Books in Costume

Books in Costume: Designer Bindings and Book Objects by the Sobota Family offers a glimpse into the world of creative book binding as practiced by the Sobota family from Loket in the Czech Republic. The town of Loket derives its name ("Elbow" in English) from the river bend that almost completely encloses it. It seems an appropriate home for the Sobotas, a family devoted to the art of beautifully enclosing books.

Trained in bookbinding and book conservation in what was then the country of Czechoslovakia, Jan Sobota emigrated with his family to Switzerland and later to America in the early 1980s. His wife Jarmila, originally a professor of psychology, became increasingly involved in painting, drawing and bookbinding, and since 1986 has worked as a professional bookbinder. In 1996 the Sobotas returned to the newly-established Czech Republic and established their studio, “Sobotas' Artistic Bookbinding” in Loket. Their sons Jan and Radek have also become accomplished binders, and two examples by Jan Jr. are included in this exhibition.

The craft of bookbinding dates back to the early Middle Ages, and its tools and materials have centuries of tradition behind them. But in the late twentieth century bookbinders, like ceramicists and glass workers, expanded their art beyond its traditional boundaries. Some of the Sobotas' work fits clearly into the tradition of decorative binding – colored paper, cloth, and leather ornament something that we can immediately recognize and use as a book. But other pieces are “book objects” – shrines that are more akin to sculpture, and even to architecture, than to traditional bookbinding. Books in Costume shows the range of the Sobotas' achievement, which has been recognized internationally in exhibitions and received numerous awards.

The books on display in Books in Costume are generously on loan for the exhibition from collectors and Ackland members Kim and Rosie Batcheller of Pittsboro, North Carolina.