The Beginning

For the past 30 years, Rabbi Chaim Spring explored the world of hand-bound leather books, ones that are fun to read, learn and cherish. Every summer, all the grandchildren would come to the bindery to work on their selected books and turn them into works of art.

Before his passing, Rabbi Spring left tremendous knowledge, a love for the profession, and the art to the next generation. Now we want to make you fall in love with bookbinding too.

about us

This is a love story. A story about a man who loved books, he loved them so much that he couldn’t just read them and write a few himself. Rabbi Chaim Spring Z”L had to bind them. He had to color and trim them, embossed them in gold, and polish them with a love of the art and a feeling for the methods of hundreds of years ago. He loved the feel and smell of leather and the old-style book press. He loved the way sunlight reflected from a freshly gold-embossed book spine on the shelf. In a short time, bookbinding using antique methods became full-time work rather than a hobby. Spring insisted on learning the art of fine binding at the workshops of esteemed binders in the United States and became a member of Designer Bookbinders of England and the Guild of Book Workers of New York. When you enter Rabbi Spring’s workshop it would seem you had gone back in time, seeing hand tools, marbled endpapers, and cast-iron book presses. No one would wish to skip even one of the dozens of steps necessary for a fine hand-bound book. Here at Spring and Sons Bookbinders, we love the book. And the book returns our love.