Bookbinding courses in London
City Lit bookbinding provides a comprehensive range of traditional and contemporary taught and workshop-based courses at all levels from beginner to advanced. Students studying on our courses can develop skills in traditional bookbinding, gold tooling, paper marbling, historic and experimental book structures and contemporary fine binding.
Students interested in book arts can explore both classic and innovative techniques and structures to produce unique books and editions. For students who wish to study conservation and repair, we have classes covering paper repair, the conservation and repair of cloth, leather and vellum books, hand tooling and machine blocking.
We run evening, daytime and weekend classes in our purpose-built studio that is well equipped with presses, guillotines, and hand tools and our courses are taught by tutors, who are skilled practitioners, industry specialists and experts in the fields of bookbinding, book arts, fine design binding, conservation and repair.
Browse our range of bookbinding courses in London below to choose your perfect option.
- Try it out: bookbinding
Course start date: Sat 21 Mar 2026 (and 2 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate RochesterDip your fingers into bookbinding. Learn a little about the materials and craft of bookbinding while making an attractive binding to take home. A chance to discuss further study in bookbinding at City Lit.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Book conservation and repair: vellum-bound books Course start date: Wed 15 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Peter SpainLearn to assess books and repair vellum-covered books including limp, semi-limp and boarded style. Work on your own projects in paper, cloth or leather. Basic materials included. For those with some bookbinding experience.Full fee £719.00 Senior fee £575.00 Concession £467.00 - Bookbinding: 10 projects for beginners Course start date: Thu 23 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate RochesterAn exciting range of graded projects to introduce you to bookbinding. Come armed with enthusiasm and walk away with a stack of small books and a heap of information on materials, tools and techniques.Full fee £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00 - Bookbinding: simple leather binding Course start date: Thu 30 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ina BaumeisterDiscover how leather, combined with simple sewing and cutting techniques can create a wonderfully flexible and stylish bindings. Create books with folded and crossed structure covers, and include some decorative elements to personalise your work.Full fee £309.00 Senior fee £247.00 Concession £201.00 - Book conservation and repair workshop: intermediate Course start date: Wed 6 May 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gavin MoorheadIdeal if you have some bookbinding conservation experience and want to develop your skills further by working on your own projects with advice and guidance. Each term will include demonstrations that focus on a different aspect of book conservation.Full fee £549.00 Senior fee £439.00 Concession £357.00 - Bookbinding improvers’ workshop Course start date: Mon 11 May 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gavin MoorheadThis one term course is designed to help students to develop their bookbinding skills. You will already have some experience of binding techniques and some knowledge of tools, materials and equipment in order to benefit from this workshop-style class. There will be the opportunity to work on your own projects, or to practice skills in which you feel less confident in order to enable you to progress to higher level courses. Not suitable for beginners.Full fee £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00 - Bookbinding: decorative techniques for leather Course start date: Thu 4 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ina BaumeisterA four day introduction into traditional and contemporary leather decorating techniques. Are you working with leather in the context of bookbinding, fashion, textiles, fine art or jewellery? This course will broaden your expertise.Full fee £309.00 Senior fee £247.00 Concession £201.00 - Beginners' bookbinding III Course start date: Fri 5 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alessia TumbioloCome and immerse yourself in the art of bookbinding with this 6-week, accessible introduction. Whether you're taking your first steps or picking up the craft again, this course will equip you with essential techniques that will enable you to start creating your own handcrafted books and containers. Beginners will build strong foundational skills, while returners can refresh their skills and explore new creative possibilities.Full fee £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00 - Creative arts for bookbinding II: leather dyeing techniques Course start date: Sat 13 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sue DoggettSpend a day experimenting with leather dye and dyeing techniques. You will be introduced to methods of applying dye and a range of creative techniques such as resist, crackle and speckling, to use on bookbinding and other leather projects. Suitable for beginners.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £84.00 - Paper marbling Course start date: Sun 14 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel WilliamsonThis course introduces the fascinating art of marbling. You will learn how to create beautiful papers that can be used on a range of craft projects, around the home or just enjoyed for their endless variations. You will learn about the materials, tools and techniques historically associated with Turkish, European and Japanese marbling and you can experiment with pattern and colour to create your own responses to this ancient craft.
Full fee £309.00 Senior fee £247.00 Concession £201.00 - Start bookbinding Course start date: Sat 27 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ina BaumeisterDiscover the art of handmade books! Three days of progressive projects will guide you through core techniques and prepare you to experiment, design and craft your own unique books.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Creative approaches to design for bookbinding and book arts Course start date: Mon 13 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sue DoggettIf you already have technical bookbinding skills but want to kickstart, or develop your creative and design skills then this course will help you to develop ways of engaging visually with the content of the book. Through a series of practical exercises and activities, you will learn a range of creative thinking skills and ways to apply them to design for bookbinding. This course is aimed at bookbinders interested in design binding but would benefit anyone working in book arts who is interested in exploring a text visually.
Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Bookbinding weekend: notebooks and folders Course start date: Sat 25 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ina BaumeisterLearn to make single sheet folded books, a simple multi-section sewn book and a folded slipcase. This weekend course is an opportunity to make an exciting range of notebooks and folders and learn some useful bookbinding techniques. Suitable for beginners.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Bookbinding: gold tooling on leather Course start date: Thu 10 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tracey RowledgeThis course is a great introduction to gold-tooling and the creative use of the medium. Learn how to gold tool on leather with various hand tools, using BS Glaire and gold leaf. All levels welcome.
Full fee £349.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £227.00 - Book conservation and repair: paper and cloth-bound books Course start date: Wed 16 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Peter SpainLearn about the cleaning, repair and conservation of paper in flat documents and in book format, and the repair and conservation of paper and cloth-bound books. For those with some bookbinding experience.Full fee £749.00 Senior fee £599.00 Concession £487.00
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