We hand bind books at Ludford, on the edge of Ludlow. Fine and limited editions for presses and collectors, albums a family keeps, Solander boxes made to fit, and the careful repair of treasured books. Gold tooling, foil blocking and edge gilding are done here at the bench, not sent out. Paul and Emma Kidson run the workshop, and the binders behind it carry a craft lineage that reaches back four generations.
Large or small, we bind them all. From a single fine binding to a press edition, an album, a box, or the repair of a book that has been in the family a long time. Phone 01584 878110 to talk yours through.
Leather or cloth, for presses and collectors
Short-run leather and cloth bindings and bespoke limited editions for private presses, publishers and collectors. Gold tooling, foil blocking and edge gilding are all done at the bench here, not sent out.
A single object a family keeps
Handmade photograph albums, family albums and commonplace books, sewn and bound to be handled and added to for years. The kind of one-off we like best.
Made to hold the work
Custom Solander boxes, slipcases and clamshell boxes, made to hold a single book, a set of volumes or loose documents and keepsakes. Cut, covered and lined to fit the work exactly.
Treasured and antiquarian books
Repairs and rebinds of treasured and antiquarian books, from a loose spine to a full re-back in matching leather. We tell you honestly what a book needs before we start.
The whole pipeline runs under one roof at Ludford. Sewing and leather paring, gold tooling and foil blocking, edge gilding, and the box that holds the finished book. Keeping it in-house is how the work stays consistent from the first signature to the last burnish.
Ludlow Bookbinders works from Unit 5 at Lower Barns Business Park in Ludford, on the south edge of Ludlow across the River Teme. Paul Kidson joined his family's bookbinding trade in 1984 and runs the bindery today with Emma Kidson.
The craft behind it runs deep. Our binders learned from master binder Brian Settle, fifty-eight years at the bench, and the line of teaching runs back through Derek Roden and Charlie Smith to Paul's great-grandfather, JW Braithwaite. We bind the way they taught, and we are here to keep craft binding alive in England.
A single fine binding, a press edition, an album, a box, or a repair. Tell us what you have in mind and we will come back with a quote and a sensible timescale. Most of our work comes from beyond Ludlow, and we handle carriage both ways.
Or phone 01584 878110, mobile 07866 373457, or email info@ludlowbookbinders.co.uk.
We are at Unit 5, Lower Barns Business Park in Ludford, just over the medieval Ludford Bridge from Ludlow town, on the Shropshire side of the Marches. Visits are by arrangement, so phone 01584 878110 before you set off and we will make sure someone is at the bench.
For anything not here, phone 01584 878110 or email info@ludlowbookbinders.co.uk.
We will take a single book. Alongside limited editions for presses we bind one-off commissions, albums and rebinds. Tell us what you have in mind and we will quote it. Phone 01584 878110 or email info@ludlowbookbinders.co.uk.
Yes. We repair and rebind treasured and antiquarian books, from a loose spine to a full re-back in matching leather. We look at the book first and tell you honestly what it needs before any work begins.
We do. We make Solander boxes, slipcases and clamshell boxes here at the bench, cut and lined to hold a single book, a set of volumes or loose documents exactly.
Most of our work comes from beyond Ludlow. We arrange everything by phone and email and handle carriage of the book both ways. Phone 01584 878110 to talk it through.
We hold leathers and book cloths sourced from around the world, and decorative endpapers from Nepal, Japan, Italy, France, Germany and English hand-marbled stock. We will show you options to suit the book and the budget.