per hour.

[@torjusnordvoldaas3390]

I believe Adam managed to spark this woman's interest in teaching book history again. In a way, you see her enthusiasm increase throughuout the video. Adam is knowledgeable, but so open to new information by professionals and it's astonishing!

[@dizzzy12]

Incredible documentary piece Adam. Super enjoyable to watch someone equal parts knowledgeable and passionate talk about something we all take for granted

[@Zorndar83]

I made several books already, most notably a photobook as a present for my mother with single page signatures so it lays completly flat, "bound" in leather. Took ages to makes but the smile on her face was reward enough. I made a couple more notebooks later, it's a handy skill if you know someone who really likes taking notes ...

[@danondler8808]

Adam, Thank you for this video. Madeline is a treasure. I feel excited to have learned something I've taken for granted and never realized how much technology was involved so long ago. Interesting that, as so many things, as technology can improve the speed of making the quality diminishes. Yet that lower quality provided a huge benefit for providing more people something they otherwise couldn't benefit from. Enlightening.

[@crystalwright1504]

I have always loved books. I just discovered a channel by a gentleman who does bookbinding. I'm not a D&D fan but I was fascinated watching him turn his rule books into one large, very lovely bound book. It was very informative.

[@k.t.1641]

Wow wow wow. Speechless. As a collector of old books this was amazing. I could spend all day in there asking questions!

[@Trindal]

I’m glad I’m not the only person fascinated by tools like he is. The one problem for me growing up, was I wasn’t allowed to get too close…. Which meant I couldn’t touch them, or get a real close look, or for that matter be taught how they where used. I love woodworking hand tools, as well a some clever metal shaping tools. I’ve recently started to look for old unique woodworking tools to restore to as new as I can manage. Not to crazy as far as parts and pieces, but not a sharp piece of metal to cut with either.

[@kiltedsasquatch3693]

Perfect timing... I just finished building a solid Black Walnut Book Press.

[@cbjewelz]

Such a cool video. I love when the same tools are used across different mediums, e.g. the scraper and plough from woodworking

[@danberger4593]

Adam thank you so much for this tour, it brought back great memories. Back in another century I did some hand binding, and I used a guillotine trimmer much like the one you saw (safer because it was not motorized! ). For the full story on Gutenberg, I highly recommend the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany.

[@LunteBooks]

Thank you Adam and Madeleine! Thank you for your enthusiasm and your expertise and the heart behind your videos.

[@adelheidsnel5171]

Fantastic humorous and passionate curator!!!!!

[@Everfalling]

@10:50 so THAT'S why you gild onto a red substrate. Because the gold is so thin that light actually passes through it and reflects off of the surface behind it. That's fascinating.

[@litlclutch]

Those machines were beautiful. I've dabbled with hand stitching binding as a bit of a hobby but WOW those machines are SO cool. The machines and the books they made could be impressively beautiful.

[@KenZchameleon]

This place is amazing. A friend and I spent over an hour here in 2019. I learned a lot more in this video than I did on my own. Thanks!

[@someoneelse7629]

I have absolutely no intrest in bookbinding at all, but the entusiasm was contagious and I watched it all, and learned some stuff. Give geeks and nerds time to tell about thier intrest, listen closely, and you will find some intresting part of it too.

[@ThePatente]

This is so amazing, someone so interested in a subject, fascinated by the process (me too), ask perfect questions, with an expert on the subject, love that. I love the lady, she spoken 15 seconds with Adam and : Oh! Okay, he's interested, he understand, I'm gonna give him the full show.... Wow... :) You're amazing guys. 👍

[@michaelpichette4143]

When Adam talks about the process of one improvement building on the last it makes me think of a phase I heard in a YT lecture about guitar pedals. “Each new invention is caused by the adjacent possible.” Someone looks at an emerging technology and pushes into an adjacent possible advancement. This furthering the cycle of development.

[@coreywelch]

It's neat seeing woodworking tools used in this process.