The Best Kept Secret: 250 Years of Blooks

Join us for the curator’s lecture for The Best Kept Secret: 200 Years of Blooks, an original exhibition opening January 16, 2025, at the Center for Book Arts. The Best Kept Secret considers 250 years of hand-crafted book-shaped objects—made by craftspeople, artists, and inventors—alongside contemporary book art. The talk by curator Mindell Dubansky will provide an opportunity to highlight the little-known craft techniques and traditions on display, as well as to present Dubansky’s observations on what these objects signal about their makers’ practical and emotional connections to the book.

Mindell Dubansky is the head of the Sherman Fairchild Center for Book Conservation, at the Watson Library, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She writes on the book arts, particularly in the areas of 19th century publisher’s bindings, hand papermaking and bookbinding.

Invitees are invited to arrive at 5pm for a pre-event tour of the exhibition and selection from the CBA library. The lecture will begin at 6pm, and the evening’s activities will conclude with a reception.

Registration link coming soon.