Edith Diehl was an American bookbinder and author of Bookbinding, its Background and Technique, a classic text and manual on the history and craft of bookbinding in two volumes. In 1947, in recognition of her accomplishments, Diehl was made an Honorary Life Member of the Guild of Book Workers. Diehl is also known for her wartime works, having closed her studio in 1914 to become Director of Workrooms for the American Red Cross. In 1917, she was asked by trustees of Wellesley College to become Director of the Woman's Land Army of AmericaTraining Camp and Experiment Station, which led to her appointment as National Director at the headquarters in Washington, D.C. where she wrote a handbook for use in the national camps.
About finding bookbinding as a career, it was reported that she "grew so fond of books at Wellesley that she decided to be one of those who give first editions a new lease on life by putting them in comfortable and at the same time decorative surroundings." In interview, she herself stated: "I loved books so much that I wanted to be able to put them in bindings myself. I took up bookbinding in 1902, and studied at the Evelyn Nordhoff Bindery in New York City. " She began formal studies in New York City with Florence Foote at the Nordhoff Bindery in 1902, and soon moved to England to study in the studios of Nordhoff's teacher Thomas J. Cobden-Sanderson, his student Douglas Cockerell, and the firm of Sangorski & Sutcliffe. After two years in England, she moved to Paris to work at the ateliers of Mercier, and Domont, then to the ateliers of DeBuhl and Jacobs in Brussels and then returned to England to study at Westminster Abbey.
Professional Studios
Diehl stated, ″it was only after five years of intensive study and practical work that I hung out my shingle.″ Diehl had bookbinding studios in various sequential locations in New York City during the first half of the twentieth century, moving uptown by degrees from Gramercy to Sutton Place, with interruptions during both World Wars. For a time, she went to work as the house director of binding for William Edwin Rudge, supervising the binding production of books by Bruce Rogers.
Examples of works
Equipment, tools and marks
Jeffrey Peachey, a book conservator, tool maker and historian has published blog posts on one of Diehl's backing hammers.
Edith Diehl's papers, including correspondence, notes and some photographs are held at the Archives of American Art, the Morgan Library & Museum and The Grolier Club.
