Bill Hanscom

Bill Hanscom (they/them) is a library conservation professional, educator, and author. Since 2009, they have worked as a conservation technician for special collections at Harvard Library’s Weissman Preservation Center. 

They taught undergraduate courses in bookbinding, letterpress printing, book art theory, and independent publishing for the Book Arts BFA program at Montserrat College of Art from 2010 to 2023, serving as its coordinator for seven years. For more than a decade, Bill has regularly taught workshops on historical bookbinding structures and other book arts and preservation topics for North Bennet Street School, the Guild of Bookworkers, and other organizations. 

Their experience in higher education began in mechanical engineering and commercial printing before shifting to the arts, studying Graphic Design at Montserrat College of Art (BFA, 2003) and Book Arts & Printmaking at The University of the Arts (MFA, 2008). 

Bill maintains an independent research and writing practice focused on historical bookbinding structures and methods, and their first book, Ethiopian Bookbinding Tradition, will be published by The Legacy Press in early 2026. Bill lives in Rockport, Massachusetts with their wife and three children.

Ethiopian Bookbinding Tradition

The history of the codex in the Ethiopian highlands stretches back over a millennium to the earliest centuries of the now-ubiquitous book form. The legacy of Ethiopia’s bound manuscript tradition – one of the longest continuously practiced in the world – has been carried forward by countless scribes, passing their skills down through generation after generation. This history is evident not only in the hundreds of thousands of bound manuscripts that survive, many still in active use, but also in those still being produced today. Ethiopian Bookbinding Tradition is the first major work to detail and describe this tradition and the practices of the Ethiopian scribal bound book, providing a comprehensive technical study of its materials, structures, and techniques. It gathers and synthesizes the significant but dispersed and often inaccessible body of literature on the subject with further observations and analysis provided by the author. Through in-depth discussion and extensive illustrations, this book meets the long-overdue need to bring Ethiopian bookbinding into the spotlight as a significant tradition in its own right and to firmly establish it within the larger history of bookbinding. 

A Post-digital Book Art Program

As the coordinator of a book arts BFA program, I have recently been contemplating the possibilities for a kind of program that focuses primarily on the exploration of “the book” as it is currently situated in our post-digital world […]

Towards a Morphology of the Ethiopian Book Satchel

Book satchels play a significant role in how we understand books to have been used, transported, and protected through the centuries. However, despite this significance, the subject remains sadly under-researched or, at the very least, under-published. This observation certainly holds true for the bound manuscript culture of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the satchels of which receive little more than a cursory mention within the body of descriptive literature. This essay presents a report of research conducted over a period of three years, primarily through direct examination of library and private collections and the wealth of images produced by the Ethiopian Manuscript Imaging Project. It contains extensive description and illustration of the materials, features, and construction of Ethiopian book satchels which will allow collectors, curators, catalogers, and researchers a greater understanding of this key component of book culture in Christian Ethiopia.

American Scaleboard Bindings
Scaleboard is a thin wood that was used in some American bindings (particularly around Boston) as early as the 1680s through the 1840s. It was used even as paste or pulp board materials became widely available in America. In this one-day workshop, students will learn the variations found in wonderfully simple American bindings through examination of historical examples and discussion. Participants will construct a model of a full-leather early scaleboard binding.

Italian Paper Bindings
Explore the history and use of inexpensive paper-covered book structures beginning at the advent of the printed book in Europe and continuing through the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. During this one-day workshop, participants will create two models of bindings commonly used in the Italian region: a plain paper wrapper and a laced paper case. Models will incorporate handmade papers as well as historically employed sewing techniques and end-sheet constructions. Structural variations and decoration will be examined through images and historical examples from the instructor's collection.

Ethiopian Bookbinding
Ethiopian manuscript culture represents one of the oldest bookbinding traditions still practiced today. During this one-day workshop, participants will construct a full leather historical binding with wooden boards, inlays of patterned cloth, and traditional endbands of interwoven leather strips. Basic tooling techniques, as well as common designs and motifs, will be discussed and demonstrated. Participants will be allowed to decorate their bindings as time allows.

Madagos: The Living Tradition of Ethiopian Bookbinding
The highlands of Ethiopia are home to one of the world’s oldest surviving bookbinding traditions. For more than a thousand years, scribes have produced bound parchment manuscripts using the same historical methods passed down through countless generations, and the enduring form of the Ethiopian codex allows us to glimpse the emergence of the craft during some of its earliest activity. Although relatively simple in structure, the hundreds of thousands of surviving bindings—largely still in active use today—reveal nuances and variations shaped by centuries of a hands-on transmission of knowledge and the practices of individual scribes across centuries. 

In this workshop, we will look closely at the materials, techniques, and culture behind the Ethiopian bookbinding tradition. Through intensive hands-on work and short presentations on structure, history, and cultural context, we will locate Ethiopian bookbinding within the broader technical and cultural histories of the book. At the same time, we will strive to center the tradition on its own terms while emphasizing the integrity of its distinct practices, vocabulary, and aesthetics. 

Students will create two complete models based on historical examples: one with bare wooden boards and another in full leather with textile board linings, leather endbands, and blind-tooled decoration based on common motifs using traditional tool designs. Participants will also have the opportunity to make a textile over-cover and leather satchel, commonly used for protection, storage, and transport of books. Additional demonstrations will include thread-making from sinew and parchment, and if time allows, students may explore structural variations through smaller models.

Available Workshops

American Scaleboard Bindings

Scaleboard is a thin wood that was used in some American bindings (particularly around Boston) as early as the 1680s through the 1840s. It was used even as paste or pulp board materials became widely available in America. In this one-day workshop, students will learn the variations found in wonderfully simple American bindings through examination of historical examples and discussion.

Book Structures for Prints & Photos

This class presents students with three different bindings that are ideal for artists working with printmaking, photography, and collage: The Drum Leaf; Hedi Kyle’s Storage Book; and the Japanese Accordion Album (Nori-ire gajo). Unlike a traditionally sewn codex, these structures use individual folios and only adhesive in their construction, avoiding the complexities of imposition and allowing for a full view of the image with minimal preparation before binding. (2 days only)

Folded Books (and Other Practical Origami)

Explore the intersection of origami and bookbinding. Students put the techniques of traditional paper-folding to work creating structures that draw inspiration from many corners of bookbinding. The accordion fold, the codex, albums, maps, and even boxes and envelopes all make appearances. Your hands, supplemented by only the simplest set of tools, transform flat sheets of paper through folding (and the occasional cut), resulting in a variety of elegantly simple and dynamic structures. We will be primarily creasing, making cuts seldomly, and using no adhesive at all! These structures can be used on their own, combined with each other, or with other forms of bookmaking. They provide interesting opportunities for decoration (photocopy, letterpress, toning, paste-papering) since they are mostly constructed from a single sheet.

German Paper Bindings

This course examines one corner of the history of inexpensive paper-covered books used from the advent of the printed book in Europe through the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century. Participants will construct common German paper-bound structures (paper wrapper, stiffened paper binding, and trade paper case with lapped components) using the associated sewing variations and end-sheet constructions. Structural variations and decoration will be examined through images and historical examples from the instructor's collection. 

Historical Bindings in Paper

Investigate the history and use of inexpensive and often temporary paper-covered book structures beginning at the advent of the printed book in Europe and continuing through the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century. Participants will create an array of models including wrappers, case binding variations, and the “boards” binding, exploring historically employed sewing techniques and end-sheet constructions. Structure and deco- ration, alongside topics such as chapbooks and vernacular bookbinding, will be examined through images and historical examples from the instructor’s collection.

Italian Paper Bindings

Explore the history and use of inexpensive paper-covered book structures beginning at the advent of the printed book in Europe and continuing through the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. During this one-day workshop, participants will create two models of bindings commonly used in the Italian region: a plain paper wrapper and a laced paper case. Models will incorporate handmade papers as well as historically employed sewing techniques and end-sheet constructions. Structural variations and decoration will be examined through images and historical examples from the instructor's collection.

Leather Satchel for Ethiopian Books

Learn to construct a maḫdār, the two-piece leather satchel used for transporting and storing manuscripts in Ethiopia. In this two-day workshop, using a pattern based on historical examples, students create a model of this traditional case by scoring, folding and lacing together pieces of heavy cowhide leather. The models feature many common elements: a case with flap, carrying strap, lifting cord and a telescoping slipcase cover called a difat. Past participants of the Traditional Ethiopian Bookbinding workshop should bring their full leather binding, otherwise, bring a book no larger than 5 ½ × 5 ½ × 2 to build the case around.

Medieval Long- & Link-stitch Bindings

In this workshop, participants will learn the history and construction of European long- and link-stitch bookbinding structures. After examining and discussing models and images of historical bindings, participants will select and create one structure employing traditional techniques with features such as a fore-edge flap and button-and-tie closure.

Preservation Enclosures

Boxes, wrappers and slipcases are widely used to house and protect library and archival collections, but they also offer terrific opportunities for artistic exploration. Beyond the protective housing of original artistic works such as books or print portfolios, enclosures can be altered and embellished to complement, enhance, and conspire with their contents. Over the course of this workshop students will work to create a reference set of enclosures which neatly nest together. (2 days only)

Preservation Enclosures: Box Modifications

Conservation professionals, archivists, and private collectors are often faced with creating  protective housings for unconventional items, or materials that vary in shape and size, which defy off-the-shelf solutions. In this workshop, students will discuss strategies for designing custom housings and learn a variety of methods for modifying ready-made boxes using common conservation materials, such as archival corrugated board and folder stock. Students will construct a sampler box which contains numerous modifications including partitions, spacers, trays, lifts, and flexible supports. (2 days only)

Side-Stitched Books of China, Japan, & Korea

This course introduces students to the history, materials, and construction of traditional side-stitched bindings from China, Korea, and Japan. Over the course of the workshop, students will produce three models of side-stitched bindings, exploring the similarities and differences among the three cultures. Participants will learn the history, tools, and materials of traditional side-stitched books of China, Korea, and Japan, and construct models based on the particulars of each tradition, in addition to a storage case if time allows. (2 days only)

Traditional Ethiopian Bookbinding

This workshop will begin with a presentation detailing the traditional methods and materials of the Ethiopian scribe and bookbinder. Students will then construct two historical models. The first will be a basic binding with bare wooden boards demonstrating the fundamentals of the unsupported link stitch, board attachment and repair, and the construction of a ləbas (a protective cloth over-cover). The second will be a full leather binding with inlays of patterned cloth and traditional endbands of interwoven leather strips. Basic tooling techniques, as well as common designs and motifs, will be discussed and demonstrated. Students will be given the opportunity to decorate their bindings as time allows.

Undergraduate Courses

Approaching the Book

This course explores book arts as a fundamentally cross-disciplinary creative practice, investigating the potential for “the book” as a unique object, multiple, performance, and environment. Through interaction with a diverse range of physical and digital book works, readings, and discussion, students will consider how these ideas have been addressed in the past. Observations will inform the planning and realization of two to three projects focusing on the thoughtful construction and presentation of visual and textual content. Projects progress through idea generation, conceptual development, research, and production. Attention is given to the correlation of concept, content, design, structure, and material; the advancement of descriptive and critical language in the evaluation of books; and the location of book arts within the broader context of contemporary writing and visual art.

Bookbinding I

Bookbinding II

Drawing upon skills established in Bookbinding I, students investigate more complex structural forms as they are introduced to new techniques and traditional materials such as wood, leather, parchment, and handmade paper. The mechanics of book construction and function are more deeply explored through hands-on demonstrations which focus on the evolution of book structure from antiquity through the present day, with an aim towards improved workmanship and expanded technical insight. Discussions address developmental shifts in book structure and their relationship to social and technological influences throughout history. Projects and exercises devote attention to idea generation, creative responses to demonstrations, and building technical and critical vocabularies.

Independent Book Publishing & Production

This course examines publishing as an artistic practice. Students will create an editioned book project that exists in three different formats: handmade, print-on-demand, and digital. Students are guided through the development and production of an independent publication including planning, content creation, design, image & file formatting, printing, and binding. Professional practices are promoted through the writing and revision of a proposal and prospectus; research into promotion and distribution methods; and acquisition of production-focused skills in Adobe applications and bookbinding. Students are expected to come to the course with an idea prepared to enter into project development in addition to a familiarity with anticipated methods of production (media, printing, binding). Each student will work with the instructor to scale their project to fit within an individualized budget and the 15-week schedule of the semester. 

Introduction to Letterpress Printing