His excellency the book. But also the print, the album…

1. What do you create and propose to your customers in your workshop?
I restore antique books and prints, book binding in antique and modern styles, loom- or machine-stitched, art book binding for publishers, with gold-leaf work, leather coverings for tables and writing desks with gilding and embellishment applied with hot tools, creation of photo albums, personalized leather books for visitors’ signatures and for menus, with gold-leaf or rolled gold work.

2. Why are your creations unique?
Our works are carried out with great care down to the smallest detail to meet the requirements of a very demanding clientele, keeping to a thousand year old tradition. We re-propose manual skill, experience and the search for ancient techniques of artisan excellence in a modern way to offer quality products. Furthermore, through discussions with the customer, to whom we propose a wide choice of artistic working methods, we can produce a highly personalized product.

3. What materials do you use and transform? Do you employ any special techniques?
We mainly deal with paper: rice paper, cardboard and leather of various kinds to which we apply manual colouring and aging techniques.

4. Where did you learn how to do this work and how long have you been doing it? Will you pass your wealth of knowledge and experience on to anybody else?
I began to learn my work from my parents when I was a boy, according to family tradition, watching and practising in the workshop, starting with routine jobs and later moving on to antique book restoration. Then, I investigated studies dealing with the different antique binding techniques, widening my knowledge regarding the decoration of contemporary and modern bindings with gold-leaf. I hope that one day I’ll be able to pass on not only the technical but also the human knowledge that I have acquired by practising this ancient profession.

5. In what way does your activity belong to the history and traditions of this city?
The art of binding and re-binding books, that is covering them to protect them against wear over time, by giving them an ornate cover to make them more pleasant not only for reading but also to touch and see, has been a characteristic in vogue in Italy since the Renaissance. This ‘art’ reached its maximum splendour in that period, especially in Italy and, particularly, regarding religious works. Perugia, being a city tied to the catholic tradition, but not without conflicts, has always cultivated a taste for both sacred and non religious books, maintaining its own style until recent times, also due to its ‘cut off’ geographic position.

6. What is your personal way of participating in the future of Perugia?
In my opinion, the best way to participate in the ‘construction’ of a city like Perugia is to do one’s best with what one has at one’s disposal, by carrying on one’s work with the utmost commitment to humbly create a quality product that may remain in the memory of future generations.

7. What arouses your enthusiasm and what makes you the proudest of what you do?
What makes me the proudest is to approach the concept of beauty, when I succeed, through a manual process, in attaining balance and cohesion of expression.

8. What is the greatest emotion that you would like to convey to someone who buys one of your creations?
I would like to feel an emotion that is intense and long lasting. One that induces the buyer to ask the craftsman questions on the techniques adopted so that we can both become richer, also in a human way.

9. How would you persuade, in a few words, a customer to enter your workshop?
“My works are beautiful and admission is free….I’m just joking…eh!! Almost totally handmade works, tending to the artistic, awaken curious memories and not only satisfy the senses but also enrich the soul.”

10. What are your customers’ most frequent comments about your creations?
The beauty of my works matches their practicality, trustworthiness and durability.

Legatoria d’Arte Biccini Michele, Via Baldeschi 10/b – 06123 Perugia
Tel./fax: +39 075 5722716
www.legatoriabiccini.it – info@legatoriabiccini.it
Facebook: Legatoria d’Arte Biccini Michele.